A fascination with the historical aspects of this part of Australia has prompted this multi-volume project that will eventually encompass the following titles:
About The North: An Introduction
Mapping The North: Towards an Outline sets the expeditions that eventually delivered an almost-complete outline of the Northern coastline in the broader context of world exploration. That carries the story as fat as the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788.
Mapping The North: Adding Detail covers the period between 1788 and the separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. At that point, the detailed exploration of The North became a priority for the fledgeling colonial government. At that point, while the outline was complete, most of the map was still blank, at least as far as the Migaloo were concerned.
Mapping The North: Filling the Gaps will take the narrative on from around the time the town of Bowen was established in 1861 through to Federation and beyond.
Mapping The North: Zooming In, assuming we get that far, will carry the narrative through to the age of GPS and Google Maps.
Supplementary material to accompany Mapping The North will (hopefully) include:
- Origins, Indigenes and Antecedents, exploring the physical, human and historical backgrounds that delivered the landscapes and individuals that appear in the narrative;
- Recollection, Reflection and Reminiscence, exploring the author's experience living in The North over a period that encompasses more than one-third of its migaloo history.
- Around the Coastline and Highways and Byways, delivering an alphabetical compendium of the details I have been able to glean about maritime and terrestrial locations across the region;
- Similar, alphabetical listings detailing the lives of People and an explanation of Events that have shaped the preceding narratives.
- A Chronology, setting all those details into a sequential timeline
- And, finally, a selection of Historical Resources including selected readings, texts and other material in the public domain.