why was townsville founded where it is today
Townsville The Burdekin River's seasonal flooding made the establishment of a seaport north of the river essential to the nascent inland cattle industry.[10] John Melton Black of Woodstock Station, an employee of Sydney entrepreneur and businessman Robert Towns, dispatched Andrew Ball, Mark Watt Reid and a detachment of 8 troopers of the Native Police to search for a suitable site.[9] Ball's party reached the Ross Creek in April 1864Â and established a camp below the rocky spur of Melton Hill, near the present Customs House on The Strand.[9] Edward Kennedy, a member of the surveying party, recalls the native police chasing local tribesmen into the ocean and 'pumping lead' at them. On the return journey to Port Denison, the group 'dispersed' another aboriginal clan, rounding up fifteen women 'who remained at the scene of combat' and abducted them back to the barracks. No mention is made of the fate of any children.[11] The first party of settlers, led by W. A. Ross, arrived at Cleveland Bay from Woodstock Station on 5 November of that year. In 1866 Robert Towns visited for three days, his first and only visit. He agreed to provide ongoing financial assistance to the new settlement and Townsville was named in his honour.[9]