N is for Joyce NITA Meng and Newbury Junction #AtoZChallenge2016

My theme for the AtoZChallenge is exploring the Walker family . Thinking about the family I realised that they were around in Mackay, Queensland in the early days of settlement so I have decided to discover some snippets of early Mackay as it relates to this family and others in my family tree. I hope you enjoy the journey.

N is for Joyce NITA Meng, my third cousin once removed, youngest daughter of Jens Frederick Lauritzen Meng and Florence Mary Elizabeth Harvison. Joyce is a great granddaughter of Alexander Walker and Mary Jane Young. 

It appears that Joyce was living in Cairns in 1950 when she was a passenger in William Boutle's car involved in an accident, as reported in the Cairns Post [1] perhaps she was already engaged?

Joyce married William Edwin Boutle on the 12th April at the Holy Trinity Church Mackay, as noted in the Cairns Post on 17th April and the Daily Mercury on 26th April [2].

The wedding report is much longer than I have posted here, to read the complete reporting use the link [2] below.

Miss Dawn Boutle, a sister of William Boutle, appears frequently in Trove as a soprano and contributing as a soloist at many occasions, including at the wedding of William and Joyce. Dawn was obviously a popular member of the Cairns community.

Now for Newbury Junction...

Newbury Junction was possibly named in 1885 when the Mackay to Eton and Hamilton Railway line was built in honour of David Hay Dalrymple who was the first Mayor of Mackay and was also born in Newbury, Berkshire in England and owned property in the vicinity.

The opening timetable provided a daily train to both branches, each day except Sunday:

Eton Departs 7 a.m.

Newbury Junction 7.27 - 7.30

Hamilton 8.00 - 8.30

Newbury Junction  8.58 - 9.00

Walkerston 9.26

Mackay Arrive 10.00am

Mackay Departs 3.00pm

Walkerston 3.36pm

Newbury Junction 5.13-5.15pm

Hamilton 4.30-4.45pm

Eton Arrive 5.42pm.

Eton residents were not happy with the early start as it left them no time to milk the cows when they left and they had to get breakfast at Newbury Junction while the train travelled to Hamilton. Hamilton was renamed Mirani by November 1885 probably to avoid confusion with the Brisbane suburb of Hamilton [3].

Alexander Walker selected land in both Hamilton (Mirani) and Newbury, his land at Newbury was adjacent to the Pioneer River.

Map showing distance from Mackay to Newbury Junction

A piece of trivia gleaned from Trove is how a patient absconded from the Mackay Base Hospital in 1952 and was found wandering in his pyjamas at Newbury Junction as reported in the Daily Mercury on 7th February 1952 [4].

I have clipped the image to fit, should you wish to read the entire reporting please follow the link [4] below.

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[1] 1950 'Grove-street Accident', Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), 17 November, p. 5. , viewed 17 Apr 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42687891

[2] 1952 'WEDDING', Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), 22 May, p. 6. , viewed 17 Apr 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42739208

1952 'Wedding Bells', Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 - 1954), 26 April, p. 5. , viewed 17 Apr 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article172095914

[3] http://www.mackayhistory.org/research/railway/qrbriefhistory.html accessed 17 April 2016.

[4] 1952 'WALKED 20 MILES IN PYJAMAS', Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 - 1954), 6 February, p. 2. , viewed 17 Apr 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article172081826