History of Benowa, Queensland, Australia
The suburb of Benowa is located 6km to the west of Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, in South East Queensland, bordered by the Nerang River and Carrara to the south, the suburb of Bundall to its East, Southport to its North, and Ashmore to its North/West.
Benowa’s Name
The name Benowa is thought to come from the word “Boonow”, meaning “red bloodwood”, in the language of the Bundjalung people. These trees are native to the area, and it is said that their distinctive red bark inspired the name.
Another possible meaning for Benowa is “silver water”. This was suggested by a local resident in the early 1900s, who noted that the area is home to many creeks and rivers that flow with clear, silvery water.
The true meaning of Benowa is still debated, but both interpretations are beautiful and evocative of the area’s natural beauty.
The Beauty of Benowa
A newspaper columnist (B.J.S) wrote in ‘The Brisbane Courier newspaper on Saturday, September 14, 1907’: “The pleasure seeker’s delight makes the gaze wonder why so few in the metropolis are acquainted with the beauty alone of Benowa. Without a doubt, the view can hold pride of place in the district.
Robert Muir, Benowa Pioneer
In 1866, Robert Muir, formerly of Scotland, pioneered the first major land purchase of 1100 acres along the northern bank of the Nerang Creek (later renamed the Nerang River), which was to become Benowa.
The creek was known for its impenetrable scrub; however, a labour of men formed what would become “The Springwood group”, one of the many such groups of men and women, who would incessantly carve away at clearing the scrub, to form a future for this “Land of the Great White Queen.”
Cotton Regulated to Obscurity
Robert Muir initially grew cotton, which was processed at the local Bundall mill owned by the Manchester Cotton Company. However, by 1869, cotton was no longer the predominant crop in the area. In fact, it had become so obscure that it was being burned for fuel.
Manchester Cotton Company Estate for Sale
Published by the Darling Downs Gazette, Wednesday, 22 November 1882
Mr R. Muir’s celebrated Sugar Plantation. To say that the soil of these Farms is ‘rich’ is simply to use a ‘hackneyed’ term, which, to many persons, means nothing. The word, as applied to the foregoing properties, is inadequate to express the fertility of the land. It may seem like hyperbole to say there is NOT IN THE WORLD RICHER SOIL, but nevertheless, it is the Auctioneer’s belief that there is not.
This is what the correspondent of the Brisbane Courier says about the property in his letter of the 9th instant: ‘That paragon of farming properties, the Manchester Cotton Company’s Estate will be sold by John Cameron on the 4th of next month [December, 1882].
Success came with Sugar Cane
This region was once known as Sugaropolis; it is here that Australia’s sugar industry was established.
Robert had experience with sugar cane while living in the West Indies, and would end up managing the nearby Bundall Sugar Plantation and Mill, ‘Mort, Holland and Co.’, formed in 1870 and owned by John Mort, Julius Holland, and William Miskin.
So changing his property over to sugar cane, with assistance from Kanakas (workers from various Pacific Islands), was a natural progression away from cotton.
1870 First Sugar Crushing
1870 was the first sugar cane crushing season for Robert; sugar works were contained on his property in a neat building with a [concrete] slab, consisting of a four-horse horizontal mill, an open pan battery, with direct fire, and curing boxes, where the sugar was drained in the ordinary way; separated in long triangular-shaped drainage boxes, perforated with small augur or gimlet holes (he was yet to make use of a superior centrifugal process).
Illustrated Adelaide Post (SA : 1867 – 1874) Wed 9 Aug 1871, Page 10
BENOWA SUGAR PLANTATION, QUEENSLAND.
This magnificent estate, containing one thousand one hundred acres of rich alluvial land, consisting of scrub and open plain, fronts the Nerang River, and is about 50 miles from Brisbane. Although sometimes called Nerang Creek, it may justly be termed a river, as it is of good width and is navigable for a great way beyond Benowa, which has also water communication with Brisbane via Moreton Bay, distant only three miles.
Benowa was settled on by Mr. Robert Muir in 1866, and the improvements that have been made since then serve to show that no time has been lost. Sixty acres of cleared brush land is now under crop with sugar-cane, and about 50 acres more will be planted the ensuing season. All drainage where necessary has been skilfully carried out. The sugar works, contained in a neat building (slab), consists of a four horse horizontal mill, an open pan battery, with direct fire, and curing-boxes, where the sugar is drained in the ordinary way.
The plant cost about £500, and turns out daily 15 cwt. of dry sugar, the quality of which has the reputation of being the best Queensland sugar that has gone into either the Brisbane, Sydney, or Melbourne markets. In Melbourne a sample which was forwarded to Mr. William Muir was valued by several of the leading merchants at from £35 to £40 per ton.
At the Brisbane Agricultural Show in January last, it was acknowledged to be the best exhibited (but unfortunately it was not in time to compete for a prize), beating that boiled by improved steam processes and drained by centrifugals. In course of another year Mr. Muir intends to erect more extensive works to meet his increase in cultivation. The scenery of Benowa is naturally picturesque, and cultivation tastefully displayed has rendered it exceedingly beautiful.
A sugar plantation bearing every appearance of good farming and management would, in a localily less favored, be a pleasing sight, but how charming must it be when embosomed in lovely scenery. From Mr. Muir’s house upon the hill, you behold a portion of the river, whose banks are clothed to the water’s edge with an entangled mass of rich foliage, and no matter where you turn there is something to please the eye.
The bright green plain patched with sugar-cane, stretching along east and west the margin-belts of magnificent brush almost meeting but opening out again; the huge fig-trees—Ficus macrophylla; bean tree
— Casternospermum Australe; rose wood— Lynoum Glandulosum; the graceful fronds of the towering brigalow palm arching over, or wafting to and fro; the back grounds: of distant mountains; and last, not least, the men, horses, and ploughs at busy toil, helped to complete what might be termed ‘a ravishing picture.
Apart from the great amount of knowledge which Mr. Muir undoubtedly possesses in everything connected with the cultivation of cane and manufacture of sugar (acquired, no doubt, through his long practice in the West Indies), he has displayed a deal of judgment and good taste by settling upon so charmingly picturesque a spot as Benowa.
1887 catastrophic floods
On Sunday, 23 January 1887, catastrophic flooding would cause the end of Robert’s successful Benowa Plantation and in fact his very life, this came about through a tragic choice to journey to Brisbane in a horse-drawn buggy with flooding occurring.
Published by The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld.: 1866 – 1939), Saturday, 29 January 1887, Page 185:
Mr Robert Muir of Benowa, accompanied by his son, Peter, arrived shortly after 7 p.m. on Sunday at a place about a mile south of Yatala, near the turn-off to Ageston. Apparently misjudging the depth of the water, he drove in; both he and his son drowned.
At this spot, the water at one time was over the telegraph post, but had fallen considerably when Mr Muir was drowned. Their bodies were recovered on Monday. They were buried in the cemetery the same night.
Division of the Property
By September 1887, Robert’s plantation was up for sale, selling to Charles Parbury of Sydney. Charles had in mind dividing the land into smaller 20 to 30-acre farms for sugar cane growers.
Benowa State School Beginnings
Charles donated land for the establishment of the ‘Bundall Provisional School’, which was opened on 21st September 1885. In November 1900, the school was renamed Benowa Provisional School. Then, in 1909, the school was relocated to the corner of Ashmore Road and Carrara Street in Benowa and renamed Benowa State School.
More Flooding
As time passed, history would show that these smaller farms were not financially viable; farmers moved from sugar cane to grow alternative crops, such as potatoes, maize, lucerne and oats. After a series of floods in the early 1890s, the new crops were also found to be unprofitable.
Nerang River Sugar Company Limited
In late 1895, a cooperative venture involving farmers from the South Coast region formed the ‘Nerang River Sugar Company Limited’; it would go on to be the first company registered under the new Sugar Works Guarantee Act of 1893.
With history on their side, the State Government urged farmers not to limit themselves to a single crop; instead, they were encouraged to diversify.
Growth
By 1896, the mill site had expanded to cover 17 acres. The company invested heavily in new machinery, built a wharf on the Nerang River (which would later be known as the Carrara Ferry), constructed new buildings, established a new mill, and laid tramway lines connecting outlying cane fields as well as the local Government railway station in Molendinar.
Foreclosure and Renaming
By January 1905, the mill was facing foreclosure, prompting the Queensland State Government to step in and take control.
Despite experts advising that sugar production in the district was in rapid decline, the Government decided to continue supporting the sugar cane industry. The mill continued and would go on to be renamed ‘Nerang Creek Central Mill’.
Benowa Village
In 1909, the mill was located on an elevated site at the centre of Benowa Village, overlooking a large lake that was surrounded by pockets of bamboo. The village contained houses for the mill employees and their families, together with a post office, a general store, and an accommodation house.
Benowa Post Office and its Relocation
In 1915 a new Post Office was constructed, this would continue to function until it was relocated to 173 Ashmore Rd, Benowa where it was restored, and repurposed as the ‘Gold Coast Potters Association’ gallery.
Nerang Creek Central Mill Closure
With the cane supply averaging only 7,000 tons per annum, the mill’s viability was no longer sustainable. With this in mind, the State Government gave notice to local growers that it intended to close the Benowa mill after the 1918 harvest season.
Relocation to Rocky Point
In 1919 the ‘Nerang Creek Central Mill’ was finally closed, it was sold to Wilhelm Heinrich Heck (1871 to 1944, with the onset of World War 1 and 2, he would become known as William Henry) of Pimpama Island, owner of Rocky Point Expansion/Sugar Mill.
Wilhelm arranged the deconstruction of the mill and its relocation to his own property, where it was reassembled; this would increase the Heck Group’s sugar cane crushing capacity from 800 tons annually to 40,000 tons.
950 acres go up for Sale
In 1922, the largest regional land sale of the time (950 acres) was arranged. The land was divided into 23 agricultural and dairy farms, as well as a number of housing lots. The farms were purchased by local families, such as Gooding, Huth, Rosser, Skelton and Stanfield.
Benowa and The Carrara Ferry
Early on, the Carrara Ferry formed a significant link, connecting Benowa, Carrara, Merrimac, Mudgeeraba, Nerang and Southport. It came to be known as “The Carrara Road”, and some 1960s maps would list Benowa Road as Carrara Road or Carrara Ferry Road.
The road from the Carrara Ferry south was still marked as Carrara Ferry Road in 1983 street maps and was changed to Carrara Road on 2013 maps.
The Formation of Rosser Park
In 1969 the patriarch of the Rosser family; John Rosser, donated over two hectares of land for use as a local park, this would be opened in 1975 and named Rosser Park.
Rosser Park would go on to be selected by Gold Coast City Council in late 1999 as the most suitable site for a proposed “Regional Botanic Gardens”.
Gold Coast Regional Botanical Gardens
In 2004, Gene Rosser (daughter of John and Esse Rosser) was appointed as Patron for the gardens. The development of a Master Plan was completed in 2002, and since 2003, more than 20,000 local Australian natives have been planted by Friends of the Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens, with community support.
Sensory and Horticultural Display Gardens
In 2006, Gold Coast City Council, Rotary International and Friends of the Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens established the Sensory and Horticultural Display Gardens around the lagoon.
The Gardens are now established on 31 hectares of public land, a short 10-minute drive from central Surfers Paradise.
Three Distinctive Regions in Benowa
Benowa encompasses three characteristic regions: Benowa, Benowa Hills and Benowa Waters. With the suburbs’ population growth came new schools, such as St Kevin’s Primary School in 1979 and Benowa High School in 1980, as well as the opening of Benowa Gardens Shopping Centre in 1992.
The Rich and Compelling History of Benowa, Queensland, Australia
Benowa’s history is a compelling story of indigenous roots, industrial ambition, and sudden tragedy. Originally, the land of the Bundjalung people. The year 1866 saw a transformation when the pioneer Robert Muir established a massive 1,100-acre sugar plantation in the area.
However, the district’s trajectory shifted forever in 1887 when a catastrophic flood claimed the lives of Robert Muir and his eldest son. Following this tragedy, the Muirs’ great sugar estate was subdivided into smaller dairy and maize farms, held by well-known local families such as the Rossers and Huths.
This transition eventually paved the way for the leafy residential streets and botanical gardens that define the Benowa we know today.
Author: Craig Douglas
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