After three years of extensive research and hard work the book “On Eagles’ Wings, the Atkinson Family of North Queensland, 1862 – 2014" was launched on Saturday at Sue and Henry Atkinson’s property Bridletrack situated at the foot of the Hervey Range.
Close to 270 family friends and members of the Atkinson family celebrated the books launch which chronicles the rise of one of the most prominent grazing and cane growing families in north Queensland.
During his welcome speech Henry Atkinson said the idea for the book arose after another Atkinson family reunion several years ago where several family members were wondering why the Atkinson history hadn’t been documented.
“Sue and I thought that it would be a great idea to get something done, which is when we decided to get in contact with historian Marjorie Gilmore,” Mr Atkinson said.
When accepting the assignment Ms Gilmore said she didn’t know how complicated the book’s journey to completion wasn’t going to be.
“I didn’t realise their is close to 150 Atkinson family members, each with their own unique to stories to tell,” Ms Gilmore said.
“The book got so big that we had to split it into two volumes,” she said.
“The first volume covers the early years and is titled “The Pioneers” and the second volume which covers up until 2014 is named “Into the Modern Era”.
Don Heatley was also attendance to help launch the book and noted some of the highlights of James Atkinson and his descendants contributions in developing the north.
The original pioneers, James Atkinson in partnership with Ezra Firth, founded Albert Downs which became part of Mt Surprise Station, for some time the most northern cattle station in the unsettled district of Cook.
The Atkinsons left the Mt Surprise partnership in 1872 and moved to the wet tropical coast near where Ingham is established today.
They named their new property Farnham and grew sugar and other produce as well as accumulating grazing land in the district.
In 1899 James Atkinson passed away at age 75, but his work would be continued and expanded upon by future Atkinson generations.
It was Mont and Ken Atkinson, who were instrumental in the introduction of Bos indicus cattle into North Queensland and the establishment of the Droughtmaster breed.
Mr Heatley expressed his admiration for Atkinson family saying they laid the foundation for two highly important industries for the north.
“We salute you, and respect you,” he said.
There has been a constant demand for the book which has attracted wide interest in the north, and a few copies are still available. Order forms are available from Marjorie Gilmore on (07) 5471 2751 or magilmore@bigpond.com
