Port to prosperity

Photo: Queen’s Wharf Maryborough, 1866. Image courtesy of the Maryborough Wide Bay & Burnett Historical Society.

Port of Maryborough

“Workers desperately needed!” was the call from the pioneer settlement of Maryborough. “Bring in the boats” was the answer. 

Like many other pioneer settlements in the new Queensland colony, Maryborough was struggling to find the men and women they needed to tame the bush, establish industries and turn the dusty shanty town into a thriving centre.

So imagine the excitement in 1862 when the first immigration ship, the Ariadne, sailed up the Mary River to a thunderous salute from 11 ship cannons and docked at Queens Wharf after a long sea voyage from Liverpool, England.

The 259 passengers were the start of an influx of over 22,000 immigrants to arrive directly from England, Ireland, Scotland and parts of Europe. By 1901, more than 150 immigrant boats had docked at the Port of Maryborough.