Backward Glance – Oyster gatherers of Pumicestone Passage

You may not know that the little township of Donnybrook, situated on the western shore of Pumicestone Passage, was once called Little Caloundra.

Early stories say it got its present name from a camp used by the Moreton Bay Oyster Company. ‘Donnybrooke’ camp was the principal site for the Moreton Bay Oyster Company with the other main site located on South Stradbroke Island.

The camp had originally started off as a lime burning centre.

The Moreton Bay Oyster Company started trading on 11 August 1876 and until the 1920s it was the largest of its type operating in Queensland.

During the late 1870s many families moved to Pumicestone Passage and settled close to the pristine waterway where work camps were set up for the oyster company.

It was an enterprising time and Pumicestone Passage became a busy waterway with more than 100 people employed in the industry.

There were numerous oyster leases on the banks and on the islands which dot the passage.

The industry was labour intensive but the returns were worthwhile.

Oyster gatherers would dredge up the oysters, put them in bags and send them via cutters to market to be transported as far away as Sydney.

Each oyster bag contained the contents of four large kerosene tins. In some places the oyster beds were three metres thick in Pumicestone Passage.

Covered oyster docks were built on passage sites all the way up to Caloundra.

The oyster company used a mechanised system which raised and lowered the oysters on racks and could be used to load the oysters onto boats to transport them to the thriving market.

Thomas Martin Tripcony Senior was one of the early oystering pioneers of Pumicestone Passage. Arriving in 1861 he was connected to both lime burning and oystering.

In 1876 Tripconys acquired a selection of 1215 hectares and built a home they named Cowie Bank.

Four generations of the Tripcony family became involved in the oyster industry.

Cowie Bank was positioned between Hussey and Glasshouse Mountain Creek about 20 kilometres east of Beerburrum.

The Tripconys used an oyster gathering process where they dredged the oysters with a wire mesh rake pulled behind a flat bottomed punt.

They would transfer the young oysters back to Cowie Bank jetty and place them in a holding area for fattening which allowed the oysters to be covered at high tide.

Goods and passengers also travelled on the oyster cutters but after the North Coast Rail Line opened to Landsborough in the early 1890s the region’s transport needs changed.

The transportation of goods and passengers saw the Near North Coast begin to use rail services and when the train arrived at designated stations the goods or passengers were met by horse and buggy or cart and transported over rough tracks to their destination.

Many walked if they could not afford the luxury of horse transportation at the time.

Thomas Martin Tripcony passed away in 1896 and by the turn of the century many of the oyster beds silted over or had begun to disappear.

After the death of his father, young Tom Tripcony owned and operated a shallow draft oyster cutter named ‘Cowie’ which transported oysters throughout Moreton Bay.

Most oyster cutter skippers were excellent seaman and experienced in crossing bars with only sail power.

The early pioneers recalled the sleek lines of the cutters in many of their stories. The oyster men were remembered for their knowledge of weather conditions and the sea.

A report in the Queenslander on 25 June 1898 by a southern oyster expert Mr Griffen warned of a worm disease near Newcastle.

“The worm disease had been known in the Hunter River district for over sixteen years. The disease had become acclimatized, and in consequence the work of cultivating even small quantities of oysters on clean ground was both troublesome and expensive.”

It was also reported in this news story that the Inspector of Fisheries, Mr Fison, went on a tour of inspection in June 1898 and reported the dredged section, above the Tewantin reserve, had large quantities of small culture and fat oysters.

On inspecting the banks near Lake Weyba, on either side of the bridge large quantities of oysters were found on pearl shells in a fine healthy condition, and without the slightest trace of worms or other parasites. The oysters both at the Mooloolah Heads and higher up the river were found to be perfectly clean.

Though a healthy outlook around Noosa and the Mooloolah River was identified, major problems were soon to follow further south.

Pumicestone Passage oysters had a reputation for being the finest. The industry was nearly wiped out in 1909 by the worm infestation which went on to cover all of Moreton Bay.

By the 1920s the oyster industry in South East Queensland waterways was in serious trouble.

It was Thomas Tripcony’s adult sons Andrew, Con and young Thomas who played a major role in the foundation years of Caloundra.

They had continued oystering for some time but then branched out into transportation and fishing as well as opening the first shop at Black Flat, Caloundra.

The ‘Cowie’ owned by Tom Tripcony was later sold to Tom Maloney of Caloundra who used it for the shell grit industry.

Tom Maloney’s father was recorded as being an oysterman in the early 1900s but by 1923 he was registered as a motorboat proprietor.

Tom Maloney and his brothers Norm and Jim were then involved in passenger services meeting steamers and bringing people and goods from the deep water side of Bribie Island’s Bongaree to Caloundra via the passage.

Their boats included ‘La Rita’ and ‘Cal-Bri’ which were also used to take people staying in Caloundra’s guest houses fishing for short trips across the Caloundra bar.

Life had changed for the oystermen and so did their careers.

There are still some oysters in the region. This olden day story reminds us of the history of our waterways with the oyster cutter and sailing boat transport system a thing of the past.

Thanks to Sunshine Coast Council’s Heritage Library Officers for the words and Picture Sunshine Coast for the images.

/Public Release. View in full here.