A Part of Buderim's History

Love at Guy’s Siding 

by Mark Murtagh

Bill Parker.   My grandfather, William Ernest Parker, was an American, born in Missouri or Kansas, we think, in 1879 we think.  He was raised on a farm, and then as a young man drove large herds of cattle from the prairies to market, was a lumberjack in Canada during winter when the muskeg was frozen, and worked on railroad construction at other times.  He found himself in San Francisco sometime around 1910.

It seems that at that time the (Australian) Victorian State Government dreamed up a plan, “The Closer Lands Settlement Scheme” to open up the Shepparton district for apple orchardists, and recruited 64 Americans in San Francisco to be the pioneers. Bill was one of these. They brought them across, by ship of course, landed in Sydney thence by rail to Melbourne.  Here they received a lavish civic reception.  Shortly thereafter they were taken to the area of the proposed orchards.  It was immediately obvious to the recruits that this was not a viable proposition, so, Bill and his buddies, all disappointed, branched out looking for other opportunities.  The government wasn’t going to pay to send them home.   I am guessing that some of them would not want to go home for various reasons.

Bill made his way to Queensland.  He had worked on railroad construction in America so with all the railroad action in Queensland at that time he picked up a few earthmoving contracts. There was a big one on the line to Aramac.  George Phillips was the Engineer in charge of that project.  George later took on the Buderim Tram Line and was keen for Bill to do the work too.   Various sections of the line earthworks were being offered for tender.  Bill’s bids were successful for the bulk of the work from the Glen up to Telco Road.  You can, and should, walk along that line to see what was achieved with hand tools, explosives and horse drawn equipment.

Of course, everyone knows about William Henry Guy.  He was on Buderim with a survey party in 1869, and was among the very first settlers when the land was opened up for selection.  Soon after he built his primitive shack he found a lovely bride, Susan Hamilton.  It took more than a week on horseback to get her home after the wedding ceremony, and she wasn’t impressed when she arrived!  Nevertheless, they persevered, and made a fabulous family.  One girl and 5 boys.  They also built a grand old Queenslander home.

Jessie Guy.  My grandmother, Jestina Catherine Guy, was the firstborn of the Guy’s, and in fact, was the first white female born on Buderim.  She was a student at the Buderim State School, enrolled in 1884.  Quite active in civic and social activities as were most of the Quakers and Methodists.  Like everyone on Buderim, she took an interest in the tramway construction which crossed their place, and made the acquaintance of Bill Parker, the cavalier man in charge of earthworks further down the line.  Hey, have a look at what these men did without powered machinery, and you will be in awe too.   She was obviously enraptured, and Bill and Jessie were wed in 1914. 

They started married life on a farm at Tingoora, near Kingaroy.  Their wheat crops were a failure due to adverse seasons but one thing of note was that Jessie took peanuts from Buderim. They flourished, and that lead eventually to the start of the famous Kingaroy peanut industry. My mother, Maud, was born there.  Maud Street in Maroochydore is named after her.  They subsequently had 3 more girls, May, Ella and Rose.

Bill and Jessie returned to Buderim.  Mr. Guy gave them a slice of his land where they got back on their feet.  He was a kind and generous man.

Interestingly, Bill sold out to Arthur Parker, (same name, no relation), whose daughter Monica later married Jessie’s youngest brother Harold.  This is the same Monica Guy, the Buderim 150 ‘Living Legend’ who turned 105 years old in November 2011.  My Great-Aunt.

From Buderim, Bill and Jessie moved down towards Mooloolaba to a block adjacent to the Cemetery, then eventually to Maroochydore.  At one stage they were the biggest landholders there with their 400 acre dairy along the south side of Aerodrome Road.  Bill was very active in the community and it was he who put a motion to the Progress Association in 1947 to rename the shire the ‘Sunshine Coast’.  This predated the push by the REIQ by many years.  Bill would be happy to know that his idea has finally been adopted.

Bill and Jessie are buried at the Buderim Cemetery, but their progeny and their memories live on along the Sunshine Coast and hinterland.