Montville Firsts

This is a history record that everyone can contribute to by either challenging a claim or adding one. All you have to do is email your challenge/claim to Doug Patterson at capatterson@bigpond.com.  Please try to cite a reference or source for your challenge/claim.  All of our claims come from existing Montville History Group’s research which does include personal memories at times.

George Land Bury from Nambour Street mural

George Land Bury

 

  1. The first Peoples were the Nalbo and Dallanbara Clans of the Jinibara Nation.
  2. The first European explorer was Ludwig Leichhardt in 1843.
  3. The first European to attend a Bunya Festival was Tom Petrie in 1845.
  4. The first European selector was G. L. Bury in 1881.
  5. The first European selector to settle in the Baroon Pocket was Robert Laverick in 1886.
  6. The first European selector to settle on the central Blackall Range was T. P. L. Weitemeyer in 1887.
  7. The first European name for the settlement was Razorback.
  8. The first birth in Razorback was Harry Weitemeyer in 1888.
  9. The first selector on the Back Road was Alfred (Fred) Smith in 1893,
  10. The first planting of banana trees was by Fred Smith in 1893.
  11. The first planting of citrus trees by George Butt and Henry Smith, was in 1893.
  12. First fruit cash crop was Cape Gooseberries in 1894.
  13. The first recorded death was Jane Borthwick Weitemeyer in 1894.
  14. The first commercial strawberry crop was harvested in 1895.
  15. The first public building was the Razorback Provisional School in 1896.
  16. The first pupil was Barbara Morrison.
  17. The first head teacher was Emily Palmer.
  18. The first store and receiving office was established by Henry Smith in 1897.
  19. The first use of Montville as the name for the settlement was in 1897 after a public meeting of landowners proposed it to Australia Post when it was discovered that the Razorback was taken.
  20. The first religious presence was the Salvation Army Barracks, opposite the Razorback School in 1897.
  21. The first community building, was the school – Razorback Provisional School, 1896
  22. The first hall was the School of Arts, was built in 1903.

School of Arts23. The first community library, housed in the School of Arts, was in 1904.

24.The first marriage in Montville was in the School of Arts between James Ruddy and Lilly Laverick in 1905.