Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 10 : Record of press coverage, March 1982 - May 1984

Sunday Mall Co/or. May 1. 1983 "'19131""-.· ":,~ L AST Thursday the Governor, Sir James Ramsay, and Lady Ramsay attended the unveiling of a large bronze sculpture at the Queensland Art Gallery. The artwork was a gift to lhl' State of Queensland from Pioneer Sugar Mills. to commemorate 1hr ccntenar~· of the rnmpany, founded in 18!U. Thl• subject of tht• sculpturl' is Jemmy \ lnrrill, a north ()m•cnslund folk hero. This is his story: The strange saga of Je111my Morrill 0 :-S :, bree11 morning in Februar, S-l 6. :1 ba rque put @I from Sydney 1a rbor . bound fo r China . Oft he 21 soul, •n board . one was destined to survive , nd live for 17 years with Aboriginals, 0 become north Quecnsland's first .,·hitc resident. The ill-fated barque was he Peru1•ia11 . It s sole surviv o r wa s James Morrill. The son of a millwright. Morrill was born n Esse,. England, and. linding his father's , usincss too confining for his restless nature. x came a sailor at 15. He was 22 when he ,i gncd on with the crew of the Pernl'ian, but .,as by then an experienced se:1man. Jemmy Morrill was a nuent writer and ri as left a detailed account of his travels and .: xpcrienccs.The P,·r1wian went aground in a , torm on the outer edge of the Great Barrier f{eef. just a week after the ship left Sydney. rhcrc were some immediate casualties and 1he ship's boats were destroyed. On a raft constructed of spars. Capta in l'itkethley took the twenty survivors safely 1hrough the Jagged points of the ree f. The castaways had manaicd to salvage a few tins .,f preserved meat. a small keg of water and a :i11le brand y and, as the days turned into .~•ccks, starvat ion and cxpoi;urc killed mnst of · he compan) They caught sharks to cat by usi ng the 11 rnbs of their dl.'ad companions as bait and . , ,ftcr a gruelling 41 d:i)Sadrift , the little r:ift w:ts washed ashllrc on the southern roi nt of Cape Cleveland O nly Sel'en people survived the ordeal to ,l'l foot lln dry land again. or thc:,;c seven, two died "'ithin a few da), and one paddled 1fr in a nat i\'l' canni.: hl' found lln the beach, :icvl'r to lx· ,ci.:n .1~ain. This left fou r "hite pcllple: Wilson. the , hip's bo). Cap1:11n Pitlcthlc) and hi, ... ;re. tnd Jcmnn ~IMrdl. lo fal.'.l' alone wha tever tcr rors th/,-.ddcrnl'SS mi~ht hold fo r them. Afti:r l" t) \H'l'k$. during. whk-h 1hcy ... ur\'ivcd b~ l':1t111~ ll~sll'rs and an~ other food : he , (LHJld find. thn "l'fl' discu\'c:rcd b~ a .!fl).up r,f .-\ borigm,il~ The \'.:,1,1:," .1,:-. " ere tcrrir1ed of the .::o or in n:ikL·d bl.11.:k mL·n 1., h1l (:tme ,~, , ta re .11 ·hi.:m 1nd \,t hbi.:r 111 .,n uninh.: ll1g.1bk .111g u.1µ e, t,ut . 111 .kmnn \h.1rr dl', 1m11 •\ \\flb "Th,·1 1\1' ' 1' 111 afrmcl of 11.1. tl \ " «' \\t'r,· 11/ ·h,•m -111,,, ,I ,\J11/,· th1•11·,11111•,1m t111i: II\ ,uttl ·,·fr jJ\ ,."II u \1' ' 1 f d /)/ 11,•ac/ Id /du/ rh1°\ " 1t/'if11 d :hi ,,,1, d 1 1 that \\ 1' 1,i•r1 · human ·1,'• II \.'.' .:•:.: 1 1,•, j•111 1.: in Ml( :h1 1 \ ,1,~t·,/ In h1 • l1.,' l/1 hi:,,.,. ,,, '1 .. •,i ' 1/1/c ,,,11,, 1, I' •11t1dt /l.,'1/ 1 ,1'1,: : ,,: ,'l'1'f' I l\t h,;d 1•'"" ,Ji r,11\ : 111 • •: ,It/,/ , , 111i: " •\ "11'1 ,.,,.! I ,.,,,. 1,J.'11: 111 TO PA GE 4 CONTENTS Saga of Jemmy Morrill.. .. 3 Comic Parade . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Helen Keller. .. . . . . . . . . . . 8 Our Strange Past . . . . . ... 10 What Do You Know? .... . 10 Gardening .. ..... . . ..... 1 5 Children's Pages. . . .... . . 17 Cooking . . .. .. ..... . . . .. 21 Design for Living .. .. .... 22 L~F I Momll Jemmy ho w as north Ouoensland's first white rosatont. For 17 yoat' s he hvecl with Abongmals. ...