Anthelme Thozet
Anthelme Thozet was a Frenchman, born about 1827, who moved
to Australia after the French revolt and apparently started
working at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney about 1856. His
obituary later stated that he left France as a political refugee
but there is little information about this early part of his
life.
When the Canoona gold rush started he travelled to Rockhampton
to join the rush to Canoona. Quickly figuring that this was
a short-term option, he stayed in Rockhampton and opened a hotel.
The Alliance was in East Street and was notable for being only
the second hotel in Rockhampton. It was also notable for being
built of timber from the native Leichhardt trees, which were
plentiful at that time, and roofed with slate. For many years
it was the only building in Rockhampton roofed other than with
shingles or iron.
Anthelme Thozet became known as a businessman as well as a
botanist, he was the first director of the Rockhampton Botanic
Gardens and is said to have been instrumental in selecting the
site of the historic South Rockhampton Cemetery.
He left the Botanic Gardens and set up his own plant nursery
and experimental gardens "Muellerville" in North Rockhampton.
At this site he trialled the cultivation of many plants. According
to Hermann's "The development of Rockhampton and District",
Thozet was able to cultivate the following plants at Muellerville:
wheat, barley, oats, various vegetables, grapes, bananas, pineapples,
melons, arrowroot, cotton, sugarcane and tobacco. A near neighbour,
Mr. Halberstater, was known to successfully grow cabbages.
Thozet was said to be the first person to grow cotton in Australia.
He documented many of the Aboriginal uses of foods and published
a book on the uses of native plants. He is also responsible
for planting many of the shade trees which line Quay Street
near the old wharf area of Rockhampton, and a plaque there recognises
his efforts. (insert image below)
Most of this information is readily available so I want to
document some other anecdotal information, and add some details
where possible.
Muellerville was a 66 acre block of land, bounded by what is
today Thozet Road (to the west), Thozet Creek (east), Rockonia
Road (north) and Lakes Creek Road (south boundary). The original
property title is shown below. (insert image)
The gardens were decorative as well as experimental. There
is a story of an impressive statue which was a well-known feature
of the gardens. It apparently stood for many years on-site after
Thozet's death and then disappeared. Later, it was located on
a property east of Rockhampton but its whereabouts are now unknown.
Local legend has it that when Anthelme died 31 May 1878 he
was buried on site at his beloved Muellerville. Anthelme's business
interests had made the family moderately wealthy and they also
had social standing. His widow Maria Isabella continued to live
the lifestyle she was accustomed to, and the estate went broke.
The situation was so bad financially that the bank even repossessed
Anthelme's headstone.
History of Muellerville after Thozet
Some years later, Anthelme and Maria's only son either suicided
or died by tragic accident. Maria died in 1923 at the age of
80 and the property began to be subdivided. In the 1960's when
residential development accelerated, Thozet's body was exhumed
and moved to the North Rockhampton Cemetery.
The following extract from the current Rockhampton City Council
Planning Scheme may help put Thozet's gardens into context:
"There is currently a number of mango trees of different
varieties, located throughout the Area. The trees are mature
specimens strategically planted in rows when the land was part
of Muellerville, an experimental nursery garden developed by
Anthelme Thozet in the early 1860's. It was at Muellerville,
that Thozet successfully grew cotton, coffee and sugar as well
as tropical fruits such as mangoes. Despite these early beginnings,
few remnants other than the mango trees now exist. The retention
of these trees is desirable where possible and consistent with
the residential intent for the Area." (p. 4-120)
For many years, land at the north eastern corner of what had
been Muellerville was a market garden of about four acres known
as "Valencia". The original house named Valencia still
stands in Rockonia Road. Oral history says that it had a walkway
covered with timber battens beside the house Valencia and that
at the end of the walkway was a covered sales shed. Raised beds
were also near the sales shed. There was an orchard in the southern
portion and the eastern strip along the creek was extensively
covered with vegetable gardens. (insert photo of Valencia)
Later this remaining acreage was again subdivided and the eastern
part was operated as a strawberry farm for many more years.
The western section was used as a storage yard for a secondhand
dealer. In recent years the two properties have again been managed
as one and it is now known as "Creekholme".
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