Arguably, amongst the most rewarding opportunities of my career has been as researcher with the Museum of Central Queensland’s Moving House project. The whereabouts of more than a hundred houses has been discovered, first built by the Mount Morgan Mine, one of the richest gold mines in the world. They were dispersed far and wide around Queensland in the 1910s, ’20s and ’30s, by horse and jinker, bullock team, rail and road, after a downturn at the mine. Now, with their whereabouts unearthed, each house has its own story to tell.
One of the most compelling stories uncovered, and by coincidence of a house moved the greatest distance at more than 600km, tells of a World War I veteran, William Alfred Puckering, a black smith’s striker at the Mount Morgan Mine who, in 1918, fell in love with his ‘English rose’, Lottie, while recovering from war injuries in England. Lottie’s mother swore to disown her daughter if she left England for the Aussie Digger and, true to her word, never spoke to her daughter again. The couple was married in Australia in 1920, later securing a loan to buy a house, having three children, and settling down in Mt Morgan.
Just a few years later, with a down-turn at the mine, William was forced to pursue whatever work he could find, living in bush camps around Central Queensland. With three children in tow, Lottie would follow her husband around the countryside, camping in rudimentary accommodation to ensure the family stayed together.
When, after three years, William finally procured a good job in Brisbane, he instructed Lottie to acquire quotes to move the house. But their home wasn’t welcomed by the locals, who organised a petition against this second-hand structure which, they maintained, didn’t fit in with the houses being built in the area.
A hundred years on the house’s origins have been confirmed, and the story unveiled by the grand-daughter of the Digger, who meticulously researched her father’s scrapbooks to glean details. And full circle now: a new young couple lives in the house, is planning their own family and is undertaking yet another modification to this 100 year old abode, to suit the modern-day hopes and dreams of this next generation.
