This is an historical website in partnership with other historians, associations and public libraries so they can post and sell their Far North Queensland research on-line.

Using the 400 pages of the 1889 Royal Commission into the Sugar and Tropical Produce industries (microfilm John Oxley Library) as the basis document, a searchable website has been produced that continuously expands with the contributions of our subscribers and aligned public libraries.

The 1889 Royal Commission investigation embraced all the sugar producing areas from Port Douglas to Bundaberg and interviewed 154 witnesses from mill owners, workers, hospital attendants, kanaka employers &c – all the earliest pioneers - and provides a perfect time capsule of all these long-gone activities in those tiny, tiny settlements, some only a few years old.

Each participating library and historical society has contributed $100;

supplied historical material from their Special Collections specifically linked to the Commission’s 1880-1890 period;

and supplied a list of all copyright-free local history books that can be lawfully scanned so searches can be conducted on-line on the website by visitors.

Members of the public and private historians subscribe to the website and provide their own contributions, which are indexed and included in the site’s General Index.

A search fee applies to other members wishing to examine private entries, chapters, papers or even books of other contributors. They are literally selling their work on-line.

Each subscriber also lists their relevant interests and a chat-forum has been established so members can converse with each other on-line.

Members are always encouraged to include as much John Oxley Library material as they can and quarterly research projects are undertaken at the Library to extend the breadth of the project.

Please feel free to subscribe or even recommend this site to others.