However, Rockhampton did not receive its name until July 1856, when Land Commissioner
William Henry Wiseman spoke to
Charles Archer and Richard Palmer, who had opened a shop in Fitzroy earlier that year. Even so, Rockhampton’s spirit of independence, first noted
in the 1860s, has undoubtedly been enhanced by its several attempts to become capital of a
new state stretching westward from Keppel Bay to the Northern Territory border, south to the
Dawes Range and north to Capt Palmerston (south of Sarina), as defined in the 1890s.
The first Europeans to see the river were Charles and William Archer, who named the river after the
governor of New South Wales when it was in the territory of New South Wales,
from of 1853 and
archers have seen the river since May
.
On a positive note, however, independence has benefited the city. Queensland had a much higher degree of devolution at the time than
, with three administrative divisions already established.
Then the first parliament met in 1860 and recognized that Australia - the second largest state needed some form of power transfer
and soon railways started running west from the ports of Brisbane , Rockhampton and Townsville.
The coastal people, the Dharampal people, knew the broad Rockhampton River in
as "Tunupa".
are true conservationists, gathering enough food to meet their daily needs. The brothers and their band of servants were also the first Europeans to settle in the area in
, arriving at Gracemere, the site of their future farm, on 10 August 1855.
Mineral Wealth
The Kanuna gold rush in late 1858, about 60 km north of
Rockhampton, brought immediate residents to the young town.
