How Mourilyan came to be established

The original inhabitants of the Mourilyan / Innisfail region were the five societies of the Mamu people, following migratory lifestyles in the rainforest and moving along the rivers in string-bark canoes.   European arrival in the local area was delayed by the impenetrable rainforests, as reported by Edmund Kennedy in 1848, so only coastal exploration and settlement at places such as Cardwell occurred. The first local European incursion came in 1872. Survivors of the shipwreck "Maria" arrived on the coast at two locations near what is now Mourilyan Harbour.  Some of the indigenous people helped, others fiercely opposed these survivors. A search party on board "HMS Basilisk" under the command of Captain John Moresby arrived to search for survivors.  Moresby named the harbour after his Navigating Lieutenant Thomas Mourilyan. Sub-Inspector Robert Johnstone led an indigenous police troop.  During a venture up river in the cutters "Flying Fish" and "Coquette", Johnstone wrote glowing reports of the local area as he escorted the explorer Dalrymple, charting the watercourse and having it named after himself.

Meanwhile, a variety of agricultural enterprises were developed in these northern areas. Innisfail itself (called Geraldton until 1911) was founded in 1880 by Thomas H. Fitzgerald who took up a 10 000 hectare land grant, but not with personal success, but those who followed him did better and the community began to grow rapidly on the proceeds of sugar production.  Mourilyan Mill was built in 1882.

The settlers who moved into this region from 1889 were exceptionally diverse. The first group were Anglo-Celtic, but there were also "Kanaka" South Sea Islanders, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers, Chinese miners (banana industry and retail businesses), French merchants and German timber and sugar producers.  Chinese, Malay and Japanese labour helped build the Mourilyan Harbour Line rail link in 1883.

A large Italian migration began about 1895 and continued to the late 1930s. Much of the Innisfail area's present culture reflects Italian origins. There were also waves of migration from Greece, Malta, Spain, Yugoslavia, India, Pakistan and the Philippines. The last wave came from the border highlands of Laos (following the Vietnam War) with the Hmong refugees. Innisfail district residents have been credited with speaking at least 47 different languages along with English. 

Mourilyan School: A Brief History

Early Moves for a School

Mourilyan State School was originally established in connection with the Mourilyan Sugar Plantation. First moves for the establishment of a school were begun in 1899. On January 6, 1900, a public meeting (mostly attended by plantation workers) was held in the "Sugar Room" at the plantation, and a building Committee was elected with Hugh Conley as Secretary and a Mr Cruickshank as Chairman. It was decided at this meeting to ask the Sugar Company to donate two roods of their own land for a school.

Reasons given were:

• The children of persons residing about the mill would always be in sight of their parents.
• They would not have to walk any distance along the river bank, where they would be tempted to go down to the water's edge. In such cases accidents happen; the children might slip or push one another. Moreover, alligators have been seen in these parts.

The Sugar Company Manager, Mr Robertson was contacted, and while awaiting a reply, the Department was sent an application for a Provisional School. A list of children likely to attend was attached.

• Muriel and Douglas Cruickshank
• William, Heather and Stuart McPherson
• Alice and May Pittman
• Lancelot McDuff
• Nicholas, James, Martha and Lily Rail
  
• Martin Brew
  
• Charles, Athel, Joseph, Herbert and Philip Edgerton
  

The Department approved the proposed school and agreed to subsidise building. However, an apparently insurmountable difficulty was soon to arise. On 13 April 1900, Mr Conley advised the Department that the owners of the plantation, the Union Bank, would be willing to LEASE about two roods of land, but only for twenty years. Mr Conley was confident that this would be approved, and suggested modifications to the standard plans to suit local conditions:

"That blocks be six feet above ground, so children can play underneath in wet weather, and also that the building can stand above sugarcane. That a verandah be put at the back the same as front, with a small room at end for the teacher to change in should they have to travel some distance in wet weather".

However, the Department was not willing to settle for leased land. When the Union Bank declined to offer more land, the proposal for a school lapsed until 1907.

A State School is Built

By 1907, there had been many changes in the Mourilyan area. For a start, a new company, the Mourilyan Syndicate Ltd, had acquired the plantation and, unlike the Union Bank, was not at all unwilling to cut up the property. As a matter of fact, in 1907, it was busily dividing the plantation into individual farms. The region's population had increased rapidly and it had acquired a stability which it lacked in 1900.

There were now enough children to warrant a State School rather than a Provisional School.

"The (School) Site is a piece of land which is part of No 8 farm. This farm is to be cut up into ¼ acre blocks, as a township, and from two to four acres will be made over in freehold to the Minister".

Taylor's recommendation for a State School at Mourilyan was approved by the Director of Education,   Mr   David  Ewart   on 7 August 1907.

Due to the large number of children waiting for a school, and as a temporary measure while the State School buildings were being erected, it was decided to open a Provisional School to be conducted in the Mourilyan Hall. The parents were responsible for getting the Hall into suitable shape.

The Mourilyan Provisional School was opened on Wednesday 29 January 1908 by George Naish, the first teacher. Naish had been transferred from Richmond Hill at Charters Towers. He had some trouble obtaining transport from Townsville, as he missed the boat and he had to wait a week for the "Kuranda". It rained continuously for his first week in the town.

Meanwhile, arrangements for the construction of the State School were being made. The Committee tried to persuade a somewhat sceptical Department that the local timber, silky oak, would be quite suitable for the school, and there was no need for expense and delay in importing from elsewhere. The Department's cost estimate was £953. When the Premier Robert Philp visited Mourilyan in January, the Committee tried to enlist his support for the local timber. It is not known whether their arguments resulted in the use of the local timber. However the successful tenderer, Mr W. Fitzgerald, received £932.10 for construction of both the school and residence.

The new State School on its present site was opened for teaching on Tuesday 18 May 1909. Mr Naish moved in without first obtaining Department approval because of the conditions in the temporary school.