Our display at the Pine Rivers Heritage Museum is now up and running and will remain open until Sunday 16th May 2010.

It is dedicated to the first 100 years of Dayboro’s history from 1866 when John McKenzie settled on the banks of the North Pine River with his wife Janet and young family, to 1966.  Unfortunately with the mention of 100 years some people have been under the misconception that it is a centenary celebration which of course is not the case.  We could start planning ahead for our 150 years celebration in 2016.  It is amazing how quickly these things come around. 
MT. PLEASANT HALL & SCHOOL OF ARTS: 
Now this is a centenary celebration which is to take place at the Mt. Pleasant Hall on Saturday 22nd May 2010 from 9.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m.  It will be in the form of an open day with a gold coin donation.  Morning tea and a sausage sizzle will be available at a nominal cost or BYO lunch and drinks and just enjoy the day.  There will be historical displays, sawing and timber demonstrations, a quilting display and some local entertainment.  A Heritage Ball will be held in the evening from 7.30 p.m. - so dress the part.  Admission will be $10.00 which includes supper.
NATIONAL HERITAGE FESTIVAL – 9th - 16th MAY:
This year’s theme is “Tell Your Story”.  We are holding an event at “Dayboro Cottage” on Thursday 13th May entitled You know you’re Irish, so prove it!  Dayboro had a strong Irish heritage so share your Irish story and let our Irish Researcher Mary King (a Doyle family descendant and Co-ordinator of the Queensland Family History Irish Interest Group) show you how to prove it.  Send along a specific question for Mary when making your reservation or bring one with you and she will answer it for you.  The day commences at 9.00 a.m.  After morning tea Mary will talk on Irish Research and then we will have question time.  BYO lunch if you wish to stay, or the Dayboro Bakery is just across the road.  After lunch, Mary will be available for more research questions.  Participants will be able to contact Mary by email for a period of 2 months for assistance with their Irish research.  Bookings are essential, payment on arrival of $10.00 per person includes morning tea and handouts.  Programs for the National Heritage Festival for the whole of Queensland will be available at “Dayboro Cottage”.
APRIL PROGRESS ASSN. CALENDAR PHOTOGRAPH:  Crown Hotel & Lacey’s Store circa 1909. 
Ernest Lacey became the licensee of the Crown Hotel at Terrors Creek in July 1909 and conducted the hotel and adjoining store operation with the assistance of his wife, Annie Elizabeth (nee Bond), and his brother Albert Victor Lacey.  In May 1911 the lease of the property was transferred to William Wright.  At this stage the property consisted of over 61 acres in area and was still owned by James Kinkead Berry.  Ownership of the property was transferred to Francis James Thomson Hepburn on 13th June 1913 and it was in that year that the new 2 storey timber hotel was constructed [the present day Crown Hotel].  Hepburn retained ownership until 1922 when the property was transferred to John Thomas and Thomas Joseph Delaney and it was the Delaneys who subdivided the property.  This includes the Delaney Road, Cruice Street and Roderick Street localities.
Now a step back in time . . .  A newspaper article of 8th January 1887 reported that “Mr. J.K. Berry has commenced the erection of a large brick building which is to serve the purpose of a dwelling and a general store.  A store in our midst will be a great boon to the residents, as at present there is none nearer than the North Pine Township.”  The Brisbane Courier of 5th April 1888 reported “J.K. Perry [Berry] applied for a provisional licence for a hotel at Rosemount, Upper North Pine.”  Rosemount was the name given by Berry to the township block.  Berry claimed that “he had been frequently asked to open licensed premises”.  The application was refused.  He applied again in January 1889 and November 1890, but it was not until July 1892 that a provisional licence was finally issued.  It had been thought that Berry conducted his first Crown Hotel in the original Orange Hall, but it would appear that it was actually in the brick building built in the town in 1887.  The 1897 newspaper advertisement for the sale of Rosemount listed a “BRICK HOTEL, a STORE and a BLACKSMITH’S SHOP...The Hotel has a well-established business.”  The licence was transferred to James Cowan in 1900, to James Farrell in 1902, to Alfred Augustus Warland in 1904 and then to Ernest Lacey in 1909.
The original Crown Hotel did not burn down.  An interview with C.T. Williams published in the Courier Mail on 28th January 1928 stated that “...the first hotel – its ruins are still standing – was built of bricks from the stack of the old sugar mill”
...but this “hotel” did.  In 1899 Hugh Strain obtained a Wine Seller’s licence and operated his wine saloon, or “store”, in the original Orange Hall built in the 1870s.  The Brisbane Courier of 12th July 1927 recorded that, “A house fire occurred at the corner of Lacey’s Creek and Mt. Pleasant roads.  It was probably the oldest building in the district.” 
This is one Dayboro legend that I really would like laid to rest.