Memorial Plaque -Unmarked Stockman's Grave Taroom Qld Aust

I'm Leesa Bongers, or Twerpy Smith, creator of Taroom Tales, a community site dedicated to reviving and sharing stories of the early days in Taroom, a small rural community in Central Queensland. I'm seeking donations to fund a memorial to mark the grave of Pommy Joe Taylor, buried on Gwambegwine Station in 1954.

Who is willing to shout Pommy Joe a couple of beers to fund the marking of his grave? I need just 100 people to donate $15 to complete this project, but donations of ANY amount will be gratefully accepted.

Pommy Joe was an English stockman, JOSEPH WILLIAM TAYLOR, who drowned in February 1954 when he came off his horse crossing the flooded Gwambegwine Creek to repair telephone party lines that had cut communications with town and neighbours completely. Waterways all over the district were flooded. The station had been cut off for weeks and supplies were running low.

Laurie Pointing was a 17-year-old ringer who had been a friend of Joe's since arriving in Taroom 2 years earlier. Doug Day was the young manager of Gwambegwine station, the same age as his loyal employee Joe Taylor, who had worked for Doug since arriving in Australia 4 years earlier.

Laurie was waiting on the bank ready to follow Joe across the flooded creek when he witnessed the accident unfold. He was one of a handful of mourners who buried Joe after his body was recovered 5 days later. Joseph William Taylor has been lying in an unmarked grave in the Gwambegwine Station cemetery, on the banks of the creek that took his life, ever since.

Laurie Pointing has now lived for 88 years, and he would like nothing more than to see a fitting memorial to mark the final resting place of Joe Taylor, a ringer who lost his life simply by doing his job in a place he loved on the other side of the world from whence he came. Laurie is the only living person who was there at the time.

Laurie Pointing later wrote a poem about his mate, "Yorkshire Joe", which tells the story of how Joe met his fate. I am raising funds to pay for the production of two brass plaques: (1) A simple headstone memorial - $400; (2) the poem, so visitors to the grave will forever know the story of the stockman who lies there.

Joe was a very small man, and a friend to all who knew him. Unlike many stockmen of the time, he was never one to get into trouble, he always liked to do the right thing. Joe is the shortest man pictured in the cover photograph, standing in the middle of his stockmen mates on the verandah of the workers hut. Laurie Pointing is the tall young man on the far right. This photograph, and the other archive image of Joe, Laurie and Bob McCorry, digging the bogged-to-the-axel-Ferguson tractor out, was taken just days before Joe's death. These are the only known photographs of Joe Taylor.

In the event excess funds are raised from this campaign, that money will be held by the Taroom District Development Association (TDDA) to help with more grave restoration projects, of which there are plenty of candidates. Next on this list is the restoration of two bush graves which are marked but unreadable, and they hold stories of two remarkable, hard working pioneers of the Taroom district, who desperately tried to forge a living in some of the roughest country surrounding the Expedition Ranges:

Mr and Mrs Salsbury were true pioneers, living and working in the toughest of conditions. But that is the next project. First, I need to raise $1500 to honour the life of Pommy Joe Taylor.

If you would like to learn more about these projects or the history of the little rural town Taroom, situated on the banks of the mighty Dawson River, 460 km north-west of Brisbane, visit my webpage www.TaroomTales.com, where you'll find links to Podcast stories and YouTube videos. For regular updates, follow my Facebook pages:

Taroom is situated on the banks of the mighty Dawson River, 460km north-west of Brisbane.

DONATIONS & RECEIPTS:

Donations will be paid to the bank account of TAROOM DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (TDDA), who will manage payments on my behalf, and can issue donation receipts if required. I am truly appreciative of the constant support received from the TDDA, Taroom residents, and followers of my social media pages, podcast, and webpage.