The Jardine brothers re-named at least 50 locations during their expedition from Rockhampton to Cape York in the 1860s. But these seemingly innocent sites, ranging from Mount Jardine in the Livingstone Shire in Central Queensland to Jardine Inlet near the state’s tip, serve as evidence of a dark history.
Francis and Alexander Jardine have been linked to at least four mass killings of Aboriginal people in Queensland by their own accounts and the library of the Australian Frontier Conflicts. Despite this, the places retain the names the Jardines branded them with.
The Jardine family played a significant part in the colonisation of Queensland. They have been honoured with multiple notable Queensland locations, either named by them or in their memory, for their expedition from Rockhampton to Cape York from 1864-65.
John Jardine was born in Scotland in 1807 and immigrated to Sydney in 1840 before later moving to Queensland and attaining the position of police magistrate and gold commissioner in Rockhampton. Jardine fathered two sons, Francis and Alexander, who solidified the Jardine family legacy.
The brothers were honoured for their trip as reported by the Longreach Leader. “Frank and Alec Jardine were awarded the Murchison Medal and elected Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society,” Bernard Cronin wrote.
The brothers kept a heavily detailed journal, The Overland Expedition of the Messrs. Jardine, which describes numerous violent encounters with Indigenous people throughout their travels. Their account illustrates Francis and Alexander as the pinnacle of Australian resilience, mateship and perseverance. Throughout the 1800s, and well into the 1900s, the Jardine family were praised as “Queensland Pioneers” and seen as dignitaries.
The brothers made it clear in the journal they kept throughout the trip that they viewed their work as noble. “A brilliant achievement in exploration,” they wrote.
In 1940, Australian author Ion Idriess praised the Jardine brothers as standout citizens. “Their determination to push on to success, despite all obstacles, should be an inspiration to other Australian boys,” Idriess wrote in his book The Great Trek.
The most notable massacre during the expedition, as described by Dr. Timothy Bottoms in The Frontier Series, occurred in December 1864. The Jardines were travelling through the Kowanyama area on the western side of Cape York when they encountered groups of Aboriginal people.
In the Frontier Series, historian David Day reports significant massacres that took place during the expedition. “The party shot perhaps as many as 72 Aboriginals in 11 separate incidents,” Day said.
The Jardines themselves believed they caused at least 59 injuries or deaths among the people of Kowanyama.
In an excerpt from their journals, they explain an encounter with a group of Indigenous people. “The Brothers determined to let them have it, only regretting that some of the party were not with them, so as to make the lesson a more severe one,” the account said. No casualties were reported in the Jardines’ party.
In a 2021 discussion with Dr. Bottoms, Okunjen elder Alma Watson said that elders of clans in the Kowanyama area all have holes in their family histories. “Today there are big gaps in the genealogies of the clans of the Top End groups,” Mrs Watson said. “Okunjen, Uwkangand, Olkol as well as visiting neighbouring clans… whose territory the Jardines trespassed upon.”
These killings happened over a century ago, yet remnants of the expedition remain through the names given to them by the Jardines. Jardine is a region north of Rockhampton in the Livingstone Shire, which was named in honour of John Jardine and his family in 1901. The Livingstone Shire represents a small portion of the area which was covered throughout the expedition.
Livingstone Shire Councillor Lance Warcon said there should be discussion around the changing of disrespectful location names. “If a name holds a catastrophic injustice to First Nations peoples, then it should be looked at,” Mr Warcon said.
Former Livingstone Shire resident Kelley Reeves said she feels it is disgraceful that the Jardine brothers are still honoured as gallant Australian settlers, despite their murderous past. She said she feels First Nations people will never be compensated for the colonisation of Australia until names like these are changed.
“It’s disgusting that these men can be honoured with this type of legacy after killing so many Aboriginal people,” Mrs Reeves said. “How can you live in a place named after people who murdered your family members. Things need to change.”
Further north, the Jardine River, according to the Queensland Government, was named after Francis and Alexander by Sir George Ferguson Bowen, a former Governor of Queensland in 1865. The Jardine River is located on Cape York where Indigenous people make up more than 51% of the total population.
The people of the Jardine area became familiar with Francis, who reportedly settled in the area years after the expedition. He was known for allegedly terrorising the local Aboriginal communities and was even appointed the nickname “Devil Man”, following the damage he did to their societies. He was also married to Sana Solia, the niece of a Samoan king when she was 17 and Jardine 31.
Across Queensland the remnants of brothers’ brutal expedition can still be remembered today, with the history of the Jardine family embedded in Queensland’s place names.
This article is part of a larger project called Where What Why. You can find the whole collection of stories about places and their names here.
