October 22, 2013
The “founding father” of Nanango was recalled at Heritage House on Monday evening with the launch of a new biography about Jacob Goode.
Goode built the Burnett Inn – the first commercial building in Nanango – beside a waterhole in 1848 and the township grew around it.
His story has been painstakingly pieced together by author, historian and teacher Dr Judith Grimes.
Judith has written many books about the history of the South Burnett, including local histories of Nanango Shire, Wooroolin State School, Kingaroy State School and Memerambi.
“I love history and I love researching it,” she told the invited guests at the book launch.
She thought she was unusual among many writers as she “stepped out” of what she was writing.
“So there is no personal bias,” she said. “What is there is what I present.”
In her latest work, “Jacob Goode and His Burnett Inn”, she has turned her microscope onto Nanango’s first “colourful character”: a butcher, accountant, entrepreneur, prospector, jockey, boxer (he lost two teeth in his only fight), probable sly grogger and founder of the town’s first pub.
Jacob Goode was born in the 1820s in London and came to Australia at the age of 18.
He had an eventful life in Sydney and Brisbane before deciding to try his hand in the bush.
He also had a sad and lonely demise, drinking himself to death in Brisbane after realising he was facing bankruptcy.
But along the way, he was one of Queensland’s “founding fathers”, a member of the committee that pressed for the colony of Queensland to separate from NSW.
He was also the founder of the South Burnett, as the township of Nanango developed around where he first camped at a still pool at the junction of four rough tracks (now in Burnett Street).
This became the site of his inn, the first commercial establishment in the area.
Judith’s book about Goode is the first in a planned series about the pioneers of the Burnett River District based on the settlers whose names or properties appear on the Burnett District map of 1848 (which is located in the Nanango office of Cr Barry Green).
Her next book will concentrate on John Borthwick and William Oliver, the first European settlers in the Nanango area in 1847.
Taking pride of place at the book launch was a scale model of Goode’s Inn, hand-made by a craftsman at Morven more than 15 years ago, and a number of artefacts and relics from the original establishment.
If you missed the Nanango launch, Judith will be talking about her book at Kingaroy Library on Wednesday (October 23) from 10:00am.
Copies can be purchased at the South Burnett Energy Centre in Henry Street, Nanango.
- Related article: New Book Explores History of Nanango
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