Archer brothers

Seven sons of William Archer, a Scottish timber merchant, they spent varying amounts of time in the colony of New South Wales, mainly in parts of what later became Queensland.

There, near present-day Woodford, they established Durundur Station,[1] a holding of 200 square miles (520 km2), which is equal to 128,000 acres (51,800 ha).

The country at Durundur proved unsuitable for sheep, leading the brothers to take up two runs further west in 1845.

[7] The other, named Coonambula, was south of Eidsvold on St John Creek, a tributary of the Burnett River.

One of the houses of St Mary's College, Maryborough is named Archer in honour of the contribution of the pioneering family to the Burnett region.

They explored the river valley and marked proposed boundaries for a new run before returning to the Burnett region.

[9] In 1855 the brothers began farming a run on the Fitzroy River, naming it Gracemere Station in honour of Thomas Archer's bride, Grace, whom he had married in Scotland in 1853.

This extends west for about 2,000 metres to the Gracemere homestead buildings, on the eastern shore of the lagoon.

In 1847 Captain Archer acquired a job managing Lucknow Station in Gippsland, Victoria and his first wife was buried there the same year.

From 1852 to 1854 John - "Captain Jack" - commanded the barque "Fair Tasmanian" on the Hobart-Twofold Bay route.

Colin Archer was the first to sail a vessel – Ellida, a ketch of about twelve tons – up the Fitzroy River to the present site of Rockhampton.

[2] Jack Earl's boat, "Kathleen Gillett", which he sailed in the inaugural Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Boxing Day 1945, was based on designs by Colin Archer.