John Atherton (pioneer)

[2] He arrived in Sydney, at the age of 7, during 1844 on the brig Briton with his parents and his 6 siblings; James, Alice, Rebecca, Edmund, Harry and Thomas.

A noted authority on the habits and customs of the Aboriginal Australians and keenly interested in grazing land, he could not resist the lure of the unknown country to the north.

Atherton drove his Shorthorn herd north into the wilds once again, the party including his two sons aged 12 and 10, and took up Basalt Downs (Cashmere) on the headwaters of the Burdekin River, selling out after eighteen unprofitable months.

Meanwhile he had explored over the ranges to the tableland country, where he finally settled at Emerald End on the banks of the Barron River, the long pilgrimage over.

Known as the 'Squire of Emerald End', he discovered tin while prospecting in 1879, joyfully naming the stream Tinaroo Creek, now the site of the storage dam for the irrigation areas of Mareeba-Dimbulah.

His fine homestead, built with Chinese labour,[5] withstood the great cyclone of 1878, and on the river flats he experimented with sugar cane and various crops.

Noted for his hospitality, he erected the first building at Granite Creek in Mareeba, Queensland in 1880, his private generosity being severely overtaxed with the sudden augmentation of passing traffic.

Originally in the unsettled areas as a crown lands lessee before the Act of 1884, he was still agitating for completion of arrangements in 1895 and had lost faith in promises of the government.

In around 1890, John Atherton was responsible for ordering the killing of Aboriginal men, women and children via an ambush at a river camp.