Rosewood History

Rosewood’s First Grand Annual Camp Draft

As much enjoyment and fun as could be packed into a full day were provided by the First Grand Annual Camp Draft, organised by the Rosewood Agricultural and Horticultural Association, on Saturday, 14th April 1928.

The idea of holding a camp draft was first mooted after the annual meeting of the A & H Association on 13th October 1927. 

The committee members at the meeting were:- President: Mr. Frank Yarrow
Vice-Presidents: Messrs. Harry Harding, Robert Sellars, Edward O’Sullivan, William Scott Harding, William Wass
Secretary: Mr. Edward John Hogan
Treasurer: Mr. Vivian Zillman
Auditors: Messrs. Lewis John Lucas and Arthur Knight Winks
Ground Committee: Messrs. Jules Armand Paroz, George Hughes, E. O’Sullivan, William S. Harding and Henry George McGeary
Hall Committee: Messrs. Vivian Zillman, Arthur James Loveday, Walter Donald Grant, and Robert Sellars
Delegate to Chamber Agricultural Societies: Mr. Lewis John Lucas
Delegate to West Moreton Association: Mr. Jules Armand Paroz.

In December, Ned O’Sullivan reported to the association on an interview with Mr. J. Burnett, of Harrisville, who considered that the Rosewood showground was more suitable for a camp draft than any of the other showgrounds used for the purpose. He also offered to assist on the committee if the Rosewood Association decided to hold one. 

Hearing that opinion bolstered the enthusiasm for the idea, and the members decided to hold a camp draft on the Rosewood showground on the Saturday after Easter in the coming year. Edward Hogan wrote to the Stanley Camp Drafting Association for a copy of its rules and programmes for camp drafting.

On 19th January 1928, a discussion took place about the timber to be used for the yard. It was decided that the rails should be of sawn timber, 6ft. by 7ft. Tenders would be called for the erection of the fence, and Frank Yarrow would deal with that matter.

The men were very aware that a successful event would bode well for there being camp draft events held in Rosewood in future years, so they worked hard towards that hope. The A & H Association’s committee decided that all interested members should be appointed a committee for the event. 

Wilhelm Martin Krause, Ned O’Sullivan, and William Harding, together with Frank Yarrow and Edward Hogan, were appointed to canvas the town for donations towards the prize funds. By February they had collected £20 (a substantial amount in a couple of weeks). The town was behind them, supporting them in their quest.

The tender of Arthur Freeman for the supply of posts for the camp draft yard, at 11d. per lineal foot was accepted. Only one tender for the erection of the fence and crush was received-Arthur Freeman, £20, also accepted. 

Norm Bade suggested they hold a special meeting to draw up the programme. Henry McGeary suggested they devote £25 towards the programmes. Wilhelm Krause thought increasing the amount to 40 guineas would allow more prize money, therfore inducing horsemen to come along. This they did.

Ned O’Sullivan, Henry McGeary, Herb Dutney, Terence Sweeney, William Harding, and Robert Sellars were appointed as a sub-committee to draft a rough programme and submit it to the next meeting.

At the special meeting, recommendations for the programme were submitted and discussed. It was decided to hold a drafting event, prizes amounting to twenty guineas, and a cup would be awarded with the first prize. For the novice draft, prizes would amount to £10. 

(A draft is when a mounted rider enters a “camp” (corral or yard) which encloses six to eight head of cattle, and the rider cuts out one beast from the cattle in the camp and controls it in a figure eight course before moving it through a final gate.)

For bullock riding, the prize would be £6 and for stockman’s turnout, £3. It was also decided to have two trotting events, the prize money to be £2/10/ for each event. 

Terence Sweeney, Herb Dutney, and Frank Yarrow were appointed to arrange the order of the programme. Reginald Henning was appointed handicapper and Arthur Loveday as official timekeeper for the day. Nominations closed on March 29th for the camp draft and the trotting, post entries for other events.

By March the yards on the local showgrounds were nearly completed in readiness for the draft. Mr W. Wratten, Secretary of the Esk and Brisbane River Camp Draft Association, offered to assist with the numbers. 

A donation of £5 was received from Mrs. Nora Power, owner of the Royal George Hotel, and it was decided to add another event to the programme to be known as Power’s local camp draft. 

Mr. Henry Chisholm Mort, of Franklyn Vale, donated a cup for the chief drafting event and asked that the cup be won outright. 

The camp draft programme was distributed and advertising posters were printed. The Rosewood Register and Marburg Mail was contracted to print the schedules and members’ tickets. 

Mr Eric Moore accepted the position of judge for the event.

The following stewards were appointed for the camp draft: Ring, Herb. Dutney (chief); Judges’ Stewards, Henry Mort and Ned Hogan; Cattle, Henry M’Geary, Norman Bade, Matthew Yarrow, John William Evans; Numbers, Mr. Wratten (Esk); Parking, Robert Sellars and Herb Embrey; Ribbon, John Phillip Freeman; Official Timekeeper, Arthur Loveday; Boundary Rider, William Wass; Gatekeepers, Jules Paroz, Ned Hogan, Charles Brooks, Wilhelm Krause; Grandstand, William Harding.

Norm Bade and Arthur Freeman agreed to take delivery of the cattle. 

The Railway Department was asked to provide a horse truck on the up and down sweepers to connect with the Boonah train at Ipswich. 

Mrs. H. Fraser’s tender for supplying music for the ball was accepted. 

It was decided to ask the Shire Council to apply for a holiday in the shire on camp draft day. 

Mr. Mort handed over the handsome silver cup he donated to the camp draft.

In April, James O’Reilly and William O’Shea advised that they would lend cattle for the draft.

The Rosewood Citizens Band offered to play at the camp draft for £2/2/ an hour. It was decided to engage the band for three hours. 

Only competitors and stewards had free admission to the grounds and each had to carry a caretaker’s ticket. 

Jules Paroz was deputed to effect necessary repairs to the grandstand and to have a stairway made on it, as the seats were too far apart. 

Norm Bade was to attend to the mowing of the ring enclosure. 

Edward Hogan was to arrange for the luncheon booth, and also to make provision for 20 dinners. 

Local business places were asked to close at an early hour. 

Miss Catherine Mary Hillier of Laidley won the right to run a publican’s booth (£15/10/)  and the soft drink and fruit stall was to be run by Con Castrisos (£5). 

Arrangements were well in hand for the camp draft.

Almost 80 entries had been received for the three camp draft events. Horses from all parts of the State, including Fassifern, Harrisville, Esk, Toogoolawah, and Rosevale were entered, together with the local “cracks,” who had been training hard for some time in anticipation of the event. The arrival of the first batch of bullocks in Rosewood on Wednesday gave a stimulus to the enthusiasm already shown, and a further batch of 100 was expected to arrive the next day. 

Amongst the horses competing was Mr. James Burnett’s “Harmony,” which won the double event at Boonah on Easter Monday. Mr. Les Lord, of Eskdale, was also bringing a special team, including “Dardanelles.”

Visitors to Rosewood for the camp draft celebrations included Mr. and Mrs. Henry Mort (Franklyn Vale), Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Thorn (Sherwood), Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Walsh (Corinda), Miss Laws (Brisbane), Mrs. G. Nolan (Ipswich), Misses Clark, D. Clark, and V. Bourke (Brisbane), Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Sloane, Mr. J. Potts (Toowoomba). Mr. Jas. Scanlan (Toowoomba) and Miss F. Quirk (Mt. Gravatt).

Cars at Rosewood Showgrounds

Rosewood’s first camp draft, to be followed by a ball at night, promised to be the biggest attraction yet held in Rosewood.

Perfect weather favoured the committee on the big day. The showground, in its lovely setting of trees, with the hills in the distance as a background, was bright and festive with a large, animated, holiday-attired crowd. They would be given far more thrills and excitement than they had bargained for!

The gate takings amounted to £156. About 100 motor cars were parked on the ground. Splendid nominations were received for the three drafts. 

There was a skillfull display of horsemanship through-out the day. The Rosewood Congregational Church Women’s Guild conducted the lunch booth, assisted by friends, and the C.W.A. had a rest tent on the grounds.

131 head of lively young bullocks were provided by Messrs. McGeary and Grant, James O’Reilly (Rosewood), Edward Collins, Dan McLeod, John O’Neil (Mt. Walker).  

The spectators were treated to plenty of diversion and amusement whenever a beast escaped and headed for the ring, causing a stampede. A few attempted to bolt through the fence, and innumerable scares were given to spectators nearby when bullocks came rushing head on towards them. A big white bullock easily outstripped the horse set to draft him. A little under-sized fox terrier caused a good deal of fuss on two or three occasions. With all the arrogance of his breed, he rushed in to assist. After spoiling the round from the rider’s point of view, the stewards finally caught up to him. As he ran off the course he cast occasional furtive glances back to estimate just how far away the fearful whips of his pursuers were. The crowd thoroughly enjoyed these interludes.

Arthur E. O’Keeffe (pound keeper at Ipswich) was having a preliminary round for the maiden trot on Ben Hohenhaus’s “Roan”, when he collided with the hip of Norm Bade’s horse and broke his right thigh. Dr. Wallace attended and the Ambulance conveyed him to the Ipswich Hospital.

In the bucking bullock contest, Jimmy Brunette, an aboriginal boy from Hidden Vale, was thrown and kicked severely in the side, and had to receive medical attention.

Mr. Eric Moore, the judge, said that in his 27 years of camp-draft judging he had rarely seen such excellent nominations for an initial meeting. The general standard of the drafts was equal to that of the Upper Brisbane River events.

In the judging 2 points were allowed for cutting out the beasts, 7 points for horse work, and six points for completing the course.

The results were as follows:-
OPEN DRAFT (prize -£18/18/ and silver cup, donated by Mr. H. C. Mort) 14 entries:-
Les Lord’s “Wrangle” 1st round, 101, 2nd round. 101-202  – 1st
James. Burnett’s “Harmony” 98, 103-201 – 2nd
L. Lord’s “Dardanelles”  96. 101-107 –  3rd

Others who competed in the second round were Jas. Hayes’ “Dingo”, M. Ryan’s “Rattler”, M. Egan’s “Melba”. A. J. Anderson’s “Tommy”, and Ivor Harsants’ “Silvernite”.

NOVICE DRAFT (of £10)  22 entries:-
W. Kinghorn’s “Combo”  93, 101-104 – 1st
Mrs. A. J. Anderson’s “Tommy”  91, 101-192 – 2nd
H. C. Mort’s “Wild Darrell”  86, 91-177.
G. A. M’Geary’s “Spot” 81, 96 -177

Others in the second  round were L. Lord’s “Problem”, J. Haye’s “Dingo”, M. Egan’s “Grey Lass”, M. Ryan’s “Rattler”, and S. J. Sellars’ “Lily”.

ROYAL HOTEL DRAFT, for local and district competitors (£5/5/, donated by Mrs. N. Power, of the Royal Hotel, Rosewood) 17 entries:-
Willie M’Geary’s “Bonnie” 91, 93-184 – 1st
Gordon M’Geary’s “Gracie”  83. 98-179 – 2nd
A. Freeman’s “Mick” 83, 83-176 – 3rd

Stanley James Sellars’ “Lily” and Harry Hornbuckle’s “Tommy Dodd” were the other competitors in the second round. Schoolboy Harry Hornbuckle, who rode A. E. Mort’s “Misto” and his own pony “Tommy Dodd”, put in excellent work but lost his bullocks.

MAIDEN TROT (eight starters)-  H. Stephans’ “Creamy” 1st, G. Morgan’s “Dandy” 2nd.

OPEN TROT (3 entries).-R. Bell’s “Princess Cole” 1st, G. Morgan’s “Pansy” 2nd.

BUCKING BULLOCK – C. M’Auliffe 1st, P. Mulholland 2nd, J. Abrahams 3rd. 

BEST STOCK HORSE – F. J. Burnett’s “Harmony” 1st, M. Egan’s “Melba” 2nd, L. Lord’s “Wrangle” 3rd.

At the conclusion of the programme the silver cup was presented to the winner (Mr. Les. Lord) by Mr. Mort. Frank Yarrow led the cheers for Mr. Mort and the visiting horsemen.

At night a ball was held in the Farmers’ Hall and attracted a very large attendance. Mrs. Fraser’s orchestra provided excellent dance music. The orchestra, comprised Mrs. Ellen Fraser, piano, Mrs. T. Sweeney and Miss M. O’Shea, violins, and Mr. J. Dawson, cornet. Mrs. S. Trewick contributed extras and Mr. T. Sweeney was M.C..

Workers for the Rosewood Congregational Church Women’s Guild were: (President) Mrs. J. W. Harper, Mesdames T. Harding, (Secretary), C. Wass (Treasurer), W. Wass, E. Hughes, S. Harding, E. Harding, J. Mason, J. Rea, E. J. Connolly, F. Yarrow, Misses E. and B. Aitkens, E. Nimmo, A. Harding, L. Harding, E. Yarrow, and E. Rice. Messrs. C. Wass, T. Harding, J. Rea, C. Williams, S. Harding, and E. Harding assisted.

The camp draft was so successful that it became an annual event. The advertisement for the 1929 Camp Draft (below) is from the Rosewood Register and Marburg Mail. It was kindly provided by Ross Windle.

© Jane Schy, 2024