John Atherton (pioneer)

John Atherton ( born August 9, 1837 in Lancashire, England; † May 16, 1913 in Mareeba, Queensland, Australia), was a land owner, a sheep farmer and explorer in the early Queensland.

Youth

John Atherton was the second son of Edmund Atherton, a farmer, and his wife Esther, nee Ainscough. John came in 1844 with his family, who had nine children in Sydney. He grew up in Armidale in New England and received home instruction.

Later life

When John Atherton was 20 years old, he drove with his brother James, a flock of sheep in the new district erkundeteten Rockhampton. There, his brother settled. John persuaded his father to give up the property at Armidale and settle in this new area. Thereupon John led another group of 22 people northward with horses and bullock carts. After a journey of six months, his father settled at Mount Hedlow and John at Bamoyea at Limestone Creek. In September 1862, John married in Rockhampton, went immediately after the wedding with his wife in the near Emerald and settled in a field which he called Corio.

In 1864 he founded his brother on a coastal road from Broadwater to Mackay. John Atherton 1875 drove the first cattle to the fields of the Palmer River and Hodgkinson River, and sold it at a profit. He was also active as a prospector. John then drove his cattle to the Burdekin River, where he was granted little success. Finally, he settled permanently down on the shore of the Barron River. From there he drove his herds to Cairns, from where he shipped. Atherton discovered in 1879 in Herberton tin deposits and copper.

Aftermath

The Gillies Highway on the coast to Cairns, the only road over the mountains to Herberton, follows its route and many places are named after him. He named the Tinaroo Creek, is the founder of the city of Mareeba and the name of the Atherton Tableland and the town of Atherton go back to him.