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1843 - 1933
Nestled in the rich cattle and sheep country of Southern Queensland, Australia is a small town called Miles. Miles is noted for its historical village which comes alive every day with people dressed in the garb of days gone by.
The village is a living memory of the pioneer days of early Queensland. Old buildings have been resurrected from many nearby towns and restored to the glory of the time. The baker shop, the blacksmith shop, the post office, the railway station and many more have been lovingly restored by local volunteers.
In the centre of the village is a post erected in memory of one of the district’s most respected pioneers. Twelve year old Carl Duffel, his seven year old brother and three year old sister were orphaned during the long hazardous voyage of the ‘Merbz’ from Germany to Moreton Bay, Queensland, in 1855. Both their parents perished at sea leaving the three children alone and in dire poverty.
On arrival at the port of Brisbane the children decided to walk from Ipswich to Tieryboo, a cattle station (ranch), near the small township of Condamine in South West Queensland. That is a distance of some three hundred kilometres (190 miles) as the crow flies but much longer by foot in those times through dry, harsh and dangerous country inhabited by few white settlers and populated by unfriendly Aborigine tribes.
Carl’s decision to honour his father’s debt to work on the cattle station to pay for the family’s passage to Australia was the inspiration for such a gigantic task. It is difficult to imagine how the children fared with no money and very few clothes in a hostile environment. The language barrier alone would have been a daunting obstacle. It is impossible to imagine the hardships this young family had to bear until they became adults. The journey from Germany in a sail ship, the loss of both parents at sea at such a young age, the trauma of arriving in another country without knowing the language, arriving in a strange town with no friends, no money and no food.
Where they obtained food and cover during the often cold nights and long hot days defies imagination. How long the journey took and what hazards they encountered has not been recorded but it is certain the journey would not have been without incident.
There is much to be told about this remarkable boy and his family. The grazier (rancher) initially employed Carl until the debt was honoured and kept him in his employ for years. It is doubtful the grazier would have been generous to the children. In those days the pioneer settlers probably had little more themselves and had only sent the fares to Germany in the hope of getting cheap labour.
Carl lived in that district all his life, becoming a land owner and teamster driving his bullock teams between Ipswich and Roma. His wife Louisa died in 1883 and once again Carl had a young family to care for alone. Life was never easy for him but he lived it with honour. He was a true pioneer of the Australian Outback.
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