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Rotary Club of Rockhampton |
| District 9570 |
 The
Rotary Club of Rockhampton was chartered on 12 January 1926, being the
11th club established in Australia and the first in Queensland after
Brisbane.The accompanying Family Tree (PDF file) of the Rotary clubs of Central Queensland shows that Rockhampton was the progenitor of 37 clubs of which eight were directly sponsored by this Club with the rest as ‘grandchildren’. Historical records of the club are deposited in the Capricornia Collection of the Library of Central Queensland University. It is there noted that the early professional and business community, as a group of rugged individualists, was not perhaps initially ideal ground for planting the Four Way Test. It was only after some years that members gradually responded to a recommendation to address each other by first names. Among the Foundation Members, the first President, JJ Kenna established the accountancy firm that bears his name, the recent Principal of which, Past President Ray Tidbury, was a leading light in organizing celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the Club. The founding Secretary, JJ Macaulay later became President, as did his son Tom in 1969 and his grandson John in 1993. The third President ultimately became Lt-Col A Raff Woolcock DSO, C de G, Commanding Officer of the 42nd Battalion, The Royal Queensland Regiment. In 1998 the club established with the Officers Mess, The Woolcock Dinner, a formal joint event recognizing annually the long and continuing service of the Battalion to the community. In the 1930s the club proposed development of a scenic drive along the Athelstane Range and in 1946 moved to have an area of land on the Range set out as a multi-purpose Park. In 1962 the club built a lookout on the prime site. The club has since developed and beautified the area with landscaping and a mural transforming an unsightly reservoir. In the early 1990s the government agreed to transfer the surrounding site to the City. The club established the Crippled Children’s Society in the 1930s, launched with support that made it independent of further fund-raising for some time. The Bush Children’s Health Scheme was also helped. During the War and post-War the club ran big events to raise funds for the Red Cross, Food for Britain etc. In an appeal for Clothes for Britain a couple of hundred neck-ties were included. There was a prompt message of thanks, with a hint that no more ties be sent on account of an incident alleged to have occurred outside the Bank of England where a respected burgher was held up at the point of an umbrella by an irate lady who demanded: “By what right, Sir, do you wear the tie of the Rockhampton Girls’ Grammar School Old Girl’s Association, of which I am a Past President?” In 1965 the club offered major support to an appeal for funds for a Residential College which led by progressive phases to today’s Central Queensland University. In 1971 the club launched the Rockhampton Art Competition which ran successfully for a number of years before it was adopted by Art Societies and the City. The Mayor’s drive for a new gallery and funding for major art acquisitions was supported by the club. The club’s organization of an annual concert for Senior Citizens, launched in 1970, with personal transport and supper provided, remains a highlight of every year. The former radio personality of Rockhampton, Charles Patterson, has compared every year and has been made a Paul Harris Fellow. The club’s 75th Anniversary was celebrated with a major gathering from near and far on 24 February 2001. Historical segments were displayed and re-enacted. A Time Capsule to be opened on 12 January 2026 was set up adjacent to the Rotary Lookout. The club is proud of its relatively early action in admitting female members and pays tribute to the strength and quality they have injected. |
| This page was compiled and provided by PDG John Louttit |
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