Summary

This diary is an important part of North Queensland history because it is a rare record of day-to-day life in a large country house in North Queensland during the first quarter of the 20th century. It provides information and insights into such topics as health care, communications and travel.

Greenmount was a cattle property but had close connections to the sugar industry through the nearby Plaistow Mill and the involvement of family members in the management of Plaistow.

The diary is also of interest because it covers the period of the last months of World War 1 and how this affected an area even as remote from the trenches as Mackay.

There is coverage of the severe cyclone which struck Mackay on January 21st, 1918, killing 30 people and damaging 1000 buildings. Although the techniques for measuring cyclones were not well developed at that time, modern estimates suggest it was a category 4 cyclone. There was considerable damage around Greenmount.

There are regular mentions in the diary of illness and fevers, some undefined and some self-diagnosed as dengue. None of these attract medical attention. Visits to a doctor or a dentist are sufficiently rare to be noted, sometimes in detail.

This diary was written at a time when transport was changing from animal to mechanical. Some visitors to the house came on horseback, some by 'motor', others came from Mackay by train but then had to walk the five kilometers from the nearest station at Walkerston unless they were expected and met by car. Travel south was by sea from Mackay.

Aside from significant events, day-to-day life is reported. Letters were an important way of keeping in touch with family, not living at Greenmount. The arrival of letters noted in the diary suggests that Vida exchanged weekly letters with her mother as well as regular correspondence with other family members. Recreational activity included fishing, walking, picnics, and a player piano with a subscription for piano rolls. Vida sometimes mentions her needlework and her cooking and the coming and going of visitors. The whole leaves the impression of a busy but cheerful farming household involved with its community.