Against The Odds Maryborough 1905 - 1961

Betty Osborn (1995)

Hardback; 478 pp; Notes and Index

$45 plus postage

The first decade of the twentieth century saw the decline of mining in Maryborough and the steady erosion of living standards for the average family.  The community steeled itself against the inevitable and many miners sought work elsewhere, leaving their families at home to live in a town that was then the sixth largest in Victoria.  The outbreak of World War I at first provided something of a diversion for the youth of the town, eager to spread their wings in battle, but the conflict soon became a dreaded encounter exacting a high toll of dead and wounded. 

The post-war era brought more suffering with property values at bedrock and the future of the town in the balance.  Not to be denied, those with a vested interest in Maryborough saw that its survival ensued.  Just as the traders of last century guaranteed Maryborough’s future, so the Progress Association of the twentieth century worked hard to attract business into the town.  Once industry was established, and prosperity was at hand, hopes were dashed when the Great Depression loomed large, sorely testing management and worker alike.  Eeking out a meagre existence, some residents subsisted on rabbit with seasoned wattle birds, grass parrots and bronzewing pigeons being served as delicacies.  World War II saw yet another exodus of young people to defend town and country while workers in Maryborough’s industries played an important role in wartime production. 

The 1950s brought a period of prosperity.  New water supplies, burgeoning community organisations and upgraded facilities gave the community a sense of importance and a desire to seek city status.  This history, the second in the series, ends in 1961 with the proclamation of Maryborough as a city.  Both oral and documented history have been drawn upon to portray the fighting qualities of a country town in the first six decades of the twentieth century-a period of a great social change and challenge.