Family Retraces Bowen’s Mango Legacy

Leanne Aberthery with the Kent Family. Photo supplied: Bowen Tourism and Business

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Three descendants of one of Bowen’s pioneering families returned to the region last week, retracing their family history across all corners of the town.  

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Last week, siblings Colin, Cameron and Dianne Kent returned to Bowen for a small family reunion and to reconnect with their family history.

The trio are great-great-grandchildren of G.F. Sandrock and grandchildren of prominent Bowen farmer George Kent. During their visit, they visited all the big sites in Bowen, from the Big mango, to the museum and their family’s original property, Woodlands.

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“It was a really nice trip down memory lane,” said Colin.

“The accommodation we stayed at on the harbour felt so surreal, especially since that’s where our grandfather was the harbour master.”  

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George Frederick ‘G.F.’ Sandrock is credited with bringing mango seeds from India to Bowen in 1871, helping establish what would eventually become one of Australia’s best-known varieties, the Kensington Pride or ‘Bowen Special’.

He was also appointed the town’s Customs Officer and Sub-Collector of Customs during the 1860s before later serving as Harbourmaster and Police Magistrate.

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One of his homesteads and orchards, Woodlands, on the outskirts of Bowen, where he helped cultivate a wide variety of produce still intertwined into the community.  

“While Sandrock grew various crops at Woodlands, the orchard’s lasting place in Australian horticultural history comes from its role as the birthplace of the Kensington Pride mango,” Colin said.

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“He had his fingers in just about everything in Bowen.”

During the late 19th century, Bowen was an important trading port and shipping hub for the British–Indian horse trade. Ships returning from India often carried exotic plants, fruit and spices, and Mr Sandrock asked their captains to bring him different mango seeds and other tropical varieties.

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He planted the seeds at Woodlands, where it is believed his experimental orchard contained about 40 types of mango trees. Each was reportedly identified by an engraved copper plaque bearing its botanical name.

At the time, growing tropical fruit in Queensland involved considerable trial and error. Mr Sandrock observed how each variety responded to the local soil and climate, noting differences in yield, flavour and the texture of the fruit.

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Colin said these experiments helped lay the foundations for North Queensland’s commercial mango industry.

“His early plantings produced the direct lineage of the Kensington Pride, which remains one of Australia’s most widely grown and recognised mango varieties today,” he said.  

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His grandson, George Kent, continued the family’s legacy as one of Bowen’s early tomato growers, eventually earning the nickname the “Tomato King”.  

He was looking for a crop that would offer a quick return following the 1903 cyclone and started growing them on Woodlands property.  

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He later helped turn tomato growing into a major commercial industry for Bowen during the early 20th century, distributing the region’s produce across Australia and as far as New Zealand.  

Manager of Bowen Tourism and Business, Leanne Abernethy said it was a pleasure to meet the three descendants of these early pioneers.  

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“It was very interesting to learn more about the history,” she said.

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