One of Airlie's Colourful Characters: John Campbell

Granny Harris (left), a woman John Campbell used to visit. Photo sourced: PHMS Archives.  

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John and his brother, Archie, came from Scotland to Airlie Beach escaping the ravages of the “Spanish” flu. John was sufficiently mature to take up some land at Jubilee Pocket area and started farming. He had a citrus orchard near where the substation is now situated and a vegetable garden at the intersection of the now Shute Harbour Road and Jubilee Pocket Road. John grew bananas up on the mountain slopes in Jubilee Pocket bringing bunches down by flying fox.  

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John would travel to Proserpine in his Sunday best to greet the train – considered the social event then. He also despatched his bananas on the southbound train for the Brisbane markets. For one of his last consignments to that market, after freight and other expenses, he received a cheque that was worth sixpence, the equivalent of five cents. John never did cash the cheque, keeping it as a “memento”. Think about the amount of labour and expenditure required to produce that five cent cheque!  

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In his stories, “Life on the Harper Farm Airlie 1945”, John Harper recalled how John Campbell would walk two miles on Saturday evenings to have a game of cribbage with (John’s) Granny and anybody else who would play. At ten o’clock, he would light his hurricane lantern and set off along the dark track to his small house buried in Jubilee Pocket.  

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Ken Looke painted a vivid description of the scene when he and his wife, Alice, visited John’s abode one day after hearing that he was trying to obtain finance to build another home on his property.  

“We found him at lunch at his table with a tea towel covering his lunch because of flies. He would raise the cloth, dart his fork under, then quicky cover his meal again. He was quite practiced at it. The old home was not screened, and another landowner had about 40 head of cattle in the neighbouring paddock, just over the creek where Jubilee Tavern now stands. There was a piggery across the road opposite the PCYC Complex. The local dump was also nearby.” No wonder the flies found the area agreeable. The Lookessoon got to know John’s eating timetable.  

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Ken and Alice Looke came to an agreement with John and built his little cottage in 1969. He transferred ownership of the land to them as payment for the cost of the house. Both parties were happy with the arrangement.  

John Campbell shared many a story with Ken and Alice, one such story being the night he chased off some trespassers. A car had driven past his original home along what is now Shute Harbour Road. At the time, there was no road right out to Shute Harbour. The only way to get there was by boat. Because there was no power to his home, there was minimum indication of anybody being in residence. The car was displaying no lights, so he knew they were up to no good.  He gave them about ten minutes before he discharged his double barrelled 12-gauge shotgun into the air in the general direction of the orchard. John reported that the reaction was quick. The engine started, lights went on and they went “smoking it” towards Proserpine.  

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Cyclone Ada demolished John’s original home, leaving only stumps. He survived the night sheltering in his bathtub in his little cottage near the current Jubilee Pocket Road turnoff.  

For a small community at the time, Airlie Beach had many colourful characters like John Campbell. Not necessarily all eccentric, but independent, resourceful and not at all tolerant of what they considered a “nanny state”.  

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Story sourced from memories of past locals, Ken Looke and John Harper. Photo from PHMS archives.

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