On the morning of Saturday, March 17, 1962, residents of Townsville awoke to find a peculiar figure painted atop their beloved Castle Hill.
It wasn’t the first time an out of place painting appeared on the hill as university students had painted a question mark there the year before, which had since been painted over.
This time, it was the recognisable figure of ‘The Saint’, a figure that would remain on the north facing rock wall of Castle Hill for 60 years.
20 years ago, on the Saint’s 40th anniversary, after decades of speculation and controversy, seven former Mackay State High School students came forward as the ones responsible for the original iteration of what has become a Townsville icon.
They were Graeme Bowen, Lyall Ford, Rodney Froyland, David Greve, Peter Higgins, Barrie Snarski and Robert Sothman.
Mr Ford has told the story of the Saint in his book ‘A History of The Townsville Saint’, revealing for the first time who held the brush that fateful night.
“Barry Snarski was revealed in this book, for the first time, as the guy that actually did the painting but for 60 years, we never revealed who did the painting,” said Mr Ford.
The book was launched in Townsville in October to mark the 60th anniversary of the Saint, celebrated with functions at Townville’s C Bar and university alongside councillors, MPs and special guests.
60 years ago, seven young Mackay men aged between 17 and 18 had recently relocated to Townsville for their first year of university.
Commemoration Week was a tradition where university students would pull pranks throughout town, with the previous year’s Commemoration Week resulting in a 15-foot-long question mark being painted on Castle Hill.
“It got painted out the following January by four blokes in the Air Force and we arrived in February,” said Mr Ford.
“We were all thinking … ‘We should do something to put something back there.’”
The Mackay mischief makers decided on The Saint, the calling card of literary character Simon Templar created by Leslie Charteris.
“Schoolkids used to doodle The Saint, so it was a very well-known figure in 1962,” said Mr Ford.
“We organised all the gear to do the job, got hold of ropes and paints and a jeep and went up one Friday night and did the painting between 2 and 3 o’clock.”
Mr Snarski hung down the side of Castle Hill for 35 minutes, tied to posts at the lookout on top of the hill, completing the painting.
In doing so, he and his friends instigated one of the most contentious debates in Townsville history: an icon to some, an eyesore to others.
Throughout the many ups and downs the Saint has endured, including being painted over and repainted countless times, clashes with council and a copyright dilemma, the prevailing stance of the people of Townsville is that the Saint is an icon, and they have these seven Mackay men to thank.
“It was just a student prank,” laughed Mr Ford.
“I guess we assumed it’d probably get painted out by someone,”
The Saint has since been adopted by the university, the university’s rugby league club and other clubs and businesses throughout north Queensland as their logo or mascot.
“The council accepted that it was an icon of Townsville and that they wouldn’t remove it,” said Mr Ford.
To purchase ‘A History of The Townsville Saint’, contact Lyall Ford on 0400 772 278 or email lyallrford@gmail.com.
