Queensland Meat Export Company Pty Ltd, Townsville
Ross River Meatworks began operation in the 1890s and has been a major exporter in the Townsville region. Its economic contribution toTownsville, both as exporter and as local supplier of beef, has been considerable. The closure of the meatworks in 1995 ended a century of periodic expansion, conflict between producers and processors and between employer and employees, keeping up with industry changes, adjusting to variations in export demand, being prey to the weather, and coping with international and national economic restructuring. This collection, donated by the Ross River Meatworks in May 1995, is only a small sample of the organisation's history.
Detailed Listing
QMET 1. Register of Employees 1940s - 1950s Log Book.
QMET 2. Bentley's Complete Phrase Code. E.L. Bentley, London, 1912 (with private supplement of additional codes for local firms and stations).
QMET 3. Collection of newspaper clippings of Meat Industry 1966 - 1984.
QMET 4. Technical Handbook - Offals and Fancy Meats. Australian Meat Board, 1970 (booklet).
QMET 5. An Introduction to Australian Export Meat. Australian Meat Board, n.d. (booklet).
QMET 6. The Imperial Organisation. W. Angliss and Co., Sydney, n.d. (booklet).
QMET 7. Report on the application for the establishment of a State School at Oonoonba - 1918 (3 pages photocopy).
QMET 8. Site plans for works site x 3 (photocopy).
QMET 9. Certificates of Appreciation from T.P.A. and I. Association 107, 108, 109, 111 and 112th Annual Exhibitions.
QMET 10. Report on Q.M.E. office building by Clayton Pemberton and Associates Pty. Ltd. n.d. with coloured photographs in booklet.
QMET 11. Photocopied photographs of employees and buildings x 14 n.d.
QMET 12. Memorandum of transfers (land) to 1955 (6 pages photocopy).
QMET 13-58 Certificates of Land Title 1886 to 1975 - incomplete (photocopy).
QMET 59-64 Deed of Grants of Land 1901 to 1969 - incomplete (photocopy).
QMET 65-237 Certificate of Registration and Licence Renewals File 1977 to 1983 - letters, memos, certificates, application forms and other material relating to Abattoir licence, export licence, Factories and Shop Act, Clean Air Act, annual registration, Trademark, Flammable and Combustible Liquids Act and Meat and Bone Meal Requirements.
QMET 238 Water colour and Indian Ink landscape painting of Ross River Meatworks Townsville, c. 1900 (60cm x 120cm) framed.
Photographs of the Ross River Meatworks are held in the Department of History and Politics, Western Campus.
Box 1 (1-2) 340L
Box 2 (3-237) 340R
QMET 238 (painting) at separate location.
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