QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Gold Coast connections There were many changes of ownership. In 1902 Fritz sold his half interest to his younger brothers, but continued to work as shipping agent and captain until 1907. Four years later, after seeing to the building of the new Junction Sugar Mill at Pimpama Island, he bought brother Albert’s shares in The Maid of Sker. A year later, Ferdinand sold his shares to Fritz’s son Ted. When Ted acquired a majority holding in 1921 the firm expanded with a number of new vessels coming into use. Fritz was 66 when Ted took over, had by then acquired a number of rental properties in Brisbane and a holiday home at Southport, and was a moderately wealthy man – a fine example of a 19th century German immigrant who had seized the opportunities of his adopted country. By the 1930s The Maid of Sker was showing her age and was too small for commercial cargoes. In 1934 she was decommissioned and converted to a gravel barge. Florant , a ship with two kerosene engines and a conventional propellor, took over the Southport run until it was no longer viable in the early 1950s. As improved road and rail services diminished the need for transport by ship, so too did Kleinschmidt Bros change, and the firm diversified into a sand and gravel business and premixed concrete plants. All ships were converted to either barges or tugs. Dredging the Brisbane River and transporting sand from Stradbroke Island were core business. The Maid of Sker had in former years often brought sand from the island for the South Brisbane Glass Works. As a barge she suffered the indignity of sinking under tow on several occasions. Withdrawn from service in 1974, because of her near century-long contribution to the Gold Coast’s development, she was donated to the city council. After languishing for some years at The Spit, she was finally relocated to dry land and preserved.

Above: Amalie and Fritz Kleinschmidt enjoying the sun in their later years, and (opposite page) The Maid of Sker rides to her anchor in one of the mangrove-lined passages of Moreton Bay. Images courtesy Kleinschmidt family collection. Below: The Maid moored upriver; the double-deck jetty, to allow for tidal range, is of interest. Courtesy Peter Ludlow collection

For some time the public jetty at the Grand Hotel at Labrador served as the Southport terminal, but it proved to be too far from the centre of the town. On Ferdinand’s initiative a large tract of land on the south side of the Nerang River opposite Macintosh Island was acquired. A wharf was built in the creek, with a depot, sheds and, later, houses. Working with the tides was paramount: the Nerang River was shallow in some parts, and impassable at low tide. The Maid had to make the upstream journey on one high tide, unload and take on new cargo to return on the next. Occasionally there were delays, or a difficult cargo, and she would miss the tide, throwing the schedule out. On the whole, however, the pace was slow and relaxed. As the years passed, the importance of the service she provided continued to be strong. When the Jubilee Bridge was built in 1925 linking Southport and Main Beach, it was designed with a central span which could be raised to allow The Maid of Sker to pass through. The captain would sound the siren as she came down The Broadwater to alert a lad living nearby, and he would run to activate the mechanism to raise the span.

The Maid as she can be seen today ‘in’ her park at Nerang. Image courtesy of Mike Elton via Peter Ludlow

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