I went metal detecting at a forgotten house site at Kerry near Beaudesert in Queensland. What I found transported me back to two of the biggest stories in Australian history. I told a version of this story on West Bremer Radio.

It was the old home of the Markwell family on Stockyard Creek in the Kerry Valley. The house was called “Monomeeth” which is an Aboriginal word meaning precious, pure, serene and beautiful. The location really was beautiful.

The home was built in early 1933 and lasted just twenty-seven years until it was burnt to the ground. Today there’s nothing left except for a couple of tell-tale fruit trees, and that’s where West Bremer Radio listener Tony and I took our Minelab metal detectors and recovered some remarkable history that had been lost for more the sixty years. One of the pennies we found even pre-dated the house itself.

It was built by Jack Markwell for his wife and eight children, seven of whom were boys. One of those boys went to live at Booval in Ipswich and his descendants are still here today. Others remained in the Kerry district and elsewhere across south east Queensland.

Jack himself was one of six brothers and with so many sons and brothers, it was inevitable that the family had a bit of a military history. A number trained at Redbank at Ipswich.

A cousin of Jack’s was Major Markwell. He served with the 2nd Light Horse in the First World War, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, which is second only to the Victoria Cross, and was twice Mentioned in Despatches. He was set to lead the famous charge at Beersheeba. That was one of the last great cavalry charges in history and a huge part of Australian history. But Major Markwell was shot dead just before the charge actually happened, so he missed out on his piece of history.

Meanwhile at the Markwell house, we found loads of bullets and bullet shells all around the house. That’s unusual because most people don’t shoot actually around their own home. But we also found a number of pennies and half pennies that had been shot through – with bullet holes in them – so obviously the Markell boys had fun, and upset their mum in the process, by shooting anything and anywhere. They were good shots too because the archaeology proves it.

We also unearthed a fantastic Second World War period compass, canteen stopper, ration pack tube, and what appears to be an army issue spoon. There was loads of stuff there.

Meanwhile, Jack himself was a bit of a local hero because he was captain of the Kerry cricket team. On the last day of February 1937, he led the team against arch-rivals Canungra. Jack scored fourteen runs and took a catch. The match finished in a draw with the Kerry side well ahead by one hundred and forty-six runs and needing just three wickets for victory.

The game was notable for a couple of reasons. Firstly, a fifteen-year-old debuted with a chanceless innings of ninety-eight and unlucky not to get a century, and followed that up with bowling figures of four wickets for forty-four runs.

Secondly, it was the day that the lost Stinson aircraft was found. The plane had disappeared in bad weather less than an hour after leaving Archerfield with seven people on board. Bernard O’Reilly was the local who found the crash site deep in the rainforest. It took fifty men to rescue the two survivors. This is another huge piece of Australian history. The story made headlines around the world. O’Reilly became a national hero.

The rescue party that went up into the mountains comprised of men from the district and some of them from the cricket team. Someone pulled out of the match and that’s why the fifteen-year-old got his debut.

Jack’s youngest brother Babe Markwell was one of those rescuers. Jack himself couldn’t go because he was essential to the success cricket team. Not only was he team captain but it was also up to him to drive the players to the match in the back of his cream truck, and of course there were his cream deliveries on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. So possibly for all these reasons Jack missed out on his piece of history.

And so Major Markwell missed out on leading the legendary charge at Beersheba, and Jack Markwell missed out on the famous Stinson rescue, both because of quirks of fate.

It’s amazing that metal detecting the old Markwell house recalled both these stories. For the few hours that Tony and I were there, we really were time travellers, of that there’s no doubt.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A VERSION OF THIS STORY TOLD ON WEST BREMER RADIO.

Photo credits:
Stockyard Creek metal detecting finds, 2024 – Harold Peacock 20240608_153842.
Monomeeth, Stockyard Creek< Kerry – Markwell family collection, Tony Markwell.
Jack Markwell – Markwell family collection, Tony Markwell.
Major William Ernest Markwell DSO of Beaudesert – Australian War Memorial H19216.
Doug Markwell and Noel Markwell at Monomeeth – Markwell family collection, Tony Markwell.
Stockyard Creek metal detecting finds 2024 – Harold Peacock 20240608_153342.
Bernard O’Reilly – State Library of Queensland.
Jack Markwell’s cream truck – Markwell family collection, Tony Markwell.