The inspiration behind ‘Before the Devil Wept’
“Before the Devil Wept’ is the title of my next book, due to be released in early 2027.
This book is set in the ghost town of Mt Mulligan, about 160 kilometres north-west of Cairns and near Dimbulah in the Atherton Tablelands in north Queensland.
Mt Mulligan itself is a huge sandstone range set in an ancient landscape rising to about 400 metres above the surrounding plains and about 18 kilometres in circumference. The local Djungan people knew it as ‘Ngarrabullgan’, and they began living on the mountain about 40,000 years ago but ceased to camp on the range about 600 years ago. The range was named Mount Mulligan after prospector James Venture Mulligan by his colleagues during their 1874 exploration expedition searching the Hodgkinson River for gold. This expedition led to the rush for gold across the Hodgkinson goldfields and the establishment of towns such as Kingsborough, Thornborough and Woodville, which also feature in my book.
Mt Mulligan was the site of far north Queensland’s first coal mine. Coal mining started at the site in about 1910, under the auspices of the Chillagoe Mining Company and a new mining town was built. By 1914 a branch railway line from Dimbulah was completed and the town prospered.
This is the central focus of my book. The main character is an itinerant journalist named Darcey Bookman who settles in Mt Mulligan and begins writing articles about the mine and the town’s development, as well as of the surrounding area. Along with his Irish friend, Paddy O’Connor, Darcey becomes intrinsically involved in the events that shape the town and its growth.
The development of the town of Mt Mulligan was plagued by factors such as strikes, shortage of capital, external politics and the impact of World War I, but despite the challenges the town soon grew into a flourishing community. Through Darcey the reader will meet some of the regions most endearing pioneers, such as Hugh Wason, Frank Gielis, Ed Torpy and the Harris family.
Although Darcey is a fictitious character, he works for the very real newspaper ‘The Cairns Post’, based in the coastal town Cairns. Darcey’s travels frequently take him to Cairns, and thus the reader is also able to meet some of the Cairns identities whose decisions and jobs also impacted the development of Mt Mulligan, including Patrick Doyle, Percy Pease and Patrick Close.
Anyone researching the history of Mt Mulligan will quickly find that it is best known for one of Australia’s worst mining disasters. The town prospered until 19 September 1921 when an underground explosion killed seventy-five miners. They are nearly all buried in the local cemetery.
But that is not the focus of ‘Before the Devil Wept’. My story is about a town of hope and promise, of a community proud of its town and its prosperity, and of people who loved to live there. The main character of Darcey settles there, has a family and becomes part of a flourishing community.
As with my other books, the characters of this book are a blend of fictitious and real people and the events and locations are real. Much of the information is taken from the newspapers of the time as well as a variety of other sources. Getting to Mt Mulligan itself is a long, dusty trip best undertaken in a four-wheeled drive vehicle, and at the time of writing this blog, I am still trying to find a way to visit the site.
However, for the first time, I turned to the many four-wheel drive enthusiasts who have posted You Tube videos about their own visits to the town. These videos have enabled me to become familiar with the vegetation, town layout and remaining buildings (all ruins), and even to see inside the remains of the brick kiln which features in my book. Some videos have reconstructed the town and mine as they may have been at the time of the disaster in 1921, also an invaluable resource.
There is a monument, erected by the Mines and Energy Union, in front of the brick stack on the 75th anniversary of the Mount Mulligan disaster, which bears the names of the seventy-five victims. A story board beside the memorial gives details of the tragedy. It is headed: ‘The Day the Devil Wept’, and this was the inspiration for the title of my book.
Like my previous books, “Before the Devil Wept’ brings the tiny town of Mt Mulligan back to life through the eyes and experiences of ordinary people who choose to brave the unknown and to travel and settle in a remote location. Australia has hundreds of deserted ghost towns which were once flourishing communities, and I love researching to find out what they were like in their heyday and to bring them back to life through my stories.
Watch out for the release of ‘Before the Devil Wept’ in about March 2027.
