El Arish - QLD

El Arish was named after the town which was located on the Sinai Peninsula in Palestine and nowadays is in Egypt. During World War 1 it was the site of a strategically important battle, the winning of which enabled the Allied Forces to push forward to Damascus.
Queensland Department of Lands Staff Surveyor Harding carried out the surveying of the blocks for the Maria Creek Soldiers' Settlement, later to become the town of El Arish. The survey work was interrupted by the 1918 Cyclone. Harding and Queensland Railway Department Surveyor Whish were the namesakes of Whing Creek which flows past the town of El Arish on the southern end. Also to the south east lies Mt.Myrtle which was named after Mrs.Harding.In 1923, the few newly constructed buildings in El Arish were the private residence of Mr. Frances Paxton Martin, the Queensland Lands Department Supervisor of the settlement, the El Arish State School, the Supervisor's Office and the Railway Station Master's residence.
Returned soldier W.H.Williams received an original ballot for land at El Arish. The opportunity to become a farmer was made available under "The Returned Soldiers' Settlement Act of 1917" and ballots were granted from April 1922. W.H.Williams would have received as his entitlement one of the blocks of land, of around 50 acres, which had been surveyed to have equal amounts of standing scrub. Advice and assistance to clear and plant the first ten acres of his block with sugar cane.
the amount of £625 for use in building a house and purchasing supplies and tools in order to prepare his farm for planting.
The cost of planting was about £30 per acre and there were about 3000 cane plants per acre, all of which were planted by hand. The country was in its virgin state and was not very accessible, as the railway line at that time was only completed about four miles beyond Innisfail."
The estimated cost of a cottage was £260. This included a watertank and a stove.