Yungaba Migrant Hostel, Townsville, Archive
Opened on Stanton Hill in Townsville in July 1951, Yungaba Migrant Hostel, (also known as Stanton Lodge), was described by Vince C. Gair, Deputy Premier and Treasurer, as “the first step in a programme of decentralisation of British migration to Queensland.” The Townsville hostel was one of three to be opened in regional centres, the others being at Rockhampton and Maryborough (not to be confused with the longstanding Yungaba Immigration Depot at Kangaroo Pt, Brisbane). As the Queensland government was promoting northern settlement of much-needed, highly-qualified tradesmen, the hostel was opened to accommodate them, and those who stayed there originally did so under state government nomination. Upon opening, the fifty-bed, two-storied building welcomed thirty-nine state-sponsored migrants who arrived on the liner Maloja. The migrant group included six carpenters, two painters and decorators, one motor mechanic, and their families.
. The word 'yungaba' is from a Maryborough Aboriginal dialect and means 'land of the sun'.
Archive Location: 139L
Detailed Listing
YMH/1 Floor plans of Yungaba Migrant Hostel prepared for the installation of emergency lighting December 1974
YMH/2 File on hostel's automatic fire alarm, 1979-1984
YMH/3 File on electrical and fire safety reports 1982-1985
YMH/4 File containing duties of housemaid, gardener/handyman and rules for residents, no date
YMH/5 File containing specifications and design plans for kitchen exhaust hood, January 1977
YMH/6 Pest control file 1974-1984
YMH/7 File on hostel stock write-offs 1974-1985
