Alley Family Graves

Two palm trees stand like sentinels beside the graves of the pioneering Alley family on the Gillies Highway, just south of Gordonvale. William Saunders Alley came to north Queensland in 1878, timbergetting in the Barron River and running a steamer between Cairns and Smithfield with his son-in-law Richard Blackwell and son George. Attracted by the stands of timber on the Mulgrave River, WS Alley took up a selection here in 1879. The Alley family was the first to take a bullock team to the region, where Alley established the Riverstone Hotel in 1880. He also built a road to Trinity Inlet, was a member of the Cairns Divisional Board and a Justice of the Peace. He died in 1889, predeceased by his wife Mary. Hers is the earliest of the graves here, dating to 1887. There is a plaque commemorating son-in-law Richard Blackwell. He was one of the directors of the Mulgrave Mill, built on his property, ‘Plain Camp’. He died in 1920, but is buried in Sydney. His wife Sarah (nee Alley) and their adopted infant son Willie are both buried in the family cemetery. The other graves are that of son George Alley and his wife Mary Ellen.