Cutten Brothers' Graves

The Cutten Brothers' Graves remember the first settlers in Bingil Bay, the Cutten family, who established an extensive horticultural empire there from the 1880s-1920s. Frederick Cutten and his three sons, Herbert, Leonard and Sidney, immigrated to Queensland from England in 1871, followed by his wife Margaret, eldest son James and daughters Margaret, Jessie, Florence and Alice in 1872. In 1884, brothers Herbert, Leonard and Sidney applied to purchase land at Clump Point, Bingil Bay, and took up multiple selections in the region. They named their property "Bicton", after a property in Devon, England, and immediately cleared land to plant banana and pineapple crops. The Cutten brothers became well known for using local Aboriginal labour to help them with clearing and cultivation. In 1886, the family built their Bicton homestead. The successful plantation soon expanded to include an array of tropical fruits, as well as coffee and tea imported from Ceylon, India, in the early 1890s. At that time, the Cuttens were the largest coffee growers in Australia. The Cutten empire was eventually destroyed in 1918, following a severe cyclone. The family cemetery includes graves of Frederick Cutten (1889), Jessie (1904), Mrs Cutten (1908); Sidney (1923); Herbert and Leonard (1930).