Captain Frederick (Fred) Rhodes (2 May 1877 – 18 June 1964) was an Australian master mariner, journalist, author and cotton farming lobbyist.
Early life Rhodes was born on 2 May 1877 in the English town of Dudley, Staffordshire, shortly before his family migrated to New Zealand where he began his primary education in Auckland.Rhodes, Fred (1877–1964), Lorna L. McDonald, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, 1988. Accessed 17 July 2017. He was a cousin of British businessman and politician Cecil Rhodes, who served as Prime Minister of Cape Colony from 1890 until 1896.Cyclone Warnings: Wireless Station at Willis Island, Daily Commercial News and Shipping List, 6 October 1921. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.
Seafaring Early seafaring career Rhodes began his seafaring career as a midshipman with the British-India Steam Navigation Company, where he qualified as a master, before he captained the SS Bingera, a mail-carrying steamship servicing the Queensland coast, owned by the Australian United Steam Navigation Company, where he obtained an additional master's ticket.
Between 1910 and 1916, Rhodes worked as a harbourmaster in Cairns, Townsville and Cleveland Bay.Captain Rhodes returning, Cairns Post, 31 March 1915. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.
Rhodes was working in Townsville when the SS Yongala went missing in March 1911 with 122 people on board. Rhodes was part of a group of seamen who went out in search of any survivors. He and his party retrieved a basket of mail, some luggage and half of an ornate smoking room door. Rhodes later said that the belief that no trace of the Yongala was found was false as debris had been littering the ocean between Cape Bowling Green and Palm Island.Rockhampton men recall Youngala sinking, The Morning Bulletin, 2 July 1947. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.
World War I Rhodes served in World War I, but had been unsuccessful in his attempts to convince the Royal Australian Navy that his maritime experience could be useful to them. He instead reluctantly enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, but did write a letter to the Chief Recruiting Officer in England outlining his experience and enquiring as to whether England needed any deep sea mariners.Captain Rhodes; A Varied Career, The Morning Bulletin, 1 November 1924. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.
Upon reaching Salisbury Plain, Rhodes was instantly procured by the British naval authorities on the orders of Winston Churchill. He was appointed navy lieutenant, serving as a convoy officer at Bizerte, before being transferred to Otranto Barrage.
In 1925, Rhodes helped organise a Returned Soldier's Reunion event in Rockhampton where returned diggers could gather for one night, socialise with others who had served and talk about their respective war experiences.Diggers' Reunion – a happy gathering, The Morning Bulletin, 25 April 1925. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.
Post-war seafaring career After serving in the war, he was appointed harbourmaster in Rockhampton in 1919.New Harbour Masters, Townsville and Rockhampton, The Telegraph, 10 October 1919. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.
He remained as Rockhampton Harbourmaster until 1921 when he was notified of his pending transferral to Thursday Island.Personal, The Brisbane Courier, 26 November 1921. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017. Rhodes considered the move a backward step in his career which would have offered a lower salary, and thus decided to resign and remain in Rockhampton.Captain Rhodes resigns from public service; will remain in Rockhampton, The Morning Bulletin, 10 December 1921. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.
Rhodes took the view that the attempt to transfer him was the result of opposition to a protest speech he had made at a local branch meeting of the National Party where he spoke out against the Theodore Labor government's plans to abolish Queensland's Upper House, stating that the attempt to "bury" him on Thursday Island was the "reward" for not thinking similarly to the "alleged" democratic Labor government.Transfer of Captain Rhodes, The Morning Bulletin, 30 November 1921. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.
The controversy surrounding Rhodes' resignation prompted heated exchanges between Rhodes and Queensland treasurer John Fihelly in the pressAlleged Victimisation; Captain Rhodes' Case; State Treasurer's Explanation, The Brisbane Courier, 2 December 1921. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.Captain Rhodes's reply, The Brisbane Courier, 2 December 1921. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.
Local Rockhampton newspaper The Morning Bulletin criticised the statements made by Fihelly who had claimed that there was a need for a good officer at Thursday Island. The newspaper opined that if that indeed was accurate, the lower salary offered to Rhodes for being a "good officer" was an "extraordinary" way to reward someone.Victimisation: Captain Rhodes's Case, The Morning Bulletin, 3 December 1921. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.
The newspaper also took to task the Queensland premier Ted Theodore who had claimed in 1919 that Rhodes had not been "detrimentally affected" by his original transfer from Townsville to Rockhampton.Government Appointments; Questions In The Assembly, The Brisbane Courier, 17 October 1919. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017. The newspaper accused Theodore of either not knowing what he was talking about or not meaning what he said, and published the salary comparisons between the Townsville, Rockhampton and Thursday Island jobs, which revealed Rhodes had accepted a lower salary when he was transferred to Rockhampton and would have been forced to take another pay cut had he accepted the transfer to Thursday Island.
The Morning Bulletin also described Fihelly's suggestion that Rhodes was being sent to Thursday Island to be tested as "grotesque", given Rhodes already had a proven record after being in charge of three of the largest ports in Queensland during the previous decade. The Morning Bulletin also stated that Fihelly seemed to have deep resentment for an officer he had only met once.
Willis Island Weather Station Throughout the last couple of years of Rhodes working as a harbourmaster, he lobbied the government to establish a weather station on Willis Island. Rhodes was eventually rewarded in 1921 when weather monitoring equipment was erected on the island. The Daily Commercial News and Shipping praised Rhodes' persistence in his quest to make shipping off the North Queensland coast safer during cyclone season, despite repeated "cold douches" by Federal Government departments.
In his mission to get the weather station established, Rhodes wrote to sea captains, shipping companies and the Queensland Chamber of Commerce, and inundated Queensland newspapers with "propaganda" about his proposal, which they agreed to publish. Rhodes then sent copies of newspaper articles to Federal MPs on a frequent basis, with Rhodes imploring them to help.
The Federal Government finally agreed to explore the viability of the proposal, sending an expedition to Willis Island. Rhodes was initially not invited, but was finally granted permission to travel with the official party. Rhodes was said to have received many letters of support from fellow mariners after the Federal Government finally agreed to commence weather monitoring on Willis Island.
Politics Rhodes had a strong interest in politics throughout his life.
After choosing to remain in Rockhampton, Rhodes nominated for preselection for the Nationalist Party of Australia's Senate vacancy in 1922 caused by the apparent suicide of John Adamson but missed by just one vote, defeated by local merchant William George Thompson.The Senate Vacancy: Mr. W. G. Thompson, The Morning Bulletin, 15 July 1922. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.
Rhodes subsequently became involved with the newly formed state branch of the Nationalist Party called the United Party.
He was appointed to the United Party's campaign committee, working to promote the local United Party candidate (and Rockhampton mayor) William Charlton as the potential state Member for Rockhampton at the by-election held in February 1923, triggered by the resignation of Frank Forde who moved into Federal politics. The Rockhampton by-election was held just three months before the 1923 state election.
However, Rhodes resigned from the campaign committee due to disagreeing with the "tactics indulged in" and the "lack of discipline" concerning allegations made by some people associated with the United Party regarding the private life of Labor Party candidate George Farrell.Protest by Captain Rhodes, The Morning Bulletin, 15 February 1923. Retrieved 17 July 2017.Captain Rhodes' Position, The Morning Bulletin, 19 February 1923. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 20 July 2017.
Rhodes' decision to resign came after it was claimed a woman had been paid to visit Rockhampton and accuse Farrell of being the father of her two-year-old child, allegedly part of a smear campaign designed to benefit Charlton.Serious accusation refuted by Labour candidate; Pandemonium at Nationalist meeting, The Morning Bulletin, 14 February 1923. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 20 July 2017.
In statements delivered during the scandal, Farrell praised Rhodes for believing in "fair play" and for not standing to see "dirty business going on".Statement by Mr. Farrell, The Morning Bulletin, 15 February 1923. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 20 July 2017.Statement by Mr. Farrell, The Morning Bulletin, 16 February 1923. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 20 July 2017.
In 1925, Rhodes became the secretary of a newly formed Constitutional Club in Rockhampton, which was established to encourage a greater interest in social and political affairs and to promote the cause of constitutional government as well as the development of industrial resources in Australia.Constitutional Club formed in Rockhampton, The Morning Bulletin, 28 November 1925. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.
Cotton farming advocacy During his career, Rhodes was associated with cotton farming, both as a journalist and as a member of the Cotton Growers Union, serving as the organisation's provincial secretary and working to promote the cotton farming industry as an agricultural alternative to cattle farming in Central Queensland.Cotton Growers Union, The Morning Bulletin, 9 October 1924. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.Cotton Conference, The Morning Bulletin, 23 October 1924. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.
In 1923, Rhodes became a co-founder and managing director of the Cotton Farming Publishing Company which had the object of continuing the publication of monthly journal The Cotton Farmer.A New Company, The Morning Bulletin, 20 July 1923. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017. Following a collapse of the cattle market, dryland cotton farming was briefly seen to be a saviour for beef producers and returning soldiers.
Cotton Farmer was ultimately amalgamated into The Australian Cotton Grower, Farmer and Dairyman in 1925 with Rhodes becoming a local correspondent and agent for the publication.The Cotton Grower; Amalgamation with Cotton Farmer, The Morning Bulletin, 23 January 1925. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 17 July 2017.