Street, Brisbane in order to build the first steam-powered sawmill in Queensland. The sawmill was built by another Brisbane pioneer and mayor John Petrie and was operational in July 1853. The mill was supplied with timber from land William Pettigrew had bought at Moggill from where the logs were floated down the Brisbane River to the mill. The mill was very profitable for many years but, as the railways were established, the lack of rail link to his mill became a disadvantage compared to other mills. Finally his mill was inundated in the 1893 Brisbane flood and by 1898 William Pettigrew went bankrupt. Maryoochydore businesses Around 1862, the area around Maroochydore was opened up for development. In 1863, William Pettigrew visited the area and found there was plentiful timber to be obtained, including hardwood, cedar, bunya and kauri pine. Although there was good timber there, the Maroochy River bar was hazardous. So William Pettigrew established a depot and wharf at Mooloolah Heads (now known as Mooloolaba) to deliver timber to his Brisbane sawmill. Later in 1884, he established a landing place at Maroochydore to receive timber floated down the Maroochy River. In 1891, he opened a sawmill on the bank of the Maroochy River at Cotton Tree and now known as Wharf St, Maroochydore. William Pettigrew had three steamers that he used on the run to the Maroochy River, "Tadorna Radja", "Tarshaw" and "Gneering". William Pettigrew closed his sawmill at Maroochydore in 1898 and sold up his land holdings (Cotton Tree, Potts Point, Mooloolah Heads) in the Maroochy area in 1903. These events appear to coincide with both his bankruptcy as well as timber-getting becoming uneconomic (all the suitable trees in the area having been cut down) and a rail link to Brisbane reduced the need for a steamer service. William Pettigrew jointly owned the Pettigrew and Sims Sawmill at Dundathu and established the (now heritage-listed) Cooloola Tramway to provide access to it. Public life William Pettigrew was an alderman of the Brisbane Municipal Council from 1863 to 1884 and mayor in 1870. He served on the following committees: Improvement Committee 1863, 1864, 1869, 1870, 1877–1880 Water Committee 1863, 1864 Lighting Committee 1863 Bridge Committee 1864, 1869, 1870 Finance Committee 1865, 1871, 1872, 1878, 1881, 1883 Town Hall Committee 1869, 1870 Legislative Committee 1870, 1871, 1879–1882, 1884 Wharfage Committee 1881 Works Committee 1882, 1884 From 1880 to 1883, he was