down the Kuranda Range and joined WS Alley in Smithfield where he was involved in trading and timber-getting. Sarah Blackwell was reportedly the first woman to ride down the Kuranda Range. Richard Blackwell was involved with WS Alley and George Gorham timber-getting on the Barron in 1878. They then accompanied WS Alley on the journey from Cairns to the Mulgrave River in 1878. Richard Blackwell, on 18 October 1879, took up land in the Mulgrave area known as Plain Camp, near where Gordonvale is now located. He reportedly made a gift of part of this land for the establishment of the Mulgrave Mill. The Sugar Works Guarantee Act of 1893 provided for the erection of approved Central Mills on a government loan if farmers mortgaged their land as security. After the principal and interest had been met, these Central Mills were to be handed to the growers as Cooperative Mills. The Mulgrave settler's organisation evolved from a meeting held at Tom Mackey's farm, at which Richard Blackwell was in attendance. A provisional directorate was formed with Mackey as Chairman. The original memorandum of the Association of the Mulgrave Central Mill Co Ltd dated 14 November 1893, was registered in Brisbane 20 April 1895. Signatories to this included Richard Blackwell. The nominal capital of was increased to in 1896. The Mulgrave Central Mill enterprise proceeded rapidly, and Richard Blackwell was one of the first directors of the Mulgrave Mill. According to the plaque at Riverstone, he died in May 1920 and is buried in the Waverley Cemetery in Sydney. According to her headstone at Riverstone, Sarah Blackwell died in April 1929 aged 71. Willie, the adopted infant son of Richard and Sarah Blackwell, is also buried at Riverstone aged 11 months. George Gorham Alley and Mary Ellen Alley (nee Healy) In 1877–78 at the age of 15–16, George Gorham accompanied his sister Sarah and brother-in-law Richard Blackwell who travelled overland in a dray from the Mount Perry goldfields to Brisbane. They then proceeded to Cooktown by ship, then to the Hodgkinson and Palmer Goldfields. They then travelled down the Kuranda Range and joined WS Alley in Smithfield where he was trading. George Gorham took a post in a store until 1878 when he joined Richard Blackwell and his father WS Alley timber-getting on the Barron. He accompanied the family on their journey from Cairns to Mulgrave in 1878. WS Alley selected