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Atherton Chinese Temple —major conservation and interpretation works
Available for work
Yes
Bio
Gordon Grimwade is an historical archaeologist, writer and geographer with over forty diverse years in the industry. His work as a heritage specialist has focused on mining, cemeteries and military history along with museum curation and conservation management with particular focus on rural and remote regions of the tropical north. He is a former Member of the Queensland Heritage Council and a Member of Australia ICOMOS. Gordon is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (UK), a Chartered Geographer and was on the International Advisory Board for the US based ‘Dig Into History’ (for 7 – 14 years olds) to which he was a frequent contributor. He was John Oxley Fellow in 2008 researching Chinese illegal, overland migration from the Northern Territory to the Eastern colonies.

Gordon has written widely on ethnic minority heritage, mining, and military history of North Queensland primarily in the course of providing management plans and heritage significance assessments, displays and interpretive signage. He has curated several displays and developed travelling exhibitions for remote areas.
Skills and Services Offered
Regional and remote area heritage management, assessment and interpretation. Site museum and local museum management and curation. Writing history for general public.
Qualifications
PhD, Archaeology, Flinders Univ, 2026
Master of Letters (Class 1), James Cook University 1989
Bachelor of Arts (WAIT) 1987
Chartered Geographer (RGS, UK)
Patrol Officers' Certificate (ASOPA, Sydney) 1964
Professional Interests
Mining, cemetery, ethnic (Chinese, Japanese, Indigenous) history and heritage. Site management and interpretation. Interpretive signage. Writing history and archaeology for general readership. Regional museum significance assessment, training and management
Publications and Experience

1975 * ‘Part II: George Taplin and his work on Aboriginal Languages’ In Narinjari: An Outline of the Language studied by George Taplin, with Taplin’s Notes and Comparative Table, Oceania Linguistic Monographs, No 17 Eds Prof AP Elkin, A Capell and ES Wurm, Univ of Sydney, Sydney

1986 'Atherton Chinatown: Site History' in Journal Feb 1987, National Trust of Queensland, Brisbane.

1989 * 'Initial Research into the Chemical Composition of Red Inks in Chinese Artefacts'. Research Bulletin No 13, Australian Society for Historical Archaeology, Sydney.

1992 * ‘A Sense of Harmony - Feng Shui at Atherton Chinese Temple’ in National Trust Queensland Journal February 1992 pp 10-11, NT(Qld), Brisbane.

1993 * Bell P., G. Grimwade, N. Ritchie, 'Archaeology of the Overseas Chinese in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea: a select bibliography' in Newsletter Vol 23 No 1 Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology, Sydney.

1995 Grimwade, Gordon ; Mickan, Karen ; Darroch, Alison ‘Moulding and Casting Aboriginal Carved Trees’, Australian archaeology, 1995 (41), p.15-21; Australian Archaeological Association

1996 ‘Cedar Camp: Atherton’s Chinatown’ in National Trust Queensland, Journal, April 1996 pp 19-20, NT(Qld), Brisbane.

1997 * ‘Of Gods, Timber, And Maize’ in Histories of the Chinese in Australasia and the South Pacific, pp307 - 319, Chinese Australian Museum, Melbourne, Victoria.

*‘Balancing Use and Preservation in Cultural Heritage Management’ Bill Carter and Gordon Grimwade in International Journal of Heritage Studies, Spring 1997 Vol 3 No 1, Intellect Ltd, Exeter. (Reprinted 2007 in Thomas D, Managing Heritage and Cultural Tourism Resources, Ashgate Publishing, Burlington pp 103–111).

* ‘Managing Cultural Heritage Places’ Bill Carter and Gordon Grimwade in Dept of Natural and Rural Systems Management Occasional Paper Vol 4 No 1, (eds) R W Carter and A Ross, Gatton College, Univ of Qld, Gatton.

1998 *‘The Canning Stock Route: Desert stock route to outback tourism’ Australasian historical archaeology : journal of the Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology, 1998, Vol.16 (1998), p.70-79; Sydney: The Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology

2000 *‘Managing Small Heritage Sites with Interpretation and Community Involvement’ Gordon Grimwade and Bill Carter in International Journal of Heritage Studies, pp 33 – 48, Vol 6 No 1, Taylor & Francis Ltd, Exeter.

‘Croydon: museums and cultural heritage tourism’, ArtEfact, Australian Museums Association, Queensland Branch

2001* ‘Japanese Bathhouse at Thursday Island, Queensland’ section in 1901 Australian Life at Federation An Illustrated Chronicle, (Ed) A. Cremin, Aust Society for Historical Archaeology; Univ of NSW, Sydney.

Hou Wang Temple, Atherton for ArtEfact, Museums Australia.

*‘After 2001: Can We Maintain A Future For Cultural Heritage Tourism? reprinted paper from proceedings of Museums Australia Qld, State Conference, 15-16 September 2001, Cairns.

2002 * ‘Strange bedfellows: Green Hill Fort, archaeology and tourism’ Gordon Grimwade and Geoff Gin in Australasian Historical Archaeology Vol 20 pp 83¬ ¬– 91, ASHA, Sydney.

‘Croydon Chinatown – snapshots across the centuries’, in Queensland Administrators’ Source Book 2002, pp 8 -9, Millbank Publications, Sydney.

2003 * ‘Rediscovering Atherton Chinatown’, (pp 7 -11), Locality Community History Magazine, UTS, Sydney.

*‘Gold, gardens, temples and feasts: Croydon’s Chinese Temple’, Australasian Journal of Historical Archaeology. Vol 21, pp50 –57, Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology, Sydney.

* ‘Fortification, Federation and a single shot in anger: Green Hill Fort, Thursday Island’ Ginn, G., G Grimwade, Institute of Engineers Proceedings of Conference on Engineering Heritage 2001, Canberra.

2004 * ‘Nineteenth Century Japanese Pearlers’ Bathhouse, Thursday Island’. Queensland Museum Memoirs.

2007 * ‘Temple artefacts as a source of history’ Rediscovered Past: China in North Queensland, K Wong Hoy (Ed) pp 48 – 55, Chinese Heritage in North Queensland Inc, North Melbourne.

*‘Cooktown Sewerage Scheme: the world’s longest archaeological trench?’ Rediscovered past: China in North Queensland, K Wong Hoy (Ed) pp 65 – 74, Chinese Heritage in North Queensland Inc, North Melbourne.

2008 * ‘Crispy roast pork: using Chinese pig ovens’, Australasian Journal of Historical Archaeology Vol 26 pp 21-28, Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology, Sydney.

2011 * ‘Field Note: No More Tucker’ in Historic Environment v.23 no 3 pp 40–42, Australia ICOMOS, Melbourne.

2012 * ‘Through the back door’ Rediscovered Past: Valuing Chinese across the North, Wong Hoy K & Rains K., (Eds), pp 5 – 13, Chinese Heritage in North Queensland Inc, North Melbourne.

2013* ‘The Historical Archaeology of the Chinese in Far North Queensland’, Heather Burke and Gordon Grimwade, in Queensland Archaeological Research, Vol 16 pp 121-139. Univ of Qld, St Lucia.

2015 *Buhrich, Alice ; Ferrier, Asa ; Grimwade, Gordon ‘Attributes, preservation and management of dendroglyphs from the Wet Tropics rainforest of northeast Australia’ Australian archaeology, (80), p.91-98; Abingdon: Taylor & Francis

2017 * ‘Shattered dreams: Palmer goldfield 1874 - 1875’, Gordon and Christine Grimwade, in Queensland History Journal, Vol 23 Issue 7, Nov 2017 pp437–453. Royal Historical Society of Qld, Brisbane.

2018 *Northern Anzacs: How the First World War Shaped Far North Queensland, 88 pp. Gordon Grimwade & Pauline O’Keeffe, Cairns Historical Society, Cairns.

2019 * ‘Tenacity in the Tropics: Chinese Overland Migration in Northeast Australia during the Nineteenth Century’ In Chinese Southern Diaspora Studies, Eds Couchman S and Bagnall K., Vol 8 pp168 –189, ANU, Canberra.

2023 * ‘Evolving Manifestations of Chinese Australian religious artefacts: a Queensland case study’ In Queensland History Journal, Vol 25 Issue 4, Feb 2023, pp437-453. Royal Historical Society of Qld.

2024* ‘A Grave Situation: Burial Practices among the Chinese Diaspora in Queensland, Australia (ca.1870–1930)’, pp 295-329, Volume 28, Issue 2 Int’l Journal of Historical Archaeology. (First published on-line 2023).

*‘Regional Chinese temples in Queensland’ for On-line publication as part of the Qld Atlas of Religion, UQ ARC project.

2025
*Book chapter: ‘Pigs, temples and feasts: Australian Chinese ‘pig ovens’ in Archaeologies of Food in Australia (Ed) Shanahan M. Univ of Sydney Press.

In progress
Illustrated book: ‘Australia’s Long March’ Chinese migration overland into 19th century Queensland. (60,000 words)

Over 20 articles for young readers on historical and archaeological issues ranging from ancient time keeping to mound burials, Uluru and historical mining for an International publishing house.

Phone Number
0419 677 022
Mobile
0419 677 022
Address
5 Poinsettia Close, Yungaburra, Qld 4884
Skills and expertise of PHAQ member
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  • Irvinebank trophy gun, World War 1—before and after restoration

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