Court ‘Robin Hood’ was established in Rockhampton in the 1870s. In 1886, the various Courts were formed into a Central District Court and annual meetings held, one in Barcaldine in 1907 and another in 1917.
Court ‘Friar Tuck’ started in Emerald before moving on to Bogantungan, Pine Hill and Jericho with the Central Railway line before it arrived in Barcaldine.
The ‘Court Friar Tuck’ No. 6587, A. O. Foresters followed the railway line, setting up a Lodge in Barcaldine in 1886. In 1931, its membership numbered 145.
The Foresters’ built the Forester’s Hall in 1926, opening it in November.
Until then, the lodge members held their meetings in the Salvation Army barracks. T
he hall was sold for removal to N. Parkes of Jaccondoll in 1956, after the Forester’s Lodge held its last Barcaldine meeting in the same year.
The Commonwealth Bank was built on the hall site in 1985.
Western Champion, 22 June 1887
The Court ‘Friar Tuck’ Ancient Order of Foresters (AOF) had women members. The ‘Gem of the West’ Ladies Foresters’ Court was inaugurated in Barcaldine in October 1925 with 23 members. Miss Jessie Ellem was elected President.
In 1932, Leo Madison broke the record for continually playing a piano in Foresters’ Hall. Leo, an endurance pianist, played for 113 hours.
