TOWNSVILLE  , a

town of Elphinstone county, Queensland, Australia, 87o m. direct N.W. of Brisbane . Pop . (1901), 12,717 . It is the seat of the Anglican bishop of North Queensland and has a cathedral and several handsome buildings, including the supreme court and the custom-house . It is picturesquely situated partly on the slopes of Castle Hill and Melton Hill, and partly on the banks of Ross Creek, which is spanned by the Victoria Bridge, a swing bridge 550 ft. in length, worked by hydraulic power . The tidal harbour is enclosed by stone breakwaters, and large vessels enter and load frozen meat direct from the refrigerator cars . The port is an outlet for a wide area of pastoral country and for several goldfields, and has regular communication with all ports north and south by lines of steamers . The immigration barracks on Ross Island have accommodation for five hundred persons . The railway station is the terminus of the Northern line, which extends 236 M. to Hughenden . Townsville was founded in 1864 by John Medwin Black and named after his partner Captain Towns . A municipal charter was granted in 1866 .