Taipan Press

27/09/2024

Three baby willie wagtails. Standing on the edge of the nest today. Stretching their wings and getting ready to fly.

21/03/2024

PRICE DROP.... Against the Odds has been reduced to $30 (plus postage).

Order your copy today.

25/01/2024

https://www.mackayandwhitsundaylife.com/article/historical-society-celebrates-50-years-with-book-launch

25/01/2024

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/queensland-review/article/abs/lyall-ford-poorhouse-to-paradise-the-adventures-of-a-pioneering-family-in-a-north-queensland-country-town-freshwater-qld-taipan-press-2001-219-xix-pp-2995/929FA8CA31D661ABC3106735D6FD356F -block

07/11/2023

25/09/2023

29/08/2023

How did Taipan Press originate?

From early childhood Lyall Ford had a desire to read and collect books. He and his brother Warwick established the Ford Library as children. After his father died in 1977 he began to seriously research his genealogy and travelled to England and Wales for three months in 1978 (with wife Penny and baby son Miles) undertaking research. On his return he wrote his first booklet 'Ford Family History - The English Connection' and published his first version of 'Below These Mountains' in 1984 in time for a Mills family reunion in Brisbane.
By the year 2000 he had accumulated much more research and wrote 'Poorhouse to Paradise' and a much expanded 'Below These Mountains'. He had a hectic fulltime job at the time but formed Taipan Press as a hobby so he could learn more about writing and publishing books. He has now produced nine books and is happy if he recovers the cost of printing.
Meanwhile, he obtained academic qualifications in history, in addition to degrees that he held in other fields. This culminated in the award of a PhD in History in 2014.

Visit the website:
www.taipanpress.com

29/08/2023

Curious about our publications?

To find out more about a particular book, look into the book's album (under the Photos tab).

Visit the website:
www.taipanpress.com

18/08/2023

This is a beautiful coffee table book which explains the photographic methods used in the late 1800s and includes 109 plates of photographic images taken by John Mills in his travels around Queensland between the early 1870s and 1919.
The quality of the photos is remarkable and each one has a detailed caption. It is a much appreciated gift when presented to 'oldies'.
It can be purchased from Art Space in Gordon Street, Mackay, or from the Mackay Historical Society or from Taipan Press.

18/08/2023

This is an award-winning book about the adventures of the Ford family who lived in Pinnacle and Walkerston, and had connections with Kuttabul, Mt Jukes, Silent Grove and Seaforth, all in the Mackay district of North Queensland.
The book starts in England where Charles Ford's future mother, Diana Young, was rescued from a Poorhouse by a proposal of marriage from Robert Ford, a farm worker.
It concludes with Charles living at Seaforth, which he considered to be a Paradise compared with his early life as an agricultural labourer in England, and also covers the lives of his wife Louisa and his eight children.
At Walkerston the family learnt about the involvement of Dame Nellie Melba in the area and came into contact with many other future well-known people including Sir Arthur Fadden, the Walkerston Minstrels, comedian George Wallace, Rev Fred McKay and John Young, Chairman of Pioneer Shire Council.
The hall at the Albion Hotel and the stadium at the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel were the venues for most of the entertainment.
It can be purchased from the Mackay Historical Society or Taipan Press.