Sport
17 February, 2026
The Ruhle Family
Over the last few months The Clifton Courier has presented a number of articles examining the story of many of our pioneer families. We had no predetermined view as to what families or their nationalities we wanted to cover and in fact they were chosen at random. However, after covering more than a dozen of these pioneer families, Clifton’s older residents will not be surprised to note the vast majority of these families are of German origin. Clifton’s pioneers were certainly a multi cultural collection of European nationalities with Scottish, English and Irish families represented but the list of German families is dominant... at least in our randomly chosen collection.
To this point in time the German families covered include the Bange, Stehn, Imhoff, Lipp, Pauli, and Roessler families who all emigrated to Queensland between the 1840s and the 1880s.
They most often came from rural districts and so brought some experience of farming with them.
Most importantly they came with a strong work ethic, courage and determination.
Most struggled for many years having to take on unskilled work such as shepherds or working on railway construction gangs.
They arrived in the struggling Moreton Bay settlement after a six month voyage from Europe, generally speaking only German.
Joseph Frederich Ruhle was typical of the young Germans who made the momentous decision to travel half way around the world in search of a better life.
At age 23 he said goodbye to his family as he boarded the sailing vessel “Helene” on 17th November 1856 heading for a pioneer land about which he most likely knew very little.
Fortunately he travelled with a friend, 22-years-old Friedrich Berner, and they landed at the Moreton Bay on 28th March 1857.
Queensland was yet to be declared a separate state and gold fever had recently gripped the colonies.
Frontier wars between European settlers and indigenous tribes reached a shameful level as revenge attacks from both sides continued for many years.
News of these events must have caused concern for the young German emigrants but it didn’t stop them taking up the job of shepherds in the isolated regions of the Darling Downs.
A shepherd’s life was a precarious one, living alone and fearing attacks by dingoes or aborigines, the young Germans must have questioned their decision to emigrate.
By 1861 they had saved enough money to buy 31 acres of land on Ruthven Street, South Toowoomba.
This land is on the site that is now Nell E. Robinson Park and in recent years descendants of Joseph Ruhle have, with the collaboration of Toowoomba Regional Council, had the entrance to the northern end of the park named “Ruhle Way”.
Joseph’s friend Friedrich Berner soon left and went his own way.
Life changed quickly for Joseph when he met a young German girl newly arrived in the colony, Elisabeth Imhoff.
Elisabeth arrived in Moreton Bay aboard the sailing vessel “Cesar Godeffroy” in January 1862.
Her brother Phillipp Imhoff had arrived four years earlier.
The relationship of Joseph and twenty-one-years-old Elisabeth developed quickly and they were married four months after her arrival.
They moved onto Eton Vale Station where once again Joseph took on the role of shepherd.
Death of a Shepherd
Birth of a Dynasty
Tragically after only eight years of marriage Joseph died from Rheumatic Fever on July 11th 1870 and Elisabeth at only 30 years of age was left a widow.
Elisabeth provided for her children for more than two years but her life changed again when she married Peter Thiess in January 1873.
Peter, a German emigrant, had arrived in Moreton Bay in 1865 and he readily took on his instant family of young children, Joseph Freidrich (Fred), Caroline, Philip Henry and Anne.
Elisabeth and Peter added to the family when she had twins, Henry and Elizabeth in 1873 but Elizabeth died at nearly two years of age in 1875.
However, Henry the son eventually married and produced 13 children, including ten boys.
One of these boys became Sir Leslie Thiess the founder of Thiess Brothers.
Thiess Brothers became one of the nation’s largest and most successful construction businesses, building roads, airports, dams and mining projects and forming a close relationship with Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke- Petersen.
The Ruhle name was carried on by Joseph’s children with his eldest son, also named Joseph Freidrich, marrying in 1886 to Sophie Christina Lindenmayer and producing no less than thirteen children.
Many became farmers on the Darling Downs and Joseph died on their Elphinstone property in 1935 aged 71 years.
His wife, Sophia Christina was a much loved personality in the district and died in 1959 at home at Elphinstone aged 95 years and is buried in the Clifton Cemetery.
The German emigrants who settled in Queensland, like all pioneers, experienced the trials and tribulations of establishing a new life.
The young Joseph Ruhle who arrived in Moreton Bay in 1857 died prematurely and so never lived to witness how he had established a highly successful Ruhle family dynasty on the Darling Downs with his legacy living on today.
The Clifton Courier would like to thank Allan Gall for the use of the Rickert/Ruhle family history collection compiled by Caroline Kuhn (nee Rickert).
