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What happens when an amateur historian and WWII aviation navigator takes on the Royal Historical Society of Queensland to solve a cartological mystery? Come along for a morning with indie author Christine Leonard as she shares her latest book, Coochiemudlo: A Mariner’s Mystery, at Cleveland Library
About the book
Coochiemudlo: A Mariner’s Mystery started out as a straightforward biography of Edward (Ted) Field Jones, an amateur historian who lived on Coochiemudlo for 47 years.
Ted was researching Matthew Flinders’ 1799 voyage that followed the eastern coastline of Australia to Moreton Bay when he learned (in the early 1960s) that, after nearly 170 years, the identity of one of six islands Flinders named by number was still open to question. Historians were convinced that the sixth island was either Karragarra or Macleay. Ted Jones decided to solve the mystery.
Not being an academic or a professional historian, Ted carried a trump card that experts on Moreton Bay lacked. He was an aviation navigator during World War II and could read a map. Having tested Flinders’ bearings with a mariner’s sextant and, after reading the explorer’s descriptions of the sixth island, Ted was convinced that Coochiemudlo was Flinders’ sixth island, and for nearly ten years, he tried to convince organisations such as the Royal Historical Society of Queensland. Ted’s quest became an obsession until, in 1977, he was vindicated.
Ted Jones, the central character of this charming book, was an underdog, possibly on the spectrum, who followed a passion, but Coochiemudlo Island is as much a character in this book as is Ted Jones. The story weaves together people and events from the 1960s through to the 1970s and 1980s, giving the reader an insight into the ups and downs that ultimately bring irreversible change to a small island.
About the author
Christine Leonard is an indie author living on Coochiemudlo Island. She has published three books and writes blogs and gives talks on researching and self-publishing family history.
Christine will be at Cleveland Library on Thursday, 5 March 2026, from 10:00am to 11:00am. The event is free and bookings are required.
