Ingham, Neerkol, Hughenden, Clermont, Emerald, Mt. Morgan, Ayr, Cloncurry, Ravenswood, Winton, Bowen, North Rockhampton, Qld

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Rockhampton, The Age, Brisbane, 5 March 1910, p 6, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article291957640:

On Wednesday evening last week the Children of Mary and the members of the choir of the North Rockhampton Church assembled in the schoolroom to bid farewell for a short time and to present their parish priest, the Rev. Father Cassar, with a purse of sovereigns on the eve of his departure for a trip to the old world. It was remarked that Father Cassar had laboured for five years amongst them and during that time had endeared himself to every member of his flock and won the esteem and kindly feeling of every member of the community. The hope was expressed that he would benefit by the trip and return with renewed vigour to labour in their midst for many more years. The children of the Convent School, North Rockhampton, also showed their appreciation of Father Cassar by presenting him with a suitable gift. Father Cassar proposes to visit a brother in Cairo and another brother in Belfast. Subsequently he will go to the Holy Land. It is expected he will be away about eight months. In his absence the duties of his parish will be taken by the Rev. Father Carroll, formerly of Mount Morgan, who has been away for a trip for the last eighteen months.

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Fr T.J. Linane, From Abel to Zundolovich, Vol. 2: Biographies of Priests on the Australian Scene up to 1900, 1980, pp 31-32:

Cassar, James, OFM.Cap., Maltese
Buried Close to his Beloved Orphans
This subject is worth at least a special article, if not a book. And in fact his life is under close research by his namesake at the Priory, Halifax, Queensland - Father K.P. Cassar O.F.M.Cap. So much material has been sent in by Father Cassar that it would not be possible to publish it all in this column. So we confine the comments mainly to what appeared in the Catholic Advocate of 19 May 1927... "Deep regret was experienced when it was learned that Father James Cassar, Chaplain at the Meteor Park Orphanage, Neerkol, Rockhampton, had passed away at the Orphanage on May 7. This devoted priest was 77 years of age, and had worked for 45 years in the Rockhampton Diocese. Father Cassar was born in Malta on 8 September 1849, the beautiful feast of Our Lady's Nativity, and by a strange coincidence his Ordination took place on the same feast day. His parents belonged to the Moroccan settlement. The family history has its foundations in the historic battle of Lepanto in 1571, which gave a terrific blow to the naval power of the Turks, and ended their aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean. Historically this was interesting, because it was the last example of an encounter on a great scale between fleets of galleys, and also because it was the Last Crusade. The Knights Templars of Jerusalem came to Malta at that time...after combat with the Turks the Knights went to Morocco, and later formed a Moroccan Settlement in Malta which still exists. At an early stage of the late priest's career, the Franciscan Monks visited Malta, and noting the bright intellect of the boy they took him back to Marseilles where he was educated in their Monastery. There he was ordained for the priesthood, and set out for the Mission in Algiers where he laboured under the famous Cardinal Lavigerie. He was twice sent across the Sahara Desert, and once went as far as Khartoum, where he worked for a time among the Dervishes. On one of his trips he visited Lake Nyanza, the source of the Nile. Later his health failed..." (another account claims that he and other missionaries were expelled) "...and he went to Ireland, remaining in Cork for some time. He eventually came to Australia as Chaplain to a Maltese contingent, but with the dispersion of the Maltese to different parts, his chaplaincy ceased. Applying to Bishop John Cani, the first Bishop of Rockhan1pton, he was accepted for the Diocese..." If the claim is correct that Father James was 45 years in Australia, he must have arrived in the year when Cani was appointed to Rockhampton, 1882. Directory readings point to places of service as follows: Townsville (1887), Mount Morgan (1892)(1893), Hughenden (1898)(1901), Bowen (1902)(1905), Rockhampton North (1907) (1908)(1915)(1917), Neerkol - a new parish (1918)(1920)(1922), on sick leave (1925). Meteor Park Orphanage, Neerkol, was his centre and place of residence. What part he had to play in the founding of the Orphanage is not clear. Certain it is that he loved the orphans and they in turn loved their priest. His remains lie in the Orphanage grounds. Master of five languages: Arabic (his mother tongue), Latin, French, Italian, English — Cassar was certainly an accomplished and saintly priest. He was the first — and probably the only — Capuchin to give service in Queensland before the turn of the century.
(Footprints, Vol. 2, No. 3)
Ref.: MDHC File, Torquay, per Fr. K.P. Cassar OFM Cap., Helidon.