The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Buzacott, Charles Hardie
Buzacott, Charles Hardie, was born at Torrington, Devonshire, in 1835, and arrived at Sydney, N.S.W., in 1852, where, desiring to become a journalist, he acquired the art of letter press printing. In 1860 he went to Queensland, where he established the Maryborough Chronicle, and about two years later moved northward to Rockhampton. In 1884 he started the Peak Downs Telegram, at Clermont, where he lived until the great flood of 1870, when he narrowly escaped with his life by climbing a tree at midnight, as the surging waters broke into his printing office, and carried away much of his plant. Disheartened with his prospects after this occurrence, he sold his business for a nominal sum, intending to remove with his family to New Zealand; but in passing through Rockhampton he was induced to buy the Bulletin for his brother, and was obliged to remain for the time being to carry it on. He soon converted the paper into a morning daily, and published the weekly Capricornian. In 1873 he was returned to the Legislative Assembly as member for Rockhampton, and held that position for more than four years, when the pressure of private and public business compelled his resignation. In 1878, his health being unsatisfactory, he removed to Brisbane, where he continued to write for his journals at Rockhampton, and also contributed to the leading columns of the Brisbane Courier. In Jan. 1879 he was induced by Sir Thomas McIlwraith to accept the Postmaster-Generalship, with a seat in the Legislative Council. This position he occupied till Dec 1880. Mr. Buzacott was the author of some of the principal measures introduced by the first McIlwraith Ministry, among others the Divisional Boards Act of 1879, the Local Works Loans Act of 1880, the Postal Card and Note Act and the General Tramways Act of 1882. As Postmaster-General he united the distinct Post and Telegraph departments into one, thus saving much expense, introduced the telephone into the colony, and induced the Cabinet to call for tenders for the Torres Straits mail service by steamers running between Brisbane and London—a project enthusiastically adopted and carried through successfully by Sir Thomas McIlwraith, then on a visit to the mother country. In Dec. 1880, in consequence of the death of his eldest brother, Mr. Buzacott was compelled to retire from public life, and devote his attention to business. He accepted the management of the Brisbane Newspaper Company, in which he acquired one-third interest. Under his auspices the Courier was doubled in size, the Queenslander enlarged, and the Evening Observer purchased and carried on as an eight-page daily. In 1888, yielding to the pressure of friends, he sought election to the Legislative Assembly as member for Oxley, but was defeated, and has not since sought to re-enter public life. He is editor, as well as part proprietor, of the Brisbane Courier.