Author talk: Christine Leonard

Name: Author talk: Christine Leonard
Start: 2026-03-05T00:00:00+10:00
Location: Cleveland Library

Schedule

Thu, 05 Mar, 2026 at 12:00 am

UTC+10:00

Location

Cleveland Library | Cleveland, QL

What happens when an amateur historian and WWII aviation navigator takes on the Royal Historical Society of Queensland to solve a cartological mystery? A charming local tale with widespread resonance. Come along for a morning with indie author Christine Leonard as she shares her latest book "Coochiemudlo: A Mariner’s Mystery". This special author talk celebrates Women’s Voices for International Women’s Day on 8 March.
Free event. Bookings required.
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.