W. B. InghamPrint Page

The bust commemorates W. B. Ingham after whom the town is named. 

In 1874 Ingham selected a 700-acre (283 ha) sugar plantation called Ings on the Herbert River in north Queensland. He soon became popular, was appointed a Justice of the Peace and the first township, surveyed late in 1875, was named after him on the petition of the residents.

When his first crop failed from disease, he bought the 7-ton stern-wheel steamer Louise, which he used as a general carrier on the Herbert River, and soon afterwards abandoned the plantation. Late in 1876 he moved to Cooktown with a friend, A. T. Clarke, and set up a general water-transport service. He carried diggers to the Hodgkinson goldfield, did some exploring and won repute for seamanship and honesty. In 1878 Ingham and his party were massacred in a surprise attack by natives in New Guinea.

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