The White Star flag of Wm. Holyman and Sons flew proudly from mastheads and flagpoles across Australia and overseas for more than a century. The Holyman story starts with 21-year-old William Holyman who was penniless after he jumped ship at George Town in Van Diemen’s Land in 1854 to escape a tyrannical and cruel ship’s captain. A few years later he was trading around the Tasmanian coastline in his own ship. By the 1880s he had a fleet of vessels plying the often-treacherous

In QANTAS' centenary year it is timely to remember the role of Launceston-born aviation pioneer Hudson Fysh in the establishment and development of the airline. Hudson Fysh (later Sir Hudson) co-founded Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd with fellow WWI flyer Paul McGinness at Winton in November 1920, making the first commercial Qantas flights in a tiny Avro 504K biplane in 1921. By 1924 Qantas was making a profit and Hudson Fysh was the company's managing