Woman with parasol taking part in the costume competition during the Mary Poppins Festival, Maryborough, 2022, Tyr Liang, 33887 Queensland festivals photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
Image 33887-0017-0008.
Mary Poppins sprinkles her magic on Maryborough each year when the Queensland town celebrates its role as the birthplace of PL Travers, the iconic character’s creator.
The Mary Poppins Festival at Maryborough, 255 kilometres north of Brisbane, pays tribute to the umbrella-brandishing fictional nanny, beloved the world over.
Pamela Lyndon Travers was born Helen Lyndon Goff in 1899 in the residence attached to the Maryborough branch of the Australian Joint Stock Bank. Her father, Travers Lyndon Goff, was the bank’s manager.
Moving to England in her 20s, she adopted the pen name PL Travers to write the first of 8 books about the adventures of a nanny who is practically perfect in every way, dispensing wisdom, injecting joy and bringing order to the lives of the Banks children.
State Library’s collection of PL Travers books includes a first edition copy of the original Mary Poppins, published in 1934.
Travers also spent some of her childhood in the town of Allora on Queensland’s Southern Downs. It was where her father died, when she was aged just 7.
The Disney treatment
Travers sold the rights to her Mary Poppins series to Walt Disney, who adapted it into an Oscar-winning 1964 film starring Julie Andrews.
Disney’s dogged pursuit of the film rights was in turn dramatised in the 2013 movie Saving Mr Banks – starring Emma Thompson as the author, Tom Hanks as Disney and Colin Farrell as Travers Goff.
Saving Mr Banks flashes back to difficult times in Travers’ Queensland childhood and how family members inspired Mary Poppins characters.
Three historical photographs from State Library’s collection featured in a scene depicting the Allora bank: an 1887 portrait of Maryborough Mayor William Dawson, a 1903 picture of former Queensland Premier and Warwick Argus proprietor Sir Arthur Morgan, and former Governor of Queensland Lord Chelmsford (Frederic John Napier Thesiger).
Woman and two children taking part in the costume competition during the Mary Poppins Festival, Maryborough, 2022, Tyr Liang, 33887 Queensland festivals photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
Image 33887-0017-0017.
A supercalifragilisticexpialidocious collection
Tyr Liang documented the Mary Poppins Festival in 2022 as part of a Queensland festivals photographic collection acquired by State Library. In what he describes as ‘an archaeology of our time’, Tyr documents events that are of national or state significance, culturally unique, and have run for more than 10 years.
With the 2025 Mary Poppins Festival taking place on Sunday 28 September, enjoy some of these Maryborough memories.
Couple with a dog taking part in the costume competition during the Mary Poppins Festival, Maryborough, 2022, Tyr Liang, 33887 Queensland festivals photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image 33887-0017-0018.
Man and woman taking part in the costume competition during the Mary Poppins Festival, Maryborough, 2022, Tyr Liang, 33887 Queensland festivals photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image 33887-0017-0015.
Four children preparing for the Chimney Sweep Challenge at the Mary Poppins Festival, Maryborough, 2022, Tyr Liang, 33887 Queensland festivals photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image 33887-0017-0004.
Young girl dressed as Mary Poppins taking part in the costume competition during the festival, Maryborough, 2022, Tyr Liang, 33887 Queensland festivals photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image 33887-0017-0010.
Woman in a blue dress taking part in the costume competition during the Mary Poppins Festival, Maryborough, 2022, Tyr Liang, 33887 Queensland festivals photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image 33887-0017-0012.
Three people taking part in the costume competition during the Mary Poppins Festival, Maryborough, 2022, Tyr Liang, 33887 Queensland festivals photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image 33887-0017-0006.
Woman with a basket of bread taking part in the costume competition during the Mary Poppins Festival, Maryborough, 2022, Tyr Liang, 33887 Queensland festivals photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image 33887-0017-0014.
Chimney sweeps taking part in the Grand Parade during the Mary Poppins Festival, Maryborough, 2022, Tyr Liang, 33887 Queensland festivals photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image 33887-0017-0003.
Man in striped jacket taking part in the costume competition during the Mary Poppins Festival, Maryborough, 2022, Tyr Liang, 33887 Queensland festivals photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image 33887-0017-0016.
Pipe band performing during the Grand Parade at the Mary Poppins Festival, Maryborough, 2022, Tyr Liang, 33887 Queensland festivals photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image 33887-0017-0002.
Young woman with white parasol taking part in the costume competition during the Mary Poppins Festival, Maryborough, 2022, Tyr Liang, 33887 Queensland festivals photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image 33887-0017-0011.
Woman in a grey coat with umbrella taking part in the costume competition during the Mary Poppins Festival, Maryborough, 2022, Tyr Liang, 33887 Queensland festivals photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image 33887-0017-0013.
Mary Ann Steam Train in Maryborough during the Mary Poppins Festival, Maryborough, 2022, Tyr Liang, 33887 Queensland festivals photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image 33887-0017-0001.
Maryborough is on the traditional lands of the Gubbi Gubbi (Kabi Kabi) and Butchulla peoples.
Uncover more magic and whimsy in State Library’s collections by becoming a member today.
See Maryborough houses in the 1960s and 70s on Corley Explorer
State Library on Flickr: browse photos from Maryborough history
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