Trove Tuesday-First sod turned for the Sandgate Railway

My Great Great Grandfather William Frank Laws  started his working life in Gosport Hampshire as an apprentice to his uncle William Camper in the shipyard at Gosport in 1843. In 1862 he left and started his own shipbuilding business on the Isle of Wight. Evidence of this was kept by the family and we have 2 contracts -one with Paul Artis 20th February 1863 for £265 and one in 1865 with  Courtenay Philipps of Brighton. The yacht would be 25 ton and would cost  £24 per ton. The family story has it that William's health was  suffering and he was advised to move to a warmer climate in 1867.
Now we can't be sure if he chose Queensland because his elder brother George was already here as there has been no contact mentioned and George died in 1872.
Arriving in Brisbane in 1868 he took various carpentry jobs and worked as a contractor.
One such contract was with George Bashford to construct the Sandgate Railway in 1881. From Trove we have this wonderful article from The Telegraph  14 May 1881 describing the first sod turned for the railway in Bowen Park by the  Colonial Secretary A H Palmer. William and other contractors congratulated the Colonial Secretary on the railway and he replied to them. As  George Bashford was presenting Mr Palmer with a cedar wheelbarrow and spade with a silver engraved plate he expressed a hope that "he and Mr Palmer would now be at peace".  Mr Palmer thanked him but said he and Mr Bashford "would never be at peace, either in this world or the next".
As you can see I was intrigued by this comment and I'll leave you read the whole article which includes that lunch was provided for 800 and there would probably be a shortage of turkeys because there  were so  many on the tables.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/183950890