Lady at ‘Cocky Jerry Jar’ Cave, Denmark Hill, Ipswich ca. 1947 (Image courtesy of Picture Ipswich)

As recounted in the Queensland Times by local journalist Tom Barker, under the pen name of “Red Gum”, there was a man known as “Cocky-Jerry Jar, or Ti,” who was a member of a group of “Chinese who had been induced to emigrate to Moreton bay, principally as shepherds and labourers for the squatters on the Darling Downs.”

Ti “had been engaged on stations over the Range and saved money to the amount of £200. Then came an alleged love story. A good looking young man, dressed up to represent a woman, after a period of courting, induced Jerry-Jar to part with his hard earnings. Jerry-Jar, finding out he had been duped, went almost mad, and coming to Ipswich — where there were in those days, quite a number of Chinese residents — he took up his abode in the cave. He made a living by cutting small bundles of wood and selling them to residents. He did other odd jobs, which enabled him to eke out an existence.”