Heritage

Brief History of Warwick

One of the first settlers was Patrick Leslie and his two brothers. They settled in huts and homesteads like Canning Downs. The first land sales were held in 1850, the first allotment of which was bought by Patrick Leslie. The telegraph to Brisbane was operating by 1861. The 1870’s were boom time for this new town. In 1871 the railway reached Warwick, a brewery was built in 1873, then a cooperative flour mill and brickworks were both completed during 1874.

In 1840, after the lands of the Darling Downs had been opened up. Although the Darling Downs were discovered and explored by Europeans as early as the 1820s (Allan Cunningham passed through the area in 1823) it wasn't until the 1840s that the New South Wales Government (Queensland did not become a separate colony until 1859) relented and allowed squatters and pastoralists to move onto the rich and fertile plains.

In 1842 Governor Gipps declared that 'all settlers and other free persons shall be at liberty to proceed to the Darling Downs in like manner as to any other part of the Colony.'
The Warwick area was first settled by the Leslie brothers (Patrick and George) who established the Canning Downs run in 1840 and built a home in 1846. Inevitably the station became an important centre for the region with a blacksmith, a store and accommodation and eating facilities.

In 1847 the New South Wales government gave Patrick Leslie permission to select a site for a town on his Canning Downs station. It was to be known as Canningtown, the local Aborigines knew the area as Gooragooby, but the name Warwick was chosen. The town was duly surveyed in 1849 and land was first sold in 1850. This was to be the site of modern day Warwick and it grew to become a municipality in 1861 and to become a city (the second largest on the Darling Downs) in 1936.

The development of the town was rapid. A store was established in 1848 before the town was even surveyed and by 1862 a state school had been completed. Cobb & Co started running a coach to the township in 1865 and by 1871 the railway from Ipswich had reached the town.
The arrival of the railway resulted in a boom in local industry. For a short time Warwick was the end of the line and this led to the establishment of a brewery (1873), a cooperative flour mill (1874), and a brick works (1874).

The town's heritage buildings are impressive. The tasteful use of sandstone and the extensive construction which was undertaken as the town grew in the 1880s and 1890s has left a large number of buildings which are noted for their graciousness and splendour.

On 29 November 1917, Warwick was the scene of the "egg throwing incident" that led to the formation of the Australian Commonwealth Police. Prime Minister William Morris Hughes was addressing a crowd at the Warwick railway station when his hat was dislodged by an egg thrown by a man in the crowd. The Prime Minister ordered his arrest but the Queensland State Police allegedly refused to carry out the order. Eight days later the first Commissioner for a Commonwealth Police Force was appointed
 

  
A Brief History of Stanthorpe

Stanthorpe was explored by Allan Cunningham in 1827. It was originally named ‘Quart Pot’ by Patrick Leslie, who accidentally left his quart pot behind the creek at which they had camped. Even before Alan Cunningham set foot on this soil, the Kamuwal Tribe frequented the area mainly during summer consuming possums, Bogan moths and native fruits. This indigenous aboriginal tribe was known for the practise of ‘burning out’ gorges and bushland, as a means of hunting game.

By 1844 squatters had taken up four major holdings in the area including Maryland which covered 200,000 acres, Pikedale, Glenlyon and Ballandean. The Crown Land Act of 1868, led to an influx of selectors, as well as enabling shepherds and other farm labourers to acquire land of their own. The large holdings began to shrink.

Tin was first found in the area in 1854 but the ‘rush’ did not occur until 1872. Gold, silver, copper, wolfram, arsenic and other important minerals were also found. The 1870’s discovery of tin at Quart Pot Creek brought miners to the area. Quart Pot became known as Stannum (Latin for tin), with its name later being gazetted as Stanthorpe, literally meaning ‘tin village’. Historians record that Stanthorpe is the only town on the Darling Downs which owes its birth to minerals and not agriculture. The Stanthorpe Tin Field was the greatest tin producer in Queensland and its production has not been eclipsed to present times.

The railway arrived in 1881 bringing an influx of German settlers. The Shire was established in 1903. Following World War I, soldier settlements were established and townships named after the French battlefields sprang up - Pozieres, Bapaume, Messines, Fleurbaix, Amiens, Bullecourt Passchendale and The Somme. After World War II many more Italian migrants arrived. At that time 25% of the town’s population were Italian.

Before long the fruit growing potential of the shire was realised. Father Davadi, a catholic priest, encouraged the miners to diversify as he could foresee problems when incomes from tin petered out. He even helped with cuttings from his own established nursery. He is referred to as ‘Father of the Fruit Industry’. The railway line, built because of the tin mining, meant a cheap transport line for their fruit. Stanthorpe also offered a perfect climate to produce deciduous fruit and vegetables.