| Darling Downs Queensland |
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 Fields of crops cover the open plains of the Darling Downs. Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent |
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| Population: | 218 826 (2004)[1] |
| Established: | 1840 |
| Area: | 15200 km² (5868. In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology Year 1840 ( MDCCCXL) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Area is a Quantity expressing the two- Dimensional size of a defined part of a Surface, typically a region bounded by a closed Curve. Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of 8 sq mi) |
| State District: | Electoral district of Southern Downs |
| Federal Division: | Division of Maranoa |
The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. A farm is an area of land including various structures devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food ( Produce, Grains, or Livestock The Great Dividing Range, also known as the Eastern Highlands, is Australia 's most substantial Mountain range. Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of eleven major regions of Queensland. South East Queensland (SEQ is a region of the state of Queensland in Australia, which contains approximately two-thirds of the state population The Regions of Queensland refers to the geographic areas of the Australian state of Queensland.
The region was named after the then Governor of New South Wales, Ralph Darling by Allan Cunningham, an early Australian explorer. General Sir Ralph Darling, GCH (1772 – 2 April 1858) was a British colonial Governor and the seventh Governor of New Allan Cunningham ( 13 July 1791 – 27 June 1839) was an English botanist and explorer, primarily known [2]
The landscape is dominated by rolling hills covered by pastures of many different vegetables, legumes and other crops including cotton, wheat, barley and sorghum. Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land including physical elements such as Landforms living elements of flora and fauna abstract elements such as lighting The term " vegetable " generally means the edible parts of Plants The definition of the word is traditional rather than Scientific, however A legume is a Plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae or a Fruit of these specific plants Cotton is a soft staple Fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant ( Gossypium sp Wheat ( Triticum spp is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Levant area of the Middle East. Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) is an annual Cereal Grain, which serves as a major animal Feed crop, with smaller amounts used for Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, some of which are raised for grain and many of which are used as Fodder plants either cultivated or as part Between the farmlands there are long stretches of crisscrossing roads, bushy ridges, winding creeks and many herds of cattle. There are farms with beef and dairy cattle, pigs, sheep and lamb stock. Beef cattle are Cattle raised for Meat production (as distinguished from Dairy cattle) Dairy Cattle, generally of the species Bos taurus, are Domesticated Animals bred to produce large quantities of Milk Pigs, also called hogs or' swine', are Ungulates which have been domesticated as sources of food leather and similar products since ancient times Other typical sights include irrigation systems, windmills serving as bore pumps to get water from the Great Artesian Basin, light planes crop-dusting, rusty old woolsheds and other scattered remnants from a bygone era of early exploration and settlement. Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops The Great Artesian Basin provides the only reliable source of Water through much of inland Australia. Shearing sheds (or wool sheds are large Sheds located on Sheep stations to accommodate large scale Sheep shearing activities
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Geography
The principal town is Toowoomba about 132 km west of Brisbane. Toowoomba (nicknamed 'The Garden City' is a City in South East Queensland, Australia. Toowoomba (nicknamed 'The Garden City' is a City in South East Queensland, Australia. Brisbane ( is the state capital of Queensland. Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia and the most populous city of Queensland Other towns situated on what is now called the Downs include Dalby, Warwick, Roma, Oakey, Mitchell, Pittsworth, Allora, Clifton, Cecil Plains, Drayton, Millmerran, Nobby, and Chinchilla in the west. Dalby is a town in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia, and is located approximately 210 kilometres west of the state capital Brisbane Warwick is a town in Queensland, Australia, lying 130 km south-west of Brisbane. Roma ( is a town in the western Darling Downs area of Queensland, Australia, 515 km (318 miles by rail WNW of Brisbane. Oakey ( postcode 4401 is a rural town situated in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. Mitchell is a town in the Western Downs region of Queensland, Australia. Pittsworth is a town located in the Darling Downs region of southern Queensland, Australia. Allora is a Town in Queensland, Australia, on the Darling Downs 158 km south-west of the state capital Brisbane. Clifton is a town in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. Cecil Plains is a town in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. Drayton is a township in Queensland, Australia, part of the City of Toowoomba. Millmerran is a town in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. Nobby is a small village on the Darling Downs, Queensland with a population of about 350 people Chinchilla is a town in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia.
It is in the drainage basin of the Condamine River and Maranoa River and tributaries. The Condamine River, part of the Murray-Darling Basin, drains the northern portion of the Darling Downs, an area of sub-coastal southern Queensland, The Maranoa River is a large River situated in south west Queensland. On the northern boundaries of the Downs are the Bunya Mountains and the Bunya Mountains National Park. The Bunya Mountains are a distinctive set of peaks forming an isolated section of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland. Bunya Mountains is a national park in Queensland ( Australia) The region to the north is the South Burnett and the Maranoa lies to the west. The South Burnett is a peanut growing and wine-producing region on the Great Dividing Range, north of the Darling Downs, in Queensland. A section of the western downs lies over coal deposits of the Surat Basin. The Surat Basin is a part of the Great Artesian Basin of Australia. Towards the coast, the mountains of the Scenic Rim form the headwaters of the westward flowing Condamine. The Scenic Rim is a group of Mountain ranges of the Great Dividing Range in South East Queensland.
Southern Downs
Part of the Darling Downs, which includes the towns of Allora, Clifton, Warwick, Killarney and the rocky district in the south known as the Granite Belt, is known as the Southern Downs. The Granite Belt is an area of the Great Dividing Range in south-east Queensland, Australia centred around the town of Stanthorpe. The Southern Downs is classed as a region of the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia. The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia ( IBRA) is a biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian Government's Department The phrase is also used to define political boundaries and in the promotion of tourism in the area. The Dumaresq and the MacIntyre are found in this part of the region. The Dumaresq River forms part of the border between Queensland and New South Wales. The Macintyre River is a river in northern New South Wales, Australia, part of which forms the border with Queensland.
Pre-History
Originally the Darling Downs was covered with a wealth of indigenous grasses, this created an ideal vendure for stock eight months of the year. Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the flowering plants. The Darling Downs Aborigines had an annual burning season at the time when the indigenous grasses were ripe and dry. The annual fires gave the local Aborigines of the Darling Downs a name "Goonneeburra" or "Fire Blacks" - "goonnee" being a name for fire and "burra" a generic word for the whole race. This is what the Downs tribes were known as to the coast blacks who inhabited the Moreton Bay area. Moreton Bay is a large bay on the eastern coast of Australia 19 km from Brisbane, Queensland. Murri is wider spread genic word meaning the whole race but in the Kamabroi dialect. The Murri are the Indigenous Australians that traditionally occupied most of modern-day Queensland. The Downs tribes spoke one common dialect, called Waccah and so to all other surrounding tribes were known as the Wacca-burra. The Goonnee-burra were once situated where Warwick stands today.
History
Cunningham's Gap and the Darling Downs were first explored by Allan Cunningham (botanist)and Charles Fraser in 1827. Cunningham's Gap is a pass over the Great Dividing Range between the Darling Downs and Brisbane areas in Queensland, Australia. Charles Fraser or Frazer (1788– 22 December 1831) was Colonial Botanist of New South Wales from 1821 to 1831 Cunningham returned in 1828 to further research the area and try to find a way through to the coast which was still off limits being a penal colony. Cunningham climbed to the top of Mount Dumareque (near what is now Maryvale) and after wrote in his diary that this lush area was ideal for settlement. The original Darling Downs as quoted by Allan Cunningham was named after Governor Darling and stretched for 100 miles or as far as the eye could see from Mt Dumaresque. Ludwig Leichhardt in 1844 saw the remains of a camp showing the signs of white men through ridge polls and steel axes. Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt ( October 23, 1813 - probably 1848 in Inner Australia was a Prussian explorer and naturalist
News of the lush pastures quickly spread resulting in a land grab that authorities in the distant New South Wales colony found difficult to stop. [3] Patrick Leslie was the first person to settle on the Darling Downs in 1840, establishing a sheep property at Canning Downs on the Condamine River in 1846. Patrick Leslie ( September 25, 1815 &ndash August 12, 1881) was a Scottish Settler in Australia. Canning Downs was the first residential establishment built by a white person on the Darling Downs in Queensland, Australia. The Condamine River, part of the Murray-Darling Basin, drains the northern portion of the Darling Downs, an area of sub-coastal southern Queensland, Other well-established residences on the southern downs include Glengallan Homestead, Talgai Homestead, Pringle Cottage and Rosenthal Homestead.
In 1854 Charles Douglas Eastaughffe settled in the area. Charles Douglas Eastaughffe was an early Australian settler later becoming a police trooper and Chief Constable of Dalby, Queensland. Spicer's Gap Road opened up the area in the 1850's. Spicer's Gap lies 100 km west of Brisbane, Australia, and was the original route over the Great Dividing Range in the area around Brisbane Later the expansion of Queensland Rail's train networks and Cobb and Co's stagecoach transport greatly assisted access to the region. QR Limited is the company government-owned corporation responsible for the operation and maintenance of the railway system in the State of Queensland Cobb and Co is the name of a transportation company in Australia. For other meanings see Stagecoach (disambiguation. A stagecoach (also called diligence) is a type of four-wheeled enclosed Gold was found in the district around this time, however it was agricultural activity that provided for the boom times ahead. Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79
The 1891 Australian shearers' strike started at Jondaryan. The 1891 Shearers' Strike is one of Australia 's oldest and most important industrial disputes
The Darling Downs experienced a water crisis as the Condamine River dried up during the severe drought of 1994/1995. Water Crisis is a term that refers to the status of the world’s Water resources relative to human demand [4]
Development
The New England Highway, Gore Highway and the Warrego Highway traverse the region. See also New England Interstate Highways, a system of numbered highways in New England, USA, from 1922 to 1927 Gore Highway is a highway in Queensland running from Goondiwindi to Toowoomba. The Warrego Highway is located in southern Queensland, Australia. The Leslie Dam, Storm King Dam and the Glenlyon Dam are some of the major water storage facilities in the area. Leslie Dam is located ten kilometers from Warwick Central Business District Situated just a few kilometers from Stanthorpe Queensland. Storm King Dam offers some good angling opportunities for Murray Cod, Yellowbelly & Silver Glenlyon Dam (also known as Pike Creek Reservoir) lies near the southern Queensland border with New South Wales, roughly between Stanthorpe and
The Queensland Gas Pipeline oil pipeline and the Roma to Brisbane Pipeline, Australia's first natural gas pipeline both cross the region from west to east. There are a few coal mines and a number of power stations situated on the Downs, including the Milmerran Power Station, Oakey Power Station and the Kogan Creek Power Station. Coal mining is the extraction or removal of Coal from the Earth by Mining. The Kogan Creek Power Station is a 785 megawatt Coal fired power station owned by CS Energy on the Darling Downs in Queensland.
Before European settlement many areas on the Darling Downs were fertile wilderness. Wilderness is generally defined as a Natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by Human activity For example around Ma Ma Creek, rich swampy wetlands provided a haven for many animal species not currently found on the downs. A swamp is a Wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water The Hopping mouse and Paradise Parrot have both become extinct since cattle farming begun. A hopping mouse or kangaroo rat is any of about ten different Australian native mice in the genus Notomys. The Paradise Parrot ( Psephotus pulcherrimus) was an unusually colourful medium-sized Parrot native to the grassy woodlands of the Queensland - New
The Dingo Fence starts at the town of Jimbour across the country to the Great Australian Bight. The Dingo Fence or Dog Fence is a Pest-exclusion fence that was built in Australia during the 1880s and finished in 1885 to keep Dingoes out The Great Australian Bight is a large bight, or open bay located off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia.
Attractions
The region is popular with tourists because of its many natural and heritage attractions, including the Goomburra State Forest, Cunningham's Gap, Spicer's Gap and the Queen Mary Falls near Killarney in the Main Range National Park. Cunningham's Gap is a pass over the Great Dividing Range between the Darling Downs and Brisbane areas in Queensland, Australia. Spicer's Gap lies 100 km west of Brisbane, Australia, and was the original route over the Great Dividing Range in the area around Brisbane Killarney is a small town located 35 km south-east of Warwick, on the Condamine River in Queensland, Australia. Main Range is a Mountain range and a National park in Queensland ( Australia) 85 km southwest of Brisbane.
The town of Jandowae gained fame after offering vacant block of land for just $1. Jandowae is a town in southern Queensland, Australia. The town is located 259 kilometres west of the state capital Brisbane. This was down to encourage resident to settle in the small town with less than 1000 people in 2001.
The Cobb & Co Museum has displays of horse drawn vehicles and material on the history of the Darling Downs. The Cobb and Co Museum is located in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The region has also a small zoo, Darling Downs Zoo near Clifton.
In fiction
Steele Rudd (Arthur Davis) wrote a series of comic novels on rural life, starting with On Our Selection (1899), about Dad, Mother and Dave Rudd of Snake Gully. Steele Rudd was the Pseudonym of Arthur Hoey Davis ( 14 November 1868 – 11 October 1935) an Australian author Year 1899 ( MDCCCXCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Rudds had four (or six) acres adjoining a sheep run in Darling Downs. They were made into films and a radio series.
References
- ^ National Regional Profile : Darling Downs. Australian Bureau of Statistics. The Australian Bureau of Statistics ( ABS) is Australia 's national statistical agency. Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date)
- ^ Naming the Highways - Cunningham Highway No. 17. p. 2. Accessed on 20 August 2007.
- ^ Evans, Raymond (2007). A History of Queensland. Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press, 51-52. ISBN 9780521876926.
- ^ Collie, Gordon. Water crisis threatens towns. The Courier Mail p. The Courier-Mail is a daily Newspaper published in Brisbane, Australia. 3. 3 June 1995.
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