By Heather Burke and Lynley A. Wallis

The Leichardt district was declared open for settlement on 10 January 1854, although squatters had taken up runs in the southernmost portion much earlier. Bordered on the east by the Port Curtis and Burnett districts and on the west by the South Kennedy, Warrego and Maranoa districts, the Great Dividing Range forms the eastern boundary running roughly parallel to the coast. Leichhardt takes in the catchments of the Nogoa, Isaac, Connor, Dawson and Comet Rivers, all of which form part of the Mackenzie River system, and includes the Expedition and Peak Ranges.

White Exploration

An initial White explorer through the Leichhardt pastoral district was NSW Surveyor General, Sir Thomas Mitchell, who passed through in 1846, heading north and then returning south. Generally, Mitchell tried to avoid Aboriginal parties but, ever fearful of attack, he often pre-emptively fired above the heads of Aboriginal people to frighten them away. One instance occurred on the evening of 9 June 1846, when:

… Having returned to the camp, in the evening, after sunset we were called to by a numerous tribe of natives, assembled on the opposite steep bank of the chain of ponds, over which we had encamped. By the particular cooey, I recognised the same party we had seen in the morning. Their language was now loud and angry, and war was evidently their purpose; from experience I judged it best to nip the evil in the bud, and ordered five men under arms, who were first formed in line before the tents, and with whom, at the bugle’s sound, I advanced steadily up the opposite bank, as our only reply to all their loud jeering noise. They set up a furious yell on our approach, and advanced to the brow of the cliff, as if prepared to defend it; but as we silently ascended, they fell off, and, by the time we gained the height, they had retired to a considerable distance, still shouting vociferously. Two, however, were seen drawing round our left flank, in a little gully, followed by a female carrying spears. I discharged my rifle over their heads, upon which they hastened to their fellows. On firing another shot over the dark noisy mass before us, they became suddenly quite silent, probably persuaded that we were really in earnest. We marched through their camp, made a feint, by descending into a gully, of coming upon them unawares, and continued there, until silence and darkness secured our peaceful occupation of the ground.

Ludwig Leichhardt was the other key explorer, after whom the district was named. He travelled north from the Maranoa, naming the Dawson, Comet, Mackenzie and Isaac Rivers on his way. Leichhardt was supported by various private benefactors, at least some of whom were squatters eager to increase their holdings, such as Andrew Scott (Central Queensland Herald 9 February 1950, p.26). The Archer brothers moved north from their holdings in the Burnett District in 1853–1854, eventually exploring the Dawson, Mackenzie and Fitzroy Rivers, as well as the Peak Downs, although Phillip “Hobby” Elliott, Piggot and the Houghton brothers had reached as far as the junction of the Fitzroy and Mackenzie before them (McDonald 1975:19).

Peter Fitzallan MacDonald made several exploration trips into the district west of Port Curtis between 1858 and 1860, identifying potential runs on the Mackenzie, Nogoa, Comet and Isaac Rivers, including what later became Springsure and Peak Downs (Cosgrove 1994:28). William Landsborough claimed to be the first to explore the Springsure area, in company with John Cameron MacDonald in 1858 (McDonald 1975:21).

Key Pastoralists and Stations

The southern portion of the district was colonised first by squatters following in Leichhardt’s path, notably Taroom and Juandah, both taken up in the late 1840s, and various holdings along the Dawson River.

Early settlers who signed the petition for NMP protection in August 1854 were Robert Miller, John Turnbull, Andrew Scott, Thomas Boulton, Paul Wray Hayden, Bernard Copeman, John Fraser and Joseph King (QSL 1854 Letter from settlers of the Leichhardt District 28 August, NSW Colonial Secretary Letters Relating to Moreton Bay and Queensland 1822–1860, Reel A2.30). Turnbull and Miller had taken up Kinnoul on the Dawson River, Scott was the lessee of Hornet Bank by 1853 (and possibly much earlier) on the recommendation of Leichhardt, and consolidated this and 18 other runs into Goongarry station in the mid-1880s. Euroombah on the Upper Dawson was originally part of Goongarry and was taken up by Pollett Cardew sometime after 1853 and before 1855, although he did not reside there. Cardew later purchased Gwambegwyne in 1863 (Courier 16 January 1863, p.3). Fraser was the manager of Hornet Bank for Scott, but died in 1856, the year before his family were killed by Aboriginal people on the station. Boulton was the superintendent of Euroombah station for Pollett Cardew, and Joseph King was a squatter from the Darling Downs who took up numerous runs across the Condamine, Maranoa, Darling Downs, Wide Bay and Burnett, and Leichhardt districts, including, in Leichhardt, Yambone, Bundi, Narran and Gumble by early 1856, (although he was clearly squatting prior to this date) and Oldown and Hinchley by 1858 (NSW Government Gazette 21 March 1856, p.970; Moreton Bay Courier 14 April 1858, p.3).

Other squatters also moved in swiftly, since by March 1855 James and Norman Leith Hay and Thomas Holt had taken up runs on the Dawson, including Banana, The Bluff, Woodend, The Plain, Lower Rannes and Rannes, Thuriba, Lake Block, Chinbin, Cults, Junction Block and Neimen. Banana was managed in 1855 by Peter F. Sellheim, and by 1864 was held by Borton. NMP officer and Archer cousin, Henry Walker, leased the runs of Mundi, Moomba and Brookfield (NSW Government Gazette 9 March 1855, p.648). Other early runs included Lower Palm Tree Creek 1, 2 and 3 (acquired by John Scott in 1856 from Charles Nicholson; 4, 5, 6 & 7 transferred from Nicholson to Gordon Sandeman; Moreton Bay Free Press 2 March 1856, p.3), Rio (Charles Houghton before 1855), Morinish and Yarrows (Patrick Mackay), and Cashel, Derby, Pernamboo and Ashfield (Peter Piggott) (NSW Government Gazette 18 December 1855, p.3318). William Kelman took up Ghinginda Station, about 60 km north of Taroom on the Upper Dawson River, in 1856, although it subsequently proved unsuitable for sheep, and in 1865 Kelman took up Meteor Downs instead (Tyson 2021:22), which he held for the following 22 years. Hobler and Blair purchased other land from Kelman on the Dawson River, that they called Coorada. Rio, Bahia, Olinda and Monte Video at the junction of the Dawson and Mackenzie Rivers, were subsequently leased to W.B. Tooth in 1857, extending Tooth’s pastoral reach from the Murrumbidgee through the Wellington, Bligh and Clarence Districts into the Maranoa and Leichhardt (Empire 1 June 1857, p.6).

The runs of Consuelo, Clematis and Carnavon Creek were all taken up by the run hunters Frederick Walker (ex-NMP), Arthur Wiggins, George Pearce Serocold and Robert Ramsay Mackenzie in 1857/58 (NSW Government Gazette 23 September 1859, p.2106).

Ernest Henry established Baroondah on the Dawson River in 1860, and then sold the property in 1863.

William Hutton took up Mount Hutton, on Highland Plains Creek, in 1852. The station was later subdivided, with John Collins taking up part of it in 1858, which he subsequently named Westgrove. As noted elsewhere, Collins was killed by Aboriginal people on North Creek (a tributary of the Mackenzie River), in late 1868.

Peter Fitzallan MacDonald traversed the Leichhardt district in 1858–1860, being attracted to Canoona in the Port Curtis district by the discovery of gold, but eventually taking up large tracts of land, considering it superior to almost any other land except a few stations in Victoria (MacDonald 1975:11). It was he who marked out Cullin-la-ringo before then selling it to Horatio Wills (McDonald 1975:22) and also Emerald Downs in either 1859 or 1860, with the lease granted him by the government from 1 July 1861; this is often misattributed to the Archers (McDonald 1975:25). MacDonald was a speculator par excellence, taking up run leases and then selling them on unstocked at a profit, a practice he applied across the Leichhardt, Kennedy and Port Curtis districts.

Thomas Wheeler Gillham in partnership with William Newton, managed Rookwood from 1865, subsequently purchasing it (Darling Downs Gazette 5 January 1912, p.5) and holding the property for at least 30 years.

Other prominent leases in the Leichhardt district included:

• Arthur Mackenzie held May Downs station by 1866.
• Nat Buchanan, Cardbeign.
• Balcomba station (on the Dawson and Mackenzie Rivers, near Peak Downs) was held in 1863 by A. Thompson and Turner. By 1884 Gordon Sandeman owned Belcomba
• Arcadia Downs near Springsure held by GA Dixon in 1863.
• Explorer Augustus Charles Gregory took up several runs that were consolidated to form Rainworth, later taken up by Jesse Gregson.
• Paton took up Albinia Downs, which was later purchased by Kelman (Tyson 2021:34). It was held in 1863 by Rolleston, Hope and Denison.
• The Archer Brothers sold numerous of their Peak Downs blocks to Gordon Sandeman in 1860, which he renamed Gordon Downs in 1861.
• Arcturus Downs (named after the major star in the constellation Bootes) held in 1863 by Moriarty and Brock.
• Apis Creek was taken up by Roderick McLennan in the early 1860s after Mr. Wesley (not Charles, latter being the brother) had his mortgage on it foreclosed (Rockhampton Bulletin and Central Queensland Advertiser, 1 April 1865, p2) but he sold the property in 1865
• Bauhinia Downs was held in 1862 by Charles Dutton.
• Birregurla station was held in 1863 by Giblin and Cranston.
• Booroondah was held by William Mayne.
• Buckleton near Springsure was held by William Landsborough in 1861.
• Buckland Creek was held by Adams in 1863.
• Burton Downs on the Isaac River was held in 1864 by Featherstonehaugh, Fitz and Raymond
• Camboon was held in 1861 by James Reid. Fairfield was originally part of Camboon, but was purchased as a separate undertaking in 1859 by James Steele.
• Cheeseborough held by Oscar de Satge in 1882.
• Claverdon near Marlborough was held by Fitzsimmons and Sheridon in 1862.
• William Ball Slade took up Cockatoo in the 1860s.
• Collaroy was formed by Daniel Connor in July 1860, but by December 1866 he had sold this holding.
• Columbia on the Mackenzie River was held by PF MacDonald in 1863.
• Comet Downs was held in 1863 by T. Smith and Co.
• Coomooboolaroo was taken up by T.J. Thompson. The latter was associated with attacks around the time of the murder of Cecil Hill in 1865.
• Cotherstone on Peak Downs was taken up by Thorne in 1861.
• Consuelo (Christmas head station) was held by Collins in 1863.
• Cracow, west of Eidsvold, is located on the traditional lands of the Gurang Gurang, Wakka Wakka and Wulli Wulli people. It was first taken up in 1851 by John Hay Mackenzie-Ross who named it after the Polish city of Krakow.
• Crinum Downs was held in 1863 by S. Davies.
• Stowe in the Boyne Valley held in 1864 by R. Bell.
• Glen Houghton near Taroom was held in 1864 by Kingsford and Haly, and later held by the Parry-Okeden family.
• Glendarriwill on the Nogoa River was held in 1863 by Mayo and Jaffray.
• Glenora near Fernlees was held in 1863 by Burnett.
• Grosvenor Downs near Clermont held by the Fraser Brothers in 1864.
• Humboldt near Taroom was held in 1863 by S. Yaldwin (and by 1878 was held by Lees).
• Kianga in the Dawson Valley was held in 1864 by Mrs McNab.
• Kynebill on Peak Downs was held by Vickery in 1863.
• Langton Downs, on Theresa Creek near Clermont, was taken up by Thomas and James Hood with Sir William Manning, in 1863 (the former had been a member of the NSW Parliament).
• Leura was held by Walker in 1863.
• Lurline was held in 1863 by McDonald and McFarland.
• Mantuan Downs near Springsure was held by John Kerr and Duncan Clark in 1863.
• Minerva Creek was held by Riddel, who was killed by Aboriginal people on 19 September 1863.
• Myall Downs near Injune was taken up by brothers Sidney and John Yeates (and possibly another brother with initials G.B.?) before 1864. Part of this station was resumed and cut up into smaller soldier settlement blocks after WWI.
• Nulalbin held in 1863 by Glen and McMaster, and by 1878 was held by Living.
• Orion Downs was held by Thompson in 1865 at least, though it is not clear if he was the original holder.
• Peak Downs named by Leichhardt, was held before 1863 by Stuart and Rutherford.
• Peak Vale on Theresa Creek held in 1863 by S. Davies.
• Planet Downs named by Leichhardt, on the Brown Creek, was held by Frederick Walker in the 1860s. Perhaps later held by Rolleston?
• Purbrook Downs was held in 1863 by Miller and Hutton.
• Redcliffe Downs on Mimosa Creek was held in 1863 by T. Little.
• Rochdale was taken up by 1854 by Frederick William Roche (also spelled Roache); he was also a merchant.
• Roxborough (sometimes Roxborough) in the Dawson Valley was held in 1863 by T.J. Thompson.
• St Helen’s (near Mackay) was originally taken up by John Arthur Macartney in 1860, but by 1863, ownership had passed to his cousins Sir John Macartney, William Macartney and Robert W. Graham.
• Taroom was originally known as Ross’ Knob, from when the family was camped here in 1841; the station named changed to Carrabah on 23 May 1863 to avoid confusion with Taroom town name. The station was held in 1852 by William Henry Yaldwyn.
• Taurus Downs had been taken up by 1864, possibly by T.J. Thompson.
• Walloon in the Dawson Valley was held in 1864 by Arch. Ferguson.
• Wealwandangie on Cona Creek was managed in 1862 by Alexander Kennedy, assisted by Peter McPherson for Peter McIntosh.
• Wolfang was taken up by Claudius Kerr, who in turn sold it to Gordon Sandeman, on whose behalf Oscar de Satge took over in October 1861.
• Wooroona near Springsure held in 1863 by Gibson and Goran.
• Yamala near Duaringa was held in 1863 by Lamb and Black.

NMP Presence

NMP patrols to the Dawson River were taking place as early as 1852 (SLNSW A967 1852 Letter from Frederick Walker to Colonial Secretary 1 March, Volume 097, Business letters; and correspondence of Frederick Walker, Commandant, Native Police, 1851–1855, ca. 1863; Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser 1 May 1852, p.6), although in November 1854 John Murray considered Aboriginal people on the Dawson to be “quiet and apparently inclined to be friendly” (QSA17619 1856 Letter from John Murray to Inspector General of Police 2 November, Letters to the Government Resident by the Colonial Secretary, Sydney, & Inspector-General Police on Native Police Matters). There had, however, been multiple conflict events throughout the region in that year, and consequently a detachment of five or six troopers under Sub-Lieutenant Thomas Ross were directed to the Dawson sometime in 1856 as an outstation of the Port Curtis Division.

As a small detachment, they were left without the support of a permanent camp, John Murray having directed them “to move about the stations” (QSA17619 1856 Letter from John Murray to Inspector General of Police 2 November, Letters to the Government Resident by the Colonial Secretary, Sydney, & Inspector-General Police on Native Police Matters). While Murray was convinced that Palm Tree Creek was “the best place for a Police camp”, he also thought it would “be almost impossible” for Ross, “to form one there at present with only six troopers”. As such, the NMP only intermittently camped on Palm Tree Creek, as they did on the neighbouring stations of Euroombah and Hornet Bank, throughout 1856 and 1857. Given the distance between the Dawson and Port Curtis, for practical supervisory purposes Ross’ detachment was placed under the authority of Francis Nicoll, stationed at Wandai Gumbal on the Condamine River.

Between 1854 and 1876 there were a total of 24 NMP camps established in various parts of the Leichhardt district, beginning with the Lower Dawson camp at Rannes. Four camps, all restricted to the area of the Dawson, were established in the latter half of the 1850s, spiralling to 17 in the 1860s as the NMP moved both north and west, reducing to three in the 1870s. Of the 1860s camps, some, such as Albinia Downs, Kianga, Collaroy, Repulse Creek and Mimosa Creek, lasted two years or less, while others, such as Spring Creek and Fort Cooper, were in operation for 10 years or more. The last camp in Leichhardt to close was Fort Cooper, when the district was folded into the Bloomsbury camp’s patrol area.

Conflict Events

The Leichhardt district was in many ways an epicentre for conflict, covering as it did the Comet, Dawson and Nogoa Rivers, an area of central Queensland that became infamous for the deaths of 11 members of the Fraser family and their employees at Hornet Bank in 1857, 19 members of the Wills family party in 1861, and all of the subsequent reprisals that were carried out against Aboriginal people in the wake of both. A letter from early settlers of the district, written in 1854, claimed that “no less than Twenty one lives” had been “sacrificed” up to that date (QSL 1854 Letter from settlers of the Leichhardt District 28 August, NSW Colonial Secretary Letters Relating to Moreton Bay and Queensland 1822–1860, Reel A2.30). In 1858, following the events at Hornet Bank, one correspondent to the Sydney Morning Herald noted that “Within the last ten months twenty-five men, women, and children have been butchered” (Sydney Morning Herald 8 June 1858, p5), while a second claimed that “no less than thirty Europeans, men, women, and children, have been savagely massacred by the poor blacks in this neighbourhood alone” (Sydney Morning Herald 15 June 1858, p3).

In all, there are at least 210 conflict events known for the Leichhardt district, the majority of which occurred in 1866 (n=32), the year that began with a drought and ended with the collapse of the Agra and Masterman Bank of London, holder of the majority of the colony’s loans. The precarity of the colony’s future in that year led to the abandonment of many runs and a colony-wide depression (Beanland 2018). Unsurprisingly, the majority of the killings in the Leichhardt occurred on pastoral runs (75%), with around 750 people (both Aboriginal and European) killed throughout the 19th century.

Following the killings at Hornet Bank in 1857, conflict intensified, as many reprisals, both official and unofficial, were carried out for months across the region. As a result, large numbers of Aboriginal people were killed and others driven from the area down into the Condamine, Balonne (QSA282454 1858 Letter from Edric Morisset to Government Resident 1 May, Letterbook NP 1857–1859) and Wide Bay. In April 1858 an expedition party in search of missing explorer Ludwig Leichhardt who were camped near the Royds brothers’ station noted that, “Here everything is alive with the native police, who make patrols every day in the surrounding country” (Sydney Morning Herald, 5 April 1858, p.4).

After Cullin-la-Ringo several detachments were sent to the region over the following two years, including the 1st and 2nd Divisions from Rockhampton and Gladstone (Calliope Creek) (QSA861248 1861 Letter from Colonial Secretary to John Tanner Baker 12 November, Letterbook of Letters to Other Departments), Peak Downs and the Comet (Wealwandangie/Spring Creek/Repulse Creek) (QSA846762 1862 John O’Connell Bligh to Colonial Secretary 26 May 1862, In letter 62/2123; Rockhampton Bulletin and Central Qld Advertiser, 26 October 1861, p.2), a portion of the 3rd Division from Bungil Creek on the Maranoa (QSA846753 1861 John O’Connell Bligh to Colonial Secretary 6 December 1861, In letter 61/3266) and the 6th Division from Maryborough (QSA846777 1863 Monthly Return of the Qld Native Police Force December, In Letter 63/2995).

Several settlers in the region employed private squads of Aboriginal watchmen to protect their stock and property after Hornet Bank, including Pollett Cardew, who engaged Frederick Walker and 10 ex-troopers as a private security force on the Euroombah run, and the Hay brothers at Rannes who “organized a private force of watchmen, composed of trusty black fellows, and they maintain them not so much for the protection of their stock, but in order to prevent the otherwise inevitable massacre of every inhabitant upon the station” (North Australian, Ipswich and General Advertiser 19 February 1856, p2).

Apart from the spikes in 1857 and 1861, the majority of deaths (n=64) seem to have occurred in 1869 due to a single event recorded in Albert Wright’s diary for 8th January 1869: “About 60 Blacks were shot at Grosvenor last week” (Albert Wright diary 8 January 1869, New England Heritage Centre AO115). This event was not reported in the newspapers, although the prior death of John Collins at North Creek was reported repeatedly throughout January and February 1869. No perpetrators are identified, but it was presumably the NMP, since Wright was at Fort Cooper when he noted this in his diary.

Other known conflict events in the district related to an expedition in September 1861 by squatter Alexander Keith Collins. Collins led a small party from Fort Bourke, in NSW, up the Warrego and across to Rockhampton looking for suitable land to take up. By his own account, he reportedly had numerous violent encounters with Aboriginal people on the trip, though details are lacking, apart from the following general newspaper account:

It was found necessary during the journey to keep a vigilant watch, to prevent being surprised by the natives, who, on some portions of the Warrego, were decidedly hostile, and attacked the little band on several occasions, on one of which they made six successive attempts during one night. lt is singular that this should have occurred at a point marked on Kennedy’s Map as “natives friendly.” (Rockhampton Bulletin and Central Queensland Advertiser, 5 October 1861, p2).

It was later alleged that Collins had kidnapped at least two, if not three, Aboriginal children during his expedition, and likely that was the cause of the determined attacks by Aboriginal people on the Collins party. The situation came before the Courts, who determined that the case was proven and that the two children, Archie and Tommy, should be removed from Collins’ custody and given over to the Intendant of the Immigration barracks (Empire, 19 December 1861, p.3); what became of them thereafter is as yet unknown.

James Cassady had previously taken up a run on the Burdekin before occupying Leichhardt Downs in 1865, although he had sold or abandoned it by 1872, having been unable successfully to run sheep (Townsville Daily Bulletin, 9 February 1931, p3). Although Cassady’s Leichhardt station was attacked by Aboriginal people and one man speared in 1868, Cassady later became a vociferous critic of the NMP, accusing them of kidnapping and murder.

Political Representation

Members for the United Pastoral Districts of Moreton, Wide Bay, Burnett, Maranoa, Leichhardt and Port Curtis were Gordon Sandeman (1856–1857), Patrick Leslie (1857–1857) and William Butler Tooth (1858–1859). Of these, both Sandeman and Leslie were both staunch supporters of the NMP.

Robert Herbert, (1860–1863) Charles (1860–1864 & 1868–1872) and Edmund Royds (1864–1868 & 1872–1873), Gordon Sandeman (1863–1870) and John Scott (1870–1873) all represented the electorate of Leichhardt in the Legislative Assembly. Edmund Royds, Charles Haly, William Paul and John Macfarlane represented the District in the 1870s and Charles Dutton, John Scott and Albrecht Feez in the 1880s. Peter Fitzallan MacDonald in 1875 was the Member for Blackall.

Other Industries

When gold was discovered at Canoona in 1856 it brought thousands of people to the Port Curtis district, although its promise was quickly exhausted within two years. It was followed by further gold deposits on the Peak Downs in 1862, which remained in operation until 1901. Copper was discovered in 1862 at Copperfield, leading to the formation of the Peak Downs Copper Mining Company in the same year, which continued in operation until 1908 (Olgers 1983).

References

Cosgrove, B. 1994 Peter Fitzallan MacDonald: A Life Apart. Unpublished MA thesis, Department of History, University of Central Queensland, Rockhampton.

Fox, M.J. 1923 The History of Queensland (3 volumes). Brisbane: States Publishing Company.

McDonald, L. 1975 Land Settlement in the Northern Districts of Port Curtis and Leichhardt, 1853–1869. Unpublished MA(Qual.) thesis, School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, The University of Queensland, St Lucia.

McDonald, L. 1979 The Rockhampton delusion: A brief history of the Canoona Rush. Queensland Heritage 3(10):28–35.

Mitchell, T.L. 1848 Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia, in Search of a Route from Sydney to the Gulf of Carpentaria. London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans.

Olgers, F. 1983 Explanatory notes on the Clermont Geological Sheet. Brisbane: Geological Survey of Queensland.

Tyson, C. 2021 Meteor Downs. Tingalpa: Boolarong Press.