The locality is located in the Albert River valley, bounded by the Albert River to the east and the Birnam Range to the west. Mundoolun Bridge marks the boundary between the Upper and Lower Albert River reaches.[citation needed]
In recent years housing lots have been developed as part of 'The Mundoolun Estate' situated east of Mundoolun Road.[citation needed]
The name Mundoolun is generally attributed to mundoolgunn (various spellings, including mundulgunn), a place name for death adder in the Bundjalung language (Yugambeh dialect).[3] In 1936 a toponymic list appeared in The Courier-Mail newspaper referring to an indigenous word Mundoolunookum of the same meaning.[5]
Mundoolun is part of the region occupied by the Wangerriburra people prior to European settlement. The Wangerriburra were commonly known as the Albert tribe and their territory consisted of the middle Albert River basin and upper Coomera River.[6][7]
In 1827 Captain Patrick Logan, commandant of the Moreton Bay penal colony, made an expedition to Mount Barney. The expedition is believed to have passed through the Mundoolun area; Logan notes in his journal, "June 18th.—Continued my route; passed through a rich valley;".[8][9]
Mundoolun station
Closure of the penal settlement in 1842 and its 50-mile (80km) exclusion radius opened the area to pastoralists. In 1842 William Humphreys, a sheep grazier on the Liverpool Plains, took up several thousand acres on the Albert River and established a pastoral property, or station (Depasturing License number 661[10]). Although Humphreys initially used the name 'Mount Martin Station', the property soon became known as 'Moondoolun' (or 'Moondoolan') which was later changed to 'Mundoolun' (closer to the generally accepted pronunciation[11]). Humphreys encouraged his cousin Anne Collins and her husband John to join him there in 1844. By 1847 the Collins family were sole owners of the Mundoolun property.[12]
Humphreys farmed sheep and built a three room cottage, with ironbark slabs and a thatched roof. The cottage was sited near the Albert River which provided a water supply. A similar cottage was built by the Collins family nearby.[13]
After a decade of extension (ca. 1854) the Collins's slab hut became essentially the homestead that stands today (the Old Homestead). The outer walls consist of pit-sawn local cedar. Wide verandas exemplify the residences of the period. An outside cooking shed was erected to reduce the risk of fire. The eldest sons, Robert and William, helped introduce cattle (sheep were moved to properties further west when they proved unsuitable for coastal country[14]). Another homestead, built on the property in 1915 by the Fraser family—descendants of the Collins, burnt down in 1939. The Old Homestead is still inhabited by the Fraser family, who continue to run the property which occupied just over 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) in 2011.[15]
From 1863 to 1872 a government financed mail coach operated between Casino and Brisbane, stopping at Mundoolun.[16][17]
Mundoolun's association with investigating the tick-borne disease of cattle caused by blood parasites, known as tick fever or red water (babesiosis, anaplasmosis), began with William Collins, the second son of John and Anne. William and his older brother Robert had travelled through cattle districts in North America during the 1870s, and on returning to Australia the brothers contributed to the improvement of the Queensland pastoral industry. Tick fever was recognised as a serious threat to Queensland cattle during the 1890s, and in 1896 William and Dr J. Sidney Hunt were sent by the government to the United States to inquire into the American cattle tick problem (known there as Texas fever or Southern cattle fever).[18][19]
The following year in 1897, cattle on the Collins's Mundoolun station were inoculated in pioneering experiments for tick fever conducted by Charles Joseph Pound of the Queensland Stock Institute. Inoculum was sourced, directly and by passage through calves, from steers of Inkerman Station in northern Queensland which had recovered from tick fever. Pound's observations were reported to include: cattle were a host for the disease "germ", and indications that immunity may be acquired in utero or induced by inoculation.[20]
The work following these experiments resulted in Pound producing a pamphlet in 1898 for the inoculation of cattle. Pound referred to experiments and experience as supporting "the efficacy of the method of preventive inoculation for tick fever as first initiated in the Mundoolun and Inkerman experiments of April, 1897".[21]
Moondoolan School
Moondoolan Provisional School opened circa 1880 and closed circa 1898.[22] In 1892 it was described as one of the best taught and organised provisional schools in the state.[23]
St John's church
St John's Mundoolun Church, 2013
A private family chapel, also known as the Memorial Church of St John the Evangelist, was built in 1901 by the Collins family in memory of John and Anne Collins. Situated west of Mundoolun Road, the church was built from local sandstone to a design by John H. Buckeridge, Diocesan Architect of Brisbane at the time. The style is described as Early English Gothic with a square, castellated bell tower. The site was selected next to the family cemetery, on a ridge of the Birnam Range behind the Mundoolun homestead. The church was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 1999.[24]
In the cemetery is the grave of Bullumm (1850–1931), also known as John Allen, the last survivor of the Wangerriburra people and a lifelong associate of the Collins family.[25] In 1913 Bullumm helped John Lane, headmaster of the Jimboomba State School, to compile the Wangerriburra language, and their work was included as an appendix in the 1913 annual report of The Chief Protector of Aboriginals.[6]
A few houses are located across the road of St John's church at Mundoolun.[citation needed]
Artillery and light horse
Light-horsemen on parade in an army camp near Mundoolun, 1909
As early as 1901, the year Australia became federated, the Mundoolun area was used for military exercises. In March that year the Brisbane Courier newspaper contained the notice, "the Field Artillery Section, Q.R.R.A.A. (Queensland Regiment Royal Australian Artillery), will proceed to camp at Mundoolun, by road, on the 25th instant, for the purpose of carrying out artillery practice".[26] The notice mentions Major Chauvel in command of the headquarters and various units of the Q.M.I. (Queensland Mounted Infantry).[citation needed]
These military exercises were regularly conducted in the area prior to the First World War. In 1913 a Brisbane Courier report gave details of the camp, then named Tambourine [sic] Camp, describing its location, "The site of the camp is practically the same as in former years, namely, on a slope overlooking the Albert River and Mundoolun Homestead,".[27] The report notes the suitability of the site due to the quality of water from the Albert River at Mundoolun for drinking, washing, and swimming.[citation needed]
One member of the Collins family, Douglas Martin Fraser (1888–1968), served with the 5th Light Horse Regiment in Palestine during 1918. Fraser had married Marion Dorothea Jane, daughter of Robert Collins, in 1915 and it was on the Collins's property at Mundoolun where their first home was built.[28]
World War 2
Military training is still conducted in the region at the Canungra Military Area which was established during the Second World War.[citation needed]
In the 2011 census, Mundoolun recorded a population of 1,327 people, 50.6% female and 49.4% male. The median age of the Mundoolun population was 34 years, 3 years below the national median of 37. 76.6% of people living in Mundoolun were born in Australia. The other top responses for country of birth were England 7.4%, New Zealand 4%, Netherlands 1.1%, Germany 0.7%, United States of America 0.6%. 93.4% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were 1.1% Dutch, 0.9% German, 0.5% Finnish, 0.3% French, 0.3% Spanish.
In the 2016 census, Mundoolun had a population of 1,551 people.[29]
In the 2021 census, Mundoolun had a population of 1,836 people.[1]
Rathdowney is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Rathdowney had a population of 320 people.
Beaudesert is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region of Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Beaudesert had a population of 6,752 people.
The Logan River is a perennial river in the Scenic Rim, Logan and Gold Coast local government areas of the South East region of Queensland, Australia. The 184-kilometre (114 mi)-long river is one of the dominant waterways in South East Queensland that drains the southern ranges of the Scenic Rim and empties into Moreton Bay after navigating the City of Logan, a major suburban centre located south of Brisbane. The catchment is dominated by urban and agricultural land use. Near the river mouth are mangrove forests and a number of aquaculture farms.
The City of Logan is a local government area (LGA) located in the south of Greater Brisbane in South East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. Situated between the City of Brisbane to the north and the City of Gold Coast to the south, the City of Logan also borders the Scenic Rim Region, the City of Ipswich, and Redland City LGAs. Logan is divided into 70 suburbs and 12 divisions; a councillor is elected to each of the latter. The council had a population of 326,615 as of June 2018.
Beenleigh is a town and suburb in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the suburb of Beenleigh had a population of 8,425 people.
The Albert River is a perennial river in the South East region of Queensland, Australia. Its catchment lies within the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim Region local government areas and covers an area of 782 square kilometres (302 sq mi). The river provides potable water for the town of Beaudesert.
Logan Village is a semi-rural town and locality in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. Logan Village was once known as the head of the navigable Logan River. Its importance as a town grew again when the railway arrived.
The Queensland Stock Institute was a government scientific facility in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, for the research and prevention of disease in agricultural animals relevant to Queensland. Established in 1893, it was the first research institution in Queensland dedicated to the investigation of disease. In 1900, it was renamed the Bacteriological Institute when activities were officially extended to include human pathology. The institute ceased as a facility for livestock disease in 1910 when animal work was transferred to Yeerongpilly. Laboratory work relating to human disease remained at the purpose-built facility under the control of the health department until 1918.
Wondoola or Wondoola Station, often misspelt as Woondoola, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station. It is located about 102 kilometres (63 mi) south of Normanton and 148 kilometres (92 mi) west of Croydon in Queensland.
Durrie Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Queensland, Australia.
Nindooinbah is a rural locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Nindooinbah had a population of 95 people.
Tamrookum is a rural locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Tamrookum had a population of 94 people.
Wolffdene is a rural locality in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Wolffdene had a population of 266 people.
Tamborine is a rural town in the Scenic Rim Region and a locality split between the Scenic Rim Region and the City of Logan in Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Tamborine had a population of 4,388 people.
Wyambyn is a heritage-listed homestead at Tabragalba House Road, Tabragalba, Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed in 1908 by Robin Dods and built by Warren and Morgan from 1908 to 1909. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 9 August 2013.
St John's Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church at Mundoolun Road, Mundoolun, City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by John Hingeston Buckeridge and built from 1901 to 1915. It is also known as Memorial Church of St John the Evangelist. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 26 November 1999.
Robert Martin Collins was an Australian explorer, grazier, member of both the Queensland Legislative Council and the Queensland Legislative Assembly.
Thomas Plunkett was a farmer and Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly in Queensland, Australia.
The Mununjali clan are one of nine distinct named clan estate groups of the Yugambeh people, an Aboriginal Australian nation whose traditional lands are the Beaudesert area in the Scenic Rim, Queensland, Australia.
Beaudesert–Beenleigh Road is a continuous 35.5 kilometres (22.1 mi) road route in the Scenic Rim and Logan City regions of Queensland, Australia. Part of the road is signed as State Route 90 and the rest as State Route 92. Beaudesert–Beenleigh Road is a state-controlled road, part district and part regional.
↑ "Albert Aboriginals". The Telegraph. No.13, 063. Queensland, Australia. 2 October 1914. p.5 (SECOND EDITION). Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2019– via National Library of Australia.
↑ Godfrey, D. (2000). "Chapter 5: "Mt. Martin" "Moondoolan" "Mundoolun" Kinghorn; Tremayne: 1842 to 2000.". A Journey in Time from Moreton Bay District 1842 to Beaudesertshire [sic] Queensland 2000. Munruben, Queensland: D. Godfrey. p.61. OCLC271688070.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
