Woolgar, Queensland

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Woolgar
Queensland
Old Battery 1931.jpg
Old Battery at Woolgar, 1931
Australia Queensland location map.svg
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Woolgar
Coordinates 19°59′33″S143°26′26″E / 19.9926°S 143.4405°E / -19.9926; 143.4405 (Woolgar (centre of locality))
Population17 (2021 census) [1]
 • Density0.00367/km2 (0.00950/sq mi)
Postcode(s) 4822
Area4,636.9 km2 (1,790.3 sq mi)
Time zone AEST (UTC+10:00)
Location
LGA(s) Shire of Richmond
State electorate(s) Traeger
Federal division(s) Kennedy
Suburbs around Woolgar:
Bellfield Gilberton Porcupine
Saxby Woolgar Dutton River
Burleigh Richmond Dutton River

Woolgar is a rural locality in the Shire of Richmond, Queensland, Australia. [2] In the 2021 census, Woolgar had a population of 17 people. [1]

Contents

Geography

The Woolgar River rises in the north-east and flows through to the south-west, exiting to Burleigh. [3] Stawell River (also known as Cambridge Creek) enters the locality from the east (the locality of Dutton River) and exits to the west (Burleigh), where it becomes a tributary of the Woolgar River. [4] The Dutton River enters the locality from the east (the locality of Dutton River) and forms part of the south-eastern boundary of the locality before exiting to the south (Richmond) where it becomes a tributary of the Flinders River. [5] [6] [7]

Mount Norman is the north-west of the locality ( 19°47′14″S143°16′48″E / 19.7872°S 143.2799°E / -19.7872; 143.2799 (Mount Norman) ), rising to 410 metres (1,350 ft) above sea level. [8] [9] [7]

The Richmond–Croydon Road crosses the north-western corner of the locality, entering from the west (Saxby) and exiting to the north-west (Bellfield). [10] [11]

The Rungulla Resources Reserve is in the north of the locality ( 19°34′11″S143°27′33″E / 19.5697°S 143.45917°E / -19.5697; 143.45917 (Rungulla Resources Reserve) ). [12] Apart from this protected area, the land use is grazing on native vegetation. [13]

History

In 1880, gold was found in Woolgar, initiating a gold rush. [14] [15] [16] The gold rush followed the common pattern of individual miners initially engaging in panning for gold, followed by digging to find shallow reefs, and then companies raising capital for the equipment to search for deep reefs. [17]

On 14 September 1881, Sub-inspector Henry Pollock Kaye of the Native Mounted Police, was responding to complaints from at the Woolgar gold fields townspeople of the First Nations persons stealing and other offences. [18] Together with other police and a native trooper, he mustered the indigenous persons to remove them from the area. It was indicated there may have been up to 800 indigenous persons in the area, although only some thirty to forty were to be removed. Within fifteen minutes of Sub-inspector Nichols leaving to get other officers, Kaye was fatally speared by the persons. [19] A retaliatory massacre is believed to have occurred against the indigenous persons. [20]

Woolgar Upper Provisional School opened on 19 June 1901 and Woolgar Lower Provisional School opened on 24 June 1901, to work together as part-time schools (meaning a single teacher was shared between them). They closed in October 1903 but reopened in April 1904. Woolgar Lower Provisional School closed on 11 October 1906 while Woolgar Upper Provisional School continued as a full-time school and closed circa 1912. [21]

In 2000, the Woolgar Valley Aboriginal Corporation became the lessee of the 130,000-hectare (320,000-acre) Middle Park pastoral station, '"to provide opportunities for the traditional owners of that area, the Woolgar people, who mostly live in Yarrabah, Hopevale and Townsville". [22] [23]

Demographics

In the 2016 census, Woolgar had a population of 8 people. [24]

In the 2021 census, Woolgar had a population of 17 people. [1]

Education

There are no schools in Woolgar nor nearby. The alternatives are distance education and boarding school. [25]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Woolgar (SAL)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 February 2023. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  2. ↑ "Woolgar – locality in Shire of Richmond (entry 42357)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government . Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  3. ↑ "Woolgar River – watercourse in the Shire of Richmond (entry 38045)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government . Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  4. ↑ "Stawell River – watercourse in the Shire of Richmond (entry 32305)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government . Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  5. ↑ "Dutton River – watercourse in the Shire of Flinders (entry 52094)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government . Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  6. ↑ "Woolgar, Queensland" (Map). Google Maps . Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Layers: Locality; Mountains and ranges; Contours; Watercourses". Queensland Globe. Queensland Government . Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  8. ↑ "Mountain peaks and capes - Queensland". Queensland Open Data. Queensland Government. 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  9. ↑ "Mount Norman – mountain in Richmond Shire (entry 24549)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government . Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  10. ↑ Woolgar, Queensland (Map). OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  11. ↑ "Layers: Locality; Road and rail; Railways; Railway stations". Queensland Globe. Queensland Government . Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  12. ↑ "Rungulla Resources Reserve – resources reserve in the Shire of Richmond (entry 51532)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government . Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  13. ↑ "Layers: Locality; Protected areas and forests; Land use; Sugarcane areas". Queensland Globe. Queensland Government . Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  14. ↑ "The Woolgar Rush". The Brisbane Courier . Vol. XXXIV, no. 3, 998. Queensland, Australia. 13 March 1880. p. 6. Retrieved 11 July 2025– via National Library of Australia.
  15. ↑ "The Etheridge". The Queenslander . Vol. XVII, no. 240. Queensland, Australia. 20 March 1880. p. 372. Retrieved 11 July 2025– via National Library of Australia.
  16. ↑ "MINING". Queensland Country Life . Vol. II, no. 20. Queensland, Australia. 1 October 1901. p. 24. Retrieved 11 July 2025– via National Library of Australia.
  17. ↑ Woodgar Gold Project Queensland. "Quarterly activity report for the period ending 30th June 2015" (PDF). Australian Stock Exchange . p. 6. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  18. ↑ "The murder of Sub-inspector Kaye". The Queenslander . Vol. XX, no. 322. Queensland, Australia. 22 October 1881. p. 532. Retrieved 21 November 2021– via National Library of Australia.
  19. ↑ "Police gather to memorialise fallen colleagues". myPolice. State of Queensland (Queensland Police Service). 29 September 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  20. ↑ "Woolgar Massacre: Investigating the Woolgar Aboriginal Massacre Site, northwest Qld". Wallis Heritage Consulting. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  21. ↑ Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN   978-1-921171-26-0
  22. ↑ "Krieg v Woolgar Valley Aboriginal Corporation [2021] QLC 28" (PDF). Supreme Court Library of Queensland. State of Queensland. p. 3. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  23. ↑ "ILSC Land Acquisitions and Grant" (PDF). Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation. Australian Government . Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  24. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Woolgar (SSC)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 October 2018. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  25. ↑ "Layers: Locality; Schools and school catchments". Queensland Globe. Queensland Government . Retrieved 10 July 2025.
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