Ayr is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the

Shire of Burdekin The Shire of Burdekin is a local government area located in North Queensland, Australia in the Dry Tropics region. The district is located between Townsville and Bowen in the delta of the Burdekin River. It covers an area of , and has exist ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. It is the centre of a sugarcane-growing region and the administrative centre for the

Burdekin Shire Council The Shire of Burdekin is a local government area located in North Queensland, Australia in the Dry Tropics region. The district is located between Townsville and Bowen in the delta of the Burdekin River. It covers an area of , and has exis ...

. In the , the locality of Ayr had a population of 8,738 people.

Geography

Ayr is located south of

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

on the

Bruce Highway The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Nat ...

and away from the (smaller) town of

Home Hill Home Hill is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Burdekin, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Home Hill had a population of 2,954 people. At the delta of the Burdekin River, it is a sugarcane growing area with underground wa ...

. It is north of Bowen and north of

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airpor ...

. Ayr is located near the delta of the

Burdekin River The Burdekin River is a river located in North and Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the northern slopes of Boulder Mountain at Valley of Lagoons, part of the western slope of the Seaview Range, and flows into the Coral Sea a ...

. It is within the

Burdekin Shire The Shire of Burdekin is a local government area located in North Queensland, Australia in the Dry Tropics region. The district is located between Townsville and Bowen in the delta of the Burdekin River. It covers an area of , and has exis ...

, which produces the most sugar cane per square kilometre in Australia, accessing underground water supplies and water from the

Burdekin Dam The Burdekin Dam, officially the Burdekin Falls Dam, is a concrete gravity dam with an uncontrolled spillway across the Burdekin River, located south west of Ayr, and Home Hill in North Queensland, Australia. Built for the purpose of irrigatio ...

to irrigate crops when rains fail. Mirrigan is a neighbourhood within the locality (). It takes its name from the former Mirrigan railway station () which was assigned by the

Queensland Railways Department Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

on 10 September 1914. It is an Aboriginal name meaning star. Parkside is a neighbourhood within the south-east of the town (). Ayr railway station () is on the North Coast railway line and is a passenger stop for the

Spirit of Queensland The Spirit of Queensland is a Queensland Rail long distance passenger rail service. It is operated by a diesel powered Tilt Train that runs five times a week on the North Coast line between Brisbane and Cairns, a distance of 1,681 kilometres ...

. Kalamia Sidings railway siding point is on the Kalamia Sugar Mill's cane tramway ().

Climate

Ayr experiences a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

( Köppen: ''Aw,'' Trewartha: ''Awab''), with a short, hot

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

between December and March; and a long, warm

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

between April and November.

History

Aboriginal history

Biri (Birri) is a language of Central and North Queensland. Biri refers to a language chain extending from Central Queensland towards Townsville and is often used as a universal name for other languages and/or dialects across the region. The language area includes the towns of Bowen, Ayr, Collinsville and Nebo.

British exploration

The first British exploration of the area occurred in 1839 during the third voyage of HMS ''Beagle'' where Captain

John Clements Wickham John Clements Wickham (21 November 17986 January 1864) was a Scottish explorer, naval officer, magistrate and administrator. He was first lieutenant on during its second survey mission, 1831–1836, under captain Robert FitzRoy. The young ...

travelled 10 miles up the waterway later known as the

. His progress was stopped by a fishing weir built by the local Aboriginal people that spanned the river. Interview with Natives of Wickham River

In 1843, during the surveying voyage of HMS ''Fly'', Lieutenant John Ince,

Joseph Jukes Joseph Beete Jukes (10 October 1811 – 29 July 1869), born to John and Sophia Jukes at Summer Hill, Birmingham, England, was a renowned geologist, author of several geological manuals and served as a naturalist on the expeditions of (under th ...

and Frederick Evans sailed up the river near to where the town of Ayr is now located. They encountered two large tribes of Aboriginal people with whom they had friendly interactions, exchanging items and participating in an apparent

Welcome to Country A Welcome to Country is a ritual or formal ceremony performed as a land acknowledgement at many events held in Australia. It is intended to highlight the cultural significance of the surrounding area to the descendants of a particular Aborigina ...

ceremony. Artist, Harden Sidney Melville was also present, later drawing a depiction of the meeting. Shipwreck survivor James Morrill lived with Aboriginal people in the region for seventeen years from 1846 when he was washed ashore on a makeshift raft. Morrill lived a traditional Aboriginal lifestyle and later made a culturally and historically important record of his experiences. In 1859, Henry Daniel Sinclair, James Gordon and Ben Poole conducted a sea voyage that examined the mouth of the Burdekin River. They travelled about 8 miles up the river but were afraid to explore further as they were wary of the resident Aborigines and had limited firearms.

George Elphinstone Dalrymple George Augustus Frederick Elphinstone Dalrymple (6 May 1826 – 22 January 1876) was a colonist, explorer, public servant and politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. He founded the towns of Bowen and Cardwell, and pioneer ...

led an overland expedition to the area in 1859 looking for land acquisitions and he returned again in 1860 as the head of a seagoing exploratory party. Dalrymple had several violent encounters with the local Aboriginal people during these expeditions. In 1862, Dalrymple made another journey to the lower Burdekin region concluding that the "richly grassed open forest country" would become "a most valuable addition to the pastoral and agricultural resources of the colony."

British colonisation

The area was opened up to pastoral squatting leases in 1861 and in that year Edward Spencer Antill (who was a son of the distinguished colonist

Henry Colden Antill Henry may refer to: People * Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portuga ...

) arrived in the region to take up land. In 1862, he selected a large area of land along the lower Burdekin River for a

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

which he named Jarvisfield after the Antill family estate near Picton. Groups of armed settlers and

Native Police Australian native police units, consisting of Aboriginal troopers under the command (usually) of at least one white officer, existed in various forms in all Australian mainland colonies during the nineteenth and, in some cases, into the twentie ...

started to force the Aboriginal people off the land around this time, with James Morrill documenting a massacre of a resident Burdekin River tribe. E.S. Antill bore a life-long scar on his forehead from a boomerang thrown at him during one of these episodes of frontier violence. Morrill attempted to negotiate a treaty between the British and the Aborigines whereby the coastal area on the north side of the Burdekin would be a reserve for the Indigenous people but this was ignored by the authorities. After E.S. Antill had become established, other colonists took up land in the region, namely John Graham MacDonald who formed the Inkerman Downs property with the financial backing of

Robert Towns Robert Towns (10 November 1794 – 11 April 1873) was a British master mariner who settled in Australia as a businessman, sandalwood merchant, colonist, shipowner, pastoralist, politician, whaler and civic leader. He was the founder of Townsvil ...

, and Edward Cunningham who formed Woodhouse station. In retribution for murders and cattle spearing, punitive expeditions by the Native Police led by Lieutenant John Marlow would "disperse" the local Aboriginal population. A township, named Wickham, was formed in the region in 1864 but was destroyed in 1870 during a flood. Robert William Graham formed the Lilliesmere run in 1876 and in 1881 the township of Ayr was laid out on this property by surveyor Ellis William Lymburner. Ayr was named after the Scottish town of

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

, the birthplace of nineteenth-century

Queensland Premier The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is a ...

Sir Thomas McIlwraith Sir Thomas McIlwraith (17 May 1835 – 17 July 1900) was for many years the dominant figure of colonial politics in Queensland. He was Premier of Queensland from 1879 to 1883, again in 1888, and for a third time in 1893. In common with most po ...

. Ayr Post Office opened on 25 August 1883.

Sugarcane plantations and mills

Large scale cultivation of sugarcane began in the region in 1879 with the formation of the Burdekin Delta Sugar Company through the partnership of local landholders Robert William Graham and Archibald Campbell MacMillan. Their plantation was called Airdmillan and in 1883 the Airdmillan sugar mill was built. Both the mill and the plantation became financially unviable in 1885 after the repatriation of

kidnapped Kidnapped may refer to: * subject to the crime of kidnapping Literature * ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson * ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...

South Sea Islander South Sea Islanders are the Australian descendants of Pacific Islanders from more than 80 islandsincluding the Oceanian archipelagoes of the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, the Gilbert Islands and New Irelandwho were kidnappe ...

labourers working on the plantation. Of the 532 Islanders brought to Airdmillan, 128 or 24% had died by 1885. In the 1890s, Airdmillan was subdivided and today much of the town of Ayr is located on what was once part of the Airdmillan estate. The nearby locality of Airdmillan is named after the plantation. Other colonists also established plantations and mills in the region during the 1880s. James Mackenzie formed the Seaforth estate and mill, while Colin Munro built the Drynie mill. In 1882, John Spiller and Henry Brandon established the Pioneer plantation which was soon sold to the Drysdale brothers. The Drysdales built the Pioneer Mill in 1884 and later constructed the Inkerman Mill in 1914. Charles and John Young formed the Kalamia plantation in 1882, the Kalamia Mill being operational two years later. Much of the labour on these plantations during the early years was performed by South Sea Islanders, many of whom died in the first year after being shipped in. At Kalamia and Pioneer, the death rate was 14%, and at Seaforth it was 26%. Islander labour in the region was discontinued in the early 1900s. The Pioneer, Kalamia and Inkerman mills are still operational and are owned by

Wilmar Sugar Wilmar Sugar Australia is a subsidiary of the Singapore-based company Wilmar International that incorporates sugar production business and renewable energy cogeneration. The principal product of Wilmar Sugar is raw sugar. By-products from the produ ...

Schools and such

Ayr State School opened on 15 November 1886. In 1928 it was expanded to include a secondary school. In 1937, the secondary school became a separate entity,

Ayr State High School Ayr State High School is a heritage-listed state secondary school at 82–90 Wickham Street, Ayr, Queensland, Ayr, Shire of Burdekin, Queensland, Australia. It is one of three high schools in Ayr, the others being Burdekin Catholic High Scho ...

. St Francis Primary School opened in 1912 operated by three

Sisters of the Good Samaritan The Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, colloquially known as the "Good Sams", is a Roman Catholic congregation of religious women commenced by Bede Polding, OSB, Australia’s first Catholic bishop, in Sydney in 1857. The congreg ...

StateLibQld 2 242195 War Memorial Park arch over the gate at Ayr, 1937-1938

The Ayr War Memorial Arch is the entrance to the Memorial Park and commemorates those who served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was dedicated in November 1925 by the shire chairman, Councillor Barsby. In 1926 Annie Dennis founded the Burdekin Community Church as a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

mission for

South Sea Islanders South Sea Islanders are the Australian descendants of Pacific Islanders from more than 80 islandsincluding the Oceanian archipelagoes of the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, the Gilbert Islands and New Irelandwho were kidnappe ...

. East Ayr State School opened on 8 August 1952. Ayr Opportunity School opened for children with disabilities in 1972. It was renamed Burdekin Special School in about 1985. In 2001 the name was changed to Burdekin School. Burdekin Catholic High School opened on 1 April 1974 in the Marist tradition. Burdekin Christian College was opened on 5 February 1982 by the Burdekin Community Church. Burdekin Library opened in 1984. In the , the locality of Ayr had a population of 8,738 people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 7.7% of the population. 82.4% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was Italy at 2.1%. 85.4% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian at 2.8%. The most common responses for religion were Catholic 37.3%, Anglican 15.7% and No Religion 15.0%. In June 2018, the town become the centre of controversy when a racist poster was displayed in a shop window, asserting that foreigners and backpackers were not welcome. Within hours, Burdekin Shire Council Mayor Lyn McLaughlin condemned the people responsible for the poster.

Heritage listings

Ayr has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 155 Queen Street: Ayr Post Office Ayr Courthouse, Qld

* 163 Queen Street: Ayr Court House

* 82-90 Wickham Street:

* 145 Young Street: Burdekin Shire Council Chambers

Education

Ayr State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 141 Graham Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 119 students with 14 teachers (11 full-time equivalent) and 17 non-teaching staff (10 full-time equivalent). East Ayr State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 43-73 Ross Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 557 students with 47 teachers (40 full-time equivalent) and 22 non-teaching staff (15 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education program. St Francis' School is a Catholic primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 99 Edward Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 304 students with 20 teachers (17 full-time equivalent) and 17 non-teaching staff (11 full-time equivalent). Burdekin Christian College is a private primary and secondary (Prep-12) school for boys and girls at 2-12 Melbourne Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 133 students with 13 teachers (12 full-time equivalent) and 10 non-teaching staff (8 full-time equivalent). Burdekin School is a special primary and secondary (Early Childhood-12) school for boys and girls at 159 Young Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 17 students with 5 teachers (4 full-time equivalent) and 11 non-teaching staff (6 full-time equivalent).

is a government secondary (7-12) school for boys and girls at Cnr Edwards & Wickham Streets (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 480 students with 46 teachers (44 full-time equivalent) and 30 non-teaching staff (23 full-time equivalent). It has a special education program. Burdekin Catholic High School is a Catholic secondary (7-12) school for boys and girls at 45 Gibson Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 436 students with 40 teachers (39 full-time equivalent) and 23 non-teaching staff (19 full-time equivalent).

Facilities

Ayr is home to a small, state owned hospital. The one-storey building offers basic emergency care and has a helipad for more-serious emergencies.

Amenities

Ayr has the usual chain stores, including

Domino's Pizza Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino's Farms Office Park in Ann Arbor ...

, ten pin bowling, a toyshop, cinema, six

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s, and a range of sports, electrical and fashion stores. Ayr has several banks including the Commonwealth,

ANZ ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ** ...

Suncorp Suncorp Group Limited is an Australian finance, insurance, and banking corporation based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is one of Australia's mid-size banks (by combined lending and deposits) and its largest general insurance group, fo ...

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and

Bendigo & Adelaide Bank Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is an Australian financial institution, operating primarily in retail banking. The company was formed by the merger of Bendigo Bank and Adelaide Bank in November 2007. Before the merger, Bendigo Bank delivered its pro ...

. The

operates a public library in Ayr at 108 Graham Street (). The Ayr branch of the

Queensland Country Women's Association The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) is the Queensland chapter of the Country Women's Association in Australia. The association seeks to serve the interests of women and children in rural areas in Australia through a network of loca ...

meets at 20 Chippendale Street. Burdekin Uniting Church has two churches, one at 130 Mackenzie Street () in Ayr and the other in Home Hill. A wide variety of sports are played in Ayr, including Touch football,

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

, Soccer, tennis and golf.

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

and

Table Tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

(ping pong) are also popular. The Ayr Surf Life Saving club is small and well-established.

Attractions

Alva beach, also known as Lynch's Beach, is a popular area for fishing and swimming located east of Ayr.

Media

Published every Thursday, the Burdekin Local News is the region's only locally owned and independent newspaper distributed across the Burdekin region as well as Bowen and the Townsville CBD.

Transport

Ayr's main street, Queen Street, is a wide two-laned street. The A1 passes through the town. A mostly two-laned highway, it is the major road of the Burdekin, linking Ayr with nearby

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name *Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

and

. Ayr Railway Station is the town's rail-transit stop with regular services from Brisbane to Cairns. While the town has no public transport, several bus routes pick up school children across the region.

Notable people from Ayr

* Zachary Anderson: professional football player – ''

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under ...

'' * Lt Col Jim Bourke: Professional soldier, decorated Vietnam veteran *

Patricia Cockrem Patricia "Trish" Cockrem (born 17 May 1961) is a former Australian women's basketball player.Patricia Co ...

: former Australian basketball player *

Mark Dalle Cort Mark Dalle Cort (born 19 May 1982 in Ayr, Queensland) was a professional rugby league footballer who most recently played for the Northern Pride RLFC in the Queensland Cup he previously played for St George Illawarra Dragons & North Queensland ...

: rugby league and union player *

Matthew Ham Matthew Ham (born 25 July 1983) is an Australian goalkeeper. Club career He was signed by the Queensland Roar for the 2007-2008 A-league season. He sustained a season ending shoulder injury during pre-season training, and was told he would ne ...

: professional football player – ''

North Queensland Fury Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from ...

'' *

Shane Muspratt Shane Muspratt (born 13 April 1979 in Ayr, Queensland, Australia) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played for the North Queensland Cowboys and the Parramatta Eels in the NRL. Playing career Muspratt has played for the North ...

: professional rugby league player *

Kel O'Shea Kelvin Joseph "Kel" O'Shea (13 July 1933 – 22 January 2015) was an Australian representative rugby league footballer, a second-rower from Queensland whose club career was played with the Western Suburbs Magpies in Sydney. He is rated am ...

: Australian representative rugby league player *

Ryan Phelan Ryan Phelan is an Australian television journalist, media personality and presenter. Phelan has previously presented news updates on ''The Morning Show'' and was co-host of '' The Daily Edition''. Career Phelan’s television career starte ...

: journalist and television presenter * Don Walker: musician/songwriter – ''

Cold Chisel Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes (at the ...