Brookstead is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Toowoomba Region The Toowoomba Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area (LGA) on the border of Darling Downs and South East Queensland regions of Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, the LGA was preceded by several other local go ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , the locality of Brookstead had a population of 182 people.

Geography

Queensland State Archives 4329 Autoheader harvesting crop of Wheatland Milo sorghum Anchorfield Brookstead c 1938

The town is located in the south-west of the locality. The North Branch of the

Condamine River The Condamine River, part of the Balonne catchment that is part of the Murray-Darling Basin, drains the northern portion of the Darling Downs, an area of sub-coastal southern Queensland, Australia. The river is approximately 500 kilometres (3 ...

forms the western boundary of the locality. The land is flat freehold farmland (approx 400 metres above sea level) and is used to grow crops, such as sorgum, corn and wheat. St Ronans is a neighbourhood in the west of the locality (). The

Gore Highway The Gore Highway is a highway running between Toowoomba and Goondiwindi in Queensland, Australia. Together with Goulburn Valley Highway and Newell Highway, it is a part of the National Highway's Melbourne to Brisbane link. It is signed as Nat ...

traverses the locality from the south-east to the south-west slightly bypassing the town. At the bypass is the junction with the Brookstead Norworth Road which exits the locality through the north-west. The

Millmerran railway line The Millmerran railway line is a 71 kilometre long branch railway in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. History The Queensland Parliament approved a railway line to link Pittsworth, Queensland, Pittsworth with the east v ...

also traverses from the south-east to the south-west through the locality, passing through the town, which is serviced by the Brookstead railway station ().

History

The name ''Brookstead'' is derived from ''brook'' indicating ''creek/watercourse'', and ''stede'' (Dutch) or ''stadt'' (German) indicating ''place'', together meaning a ''creek-side camping place''. On 21 January 1908, local residents requested a school but there was a dispute about the best location for the school and the government did not proceed with a school. In January 1913, residents again requested a school, but remained divided as to its location. A school inspector visited the district and recommended a specific site on the main Pittsworth Road and the government agreed to erect a school building. However, the local residents disagreed with the proposed location and instead the local school building committee purchased a site from B. T. Howells, the secretary of the school building committee. The site was on Pittsworth Road about half a mile east of Brookstead railway station and to the south of the intersection of the railway line and the Gore Highway. Brookstead State School was officially opened on 25 January 1915 by Donald Mackintosh, the Member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

for

Pittsworth Pittsworth is a rural town and locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Pittsworth had a population of 3,300 people. Geography Pittsworth township is south-west of Brisbane via the Warrego Highway, s ...

. The first head teacher was Emily Kate Cottle. Following ongoing problems with the school grounds being waterlogged after heavy rains, in 1951 the school building was relocated to its present site with an adjacent teacher's residence built in 1958. In 1964, the school was enlarged and modernised. The foundation stone ceremony for St Matthews Anglican Church was held on Sunday 26 August 1923 with Archdeacon Osborne officiating. The church was opened and dedicated by the Venerable Alfred Davies on 30 March 1924. Its closure in circa 2014 was approved by

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Cameron Venables.

Demographics

In the , the locality of Brookstead had a population of 217 people. In the , the locality of Brookstead had a population of 182 people.

Education

Brookstead State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 30 Ware Street (). In 2016, the school had enrolment of 32 children with 5 teachers (3 full-time equivalent) and 6 non-teaching staff (3 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 25 students with 5 teachers (3 full-time equivalent) and 4 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent). There is no secondary school in Brookstead. The nearest is Pittsworth State High School in

to the east.

References

External links