Cunningham is a rural

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

Southern Downs Region The Southern Downs Region is a local government area in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia, along the state's boundary with New South Wales. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of Warwick and the Shire of Stanthorpe. ...

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 , established_ ...

, Australia. In the Cunningham had a population of 66 people.

History

The locality is named after explorer and botanist Allan Cunningham who was the first European to see the lush pastures of the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generall ...

in 1827. In the Cunningham had a population of 66 people.

Geography

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 kilometers (31 ...

forms the north-eastern boundary of the locality. The

Cunningham Highway The Cunningham Highway is a national highway located in south-eastern Queensland, Australia. The highway links the Darling Downs region with the urbanised outskirts of via Cunninghams Gap. The Cunningham carries the National Highway 15 sh ...

passes through the locality in an approximately east–west direction and forms part of the southern boundary. The South Western railway line passes through the locality from the north-east to the south-west. The land is mostly used for farming. There is a small urban centre on the Leyburn-Cunningham Road which features the

Country Women's Association The Country Women's Association (CWA) is the largest regional and rural advocacy group in Australia. It comprises seven independent State and Territory Associations, who are passionate advocates for country women and their families, working ...

Memorial Hall at Cunningham Road, a memorial park and the now disused

Cunningham railway station Cunningham is a surname of Scottish origin, see Clan Cunningham. Notable people sharing this surname A–C *Aaron Cunningham (born 1986), American baseball player *Abe Cunningham, American drummer *Adrian Cunningham (born 1960), Australian a ...

Amenities

The memorial park has a picnic table as well as three memorials to (left to right): *

Patrick Leslie Patrick Leslie (25 September 1815 – 12 August 1881) was a Scottish settler in Australia. Leslie and his two brothers (Walter and George) were the first to settle on the Darling Downs, and he was the first person to buy land in Warwick. ...

, the first settler on the Darling Downs who founded Toolburra Station north of the park * the local servicemen who died 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 ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

* the pioneer families of the district: Clancy, Mullins, McMahon and Cantwell The memorial cairn to Patrick Leslie was erected by the Rosenthal Shire Council and unveiled on 10 December 1959 by the Shire Chairman, J. A. Costello. The Cunningham 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 the QCWA Hall on Cunningham Road.

References

External links

{{Southern Downs Region Southern Downs Region Localities in Queensland