Nobby 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 ...

on 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 general ...

in the

Toowoomba Region The Toowoomba Region is a local government area located in the Darling Downs part of Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the early 1900s and bey ...

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 located halfway between

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 ...

and

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

. It is known for its association with

Steele Rudd Steele Rudd was the pen name of Arthur Hoey Davis (14 November 1868 – 11 October 1935) an Australian author, best known for his short story collection '' On Our Selection''. In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, Rudd was named one of the ...

(author) and Sister

Elizabeth Kenny Sister Elizabeth Kenny (20 September 1880 – 30 November 1952) was a self-trained Australian bush nurse who developed an approach to treating polio that was controversial at the time. Her method, promoted internationally while working in Austra ...

(effective treatment of

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

using physiotherapy).

Geography

The

Southern railway line The Southern railway line serves the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. The long line branches from the Western line at Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, and proceeds south through Warwick and Stanthorpe to the New South Wales/Quee ...

passes through the locality but Nobby railway station is now abandoned (). Nobby has the following mountains: * Kent () * Mount Kent () * Rocky Point ()

History

The origin of the name ''Nobby'' is unknown. When the Western railway line from

was being constructed, a worker's camp known as McDonald's Camp was established in the area in 1868 and this gave its name to the general area. However, the railway siding created was known as ''Nobby's Siding'' and the area become known as ''Nobby''. However, the township that was surveyed alongside the railway in 1891 was named ''Davenport'' after

George Davenport Colonel George Davenport, born George William King (1783 – July 4, 1845), was a 19th-century English-American sailor, frontiersman, fur trader, merchant, postmaster, US Army soldier, Indian agent, and city planner. A prominent and well-known ...

, a former local

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivis ...

for Drayton and Toowoomba whose pastoral run was at nearby

Headington Hill Headington Hill is a hill in the east of Oxford, England, in the suburb of Headington. The Headington Road goes up the hill leading out of the city. There are good views of the spires of Oxford from the hill, especially from the top of South Park ...

. However, the Railway Department refused to rename the railway station, which created confusion having the railway station and the town with different names, leading to many people continuing to refer to the town as ''Nobby''. Eventually the town's name was official changed back to ''Nobby'' in 1931. Davenport Township land sale map 1889

On 24 September 1889, Arthur Martin & Co auctioned 258 town allotments under the name Davenport Township. These blocks were located on south west side of Nobby railway station. Nobby's Siding Post Office opened by March 1894 (a

receiving office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional s ...

had been open from 1885). It was renamed Nobby's by 1902 and simply Nobby by 1908. Mount Kent State School opened on 14 May 1883 and closed on 1959. It was on Ted Mengel Road, now within the locality of Felton (). Nobby Provisional School opened on 15 November 1897, becoming Nobby State School on 1 January 1909. It closed in 1921 and a new school Nobby Township State School opened on 30 January 1922, which was later renamed Nobby State School. The school celebrated its 125th anniversary on Saturday 12 November 2022. Rockfield Provisional School opened on 23 October 1905. On 1 January 1909, it became Rockfield State School. It closed circa 1928. It was at 349 Mount Kent Boundary Road (). A School of Arts was opened in Nobby in 1909. The hall, along with an adjacent bank building, was completely destroyed by fire in July 1928 and was rebuilt in 1929. Bellview State School opened on 2 February 1920. It closed on 1949. The Nobby 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 ...

was established in April 1925; its first president was Sister

. St Paul's Church of England in

Back Plains Back Plains is a rural locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Back Plains had a population of 74 people. History Settlement commenced in December 1872. The district was originally known as Clifton Homestead Area Ba ...

was dedicated on 12 February 1892 by

Archbishop of Brisbane In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

William Webber. The last service was conducted on 8 August 1943. In 1953 the church building was relocated to Nobby where it was re-established as St Paul's Church of England. The last service at Nobby was conducted circa 11 May 1975. In 1979 the church building was relocated to 12 Jubb Street,

Allora Allora is a rural town and locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Allora had a population of 1,223 people. Geography Allora is on the Darling Downs in south-eastern Queensland, Australia, by ro ...

to become the Scots Presbyterian Church for those Presbyterians in the district who did not wish to become part of the

Uniting Church of Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Unio ...

. The church in Allora was dedicated on 26 July 1980 by Presbyterian Moderator Rt Rev F. White. In November 1947 on the 50th anniversary of Nobby State School, a war memorial gate was officially unveiled in the school grounds. At the , Nobby had a population of 391. At the , Nobby had a population of 484 people. In the , Nobby had a population of 563 people.

Heritage listings

Nobby has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: *

Victor Denton War Memorial Victor Denton War Memorial is a heritage-listed memorial at Nobby Cemetery, Nobby, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. It was made in 1915 by Bruce Brothers. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. History ...

, Nobby Cemetery ()

Education

Nobby State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 4 Davenport Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 55 students with 4 teachers and 8 non-teaching staff (4 full-time equivalent). There are no secondary schools in Nobby. The nearest government secondary school is Clifton State High School in Clifton to the south.

Attractions

Rudd's Pub was originally built in 1893 across the road from the Nobby railway station as the Davenport Hotel; the architects were

James Marks and Son James Marks (1834–1915) was an architect in Queensland, Australia. A number of his buildings are listed on the Queensland Heritage Register. Early life James Marks was born in England in 1834, where he trained as a carpenter, and taught himsel ...

. Based on local folklore that author

(who lived in Nobby) wrote some of his works in the pub, it was renamed Rudd's Pub in the 1980s.

Sister Kenny House is a memorial to Sister

who pioneered physiotherapy as a treatment for

. This small museum holds artefacts relating to her life and therapies.

Notable people

It is noted for having been home to two eminent Australians: *

, author of the

On Our Selection ''On Our Selection'' (1899) is a series of stories written by Australian author Steele Rudd, the pen name of Arthur Hoey Davis, in the late 1890s, featuring the characters Dad and Dave Rudd. The original edition of the book was illustrated by ...

series of books * Sister

, who pioneered the use of physiotherapy in treating

References

External links

University of Queensland: Queensland Places:Nobby
{{authority control Towns in Queensland Towns in the Darling Downs Localities in Queensland