Richmond, Queensland
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Richmond is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Richmond,
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 Richmond had a population of 578 people. It is the administrative centre of the Shire of Richmond.


Toponymy

The origin of the name Richmond comes from when Arthur Bundock and Walter Hayes took up land in the district which they named the Richmond Downs
Pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...
Run. It was named after the Richmond River in northern
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
which was where Bundock had been born.


Geography

The town is west of
Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
and east of Mount Isa. The Flinders Highway traverses the locality from east to west passing through the town which is located in about the centre of the locality. The Great Northern railway runs immediately south and parallel to the highway through the east of the locality, crossing over in the town which is served by the Richmond railway station, and then the railway runs immediately north and parallel to the highway through the west of the locality. There is a second railway station, the Moselle railway on the far eastern edge of the locality, named after the
pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...
run, which in turn was named in about the 1870s by pastoralist J.B. Brodie after the Moselle River in eastern France. The Flinders River flows through the locality from east to west, passing to the west of the town, where the river has its confluence with its tributary Dutton River. The Richmond–Croydon Road exits to the north-west, and the Richmond–Winton Road to the south-west.


History

''Jirandali'' (also known as ''Yirandali'', ''Warungu'', and ''Yirandhali'') is an Australian Aboriginal language of North-West Queensland, particularly the
Hughenden Hughenden may refer to: *Hughenden, Queensland, a town in Australia * Hughenden, Alberta, a village in central Alberta, Canada *Hughenden Valley, a village in Buckinghamshire, England *Hughenden Manor, a mansion in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Eng ...
area. The language region includes the local government area of the Shire of Flinders, including
Dutton River Dutton River is a rural locality in the Flinders Shire, Queensland, Australia. In the , Dutton River had a population of 66 people. Geography The ''Flinders River'' flows through from south-east to south-west. ''Dutton River'' (the watercour ...
, Flinders River, Mount Sturgeon,
Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the forested region in the central and western Scottish Highlands, particularly stretching through parts of what are now Lochaber, Badenoch, Strathspey, and possibly as ...
, Richmond, Corfield, Winton, Torrens, Tower Hill, Landsborough Creek, Lammermoor Station, Hughenden, and
Tangorin Tangorin is a rural town and locality in the Flinders Shire, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Tangorin had a population of 47 people. Indigenous language Jirandali (also known as Yirandali, Warungu, Yirandhali) is an Australia ...
. '' Wanamarra'' (also known as ''Maykulan'' and ''Wunumura'' is an Australian Aboriginal language in
North West Queensland The Gulf Country or North West Queensland is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also ca ...
. The language region includes areas within the
Shire of McKinlay The Shire of McKinlay is a local government area in outback north-western Queensland, Australia. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity since 1891. The shire economy is based on beef production and mining. BHP opera ...
,
Shire of Cloncurry The Shire of Cloncurry is a Local government in Australia, local government area in North West Queensland, Australia. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity since 1884. The major town and administrative centre of the ...
and Shire of Richmond, including the Flinders River area, and the towns of
Kynuna Kynuna is an outback town in the Shire of McKinlay and a locality split between the Shire of McKinlay and the Shire of Winton in Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Kynuna had a population of 52 people. Geography Kynuna is on the b ...
and Richmond. The explorer
William Landsborough William Landsborough (21 February 1825 – 16 March 1886) was an explorer of Australia. He was notable for being the first explorer to complete a North-to-South crossing of Australia. He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Council. ...
camped at the site that would become the town of Richmond on 13 March 1862. Explorer and former Commandant of the
Native Police Australian native police were specialised mounted military units consisting of detachments of Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal troopers under the command of European officers appointed by British colonial governments. The units existed in va ...
, Frederick Walker, had previously passed through the area in October 1861, naming and camping on the Dutton River. Both the Landsborough and Walker parties were attempting to locate the
Burke and Wills expedition The Burke and Wills expedition (originally called the Victorian Exploring Expedition) was an exploration expedition organised by the Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) in Australia in 1860–61. The exploration party initially consisted of ninet ...
. The leasehold of the Richmond Downs Pastoral Run was granted in 1863 to Wellington Cochrane Bundock and Enoch Price Walter Hays who came from the Richmond River in
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
. In 1866 the
Crown Lands Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realm ...
Office transferred the leasehold on the Pastoral Runs of Wyanganie, Landsborough Downs and Richmond Downs in the Burke district from W C Bundock and F S Hays to Robert Napier, manager of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney. Then in 1867 the interest of the bank in these three properties was transferred back to W C Bundock and Francis S Hays. By 1867, Richmond Downs had a postal service. However at some stage the service drew the attention of the Postmaster General for inefficiency. In the 1870s services became intermittent. In May 1899, the
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
name was changed from Richmond Downs to Richmond, and a new post office built. In 1880, gold was found at Woolgar to the north and Richmond became an important stagecoach stop en route to Woolgar. The town was surveyed on 9 December 1882 by surveyor Joseph Hargreaves with town lots sold from April 1883. Richmond Provisional School opened on 22 May 1889 with 23 pupils, becoming Richmond State School on 27 February 1902 when it had 113 pupils. The Great Northern railway reached the town in June 1904. At the official celebration on 2 June 1904, it was explained that the line was the first to be built by cheaper methods by replacing the
track ballast Track ballast is the material which forms the trackbed upon which railroad ties (UK: sleepers) are laid. It is packed between, below, and around the ties. It is used to bear the compression load of the railroad ties, rails, and rolling stock; ...
with packed earth, but the cost saving was at the expense of train speed, which was expected to be 15 miles per hour. It was hoped that cheaper methods would allow more pastoral areas to be serviced by rail with an immediate desire to connect through to
Cloncurry Cloncurry is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. It is informally known by local people as The Curry. Cloncurry is the administrative centre of the Shire of Cloncurry. Cloncurry is known as the ''Friendl ...
. The
Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, often called the Josephites or Brown Joeys, are a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Mary MacKillop (1842–1909). Members of the congregation use the postnominal initials RSJ (Religious Sis ...
opened a Catholic primary school in 1915. The Richmond Public Library was opened in 1996.


Demographics

In the , the town of Richmond had a population of 554 people. In the , the locality of Richmond had a population of 522 people. In the , the locality of Richmond had a population of 648 people. In the , the locality of Richmond had a population of 578 people.


Heritage listings

Richmond has a number of
heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...
sites, including: * 55 Crawford Street: St John the Baptist Anglican Church Complex (Constructed in 1909).


Economy

Traditionally, the two biggest industries in Richmond are sheep- and cattle-farming, however tourism is an increasingly important aspect of the local economy. In addition to being a major transit stop on the Flinders Highway, recent
paleontological Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...
discoveries have unearthed the fossils of prehistoric marine creatures, some of which are on display in Richmond.


Attractions

* Cambridge Downs Heritage Display Centre – a replica of the original Cambridge Downs Homestead built in the late 1860s. *
Kronosaurus ''Kronosaurus'' ( ) is an extinct genus of large short-necked pliosaur that lived during the Aptian to Albian Stage (stratigraphy), stages of the Early Cretaceous in what is now Australia. The first known specimen was received in 1899 and consis ...
Korner – fossil museum. * Lake Fred Tritton * Richmond War Memorial * Moon Rocks Monument


Facilities

Richmond has a golf course, bowling club, swimming facilities, race course, caravan park and a tourist information centre. The Richmond Shire Council operates a public library in Richmond at 76 Goldring Street. The Richmond 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 ...
has its rooms at 74 Goldring Street.


Education

Richmond State School is a government primary and secondary (Prep–10) school for boys and girls at 88 Crawford Street (). In 2016, the school had an enrolment of 78 students with 10 teachers and 12 non-teaching staff (7 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 84 students with 12 teachers and 13 non-teaching staff (8 full-time equivalent). There is no school in Richmond providing education to Year 12; the nearest such school is Hughenden State School in
Hughenden Hughenden may refer to: *Hughenden, Queensland, a town in Australia * Hughenden, Alberta, a village in central Alberta, Canada *Hughenden Valley, a village in Buckinghamshire, England *Hughenden Manor, a mansion in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Eng ...
to the east. However, given the distances involved, other options are
distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...
and boarding schools.


Climate

Richmond has a hot
semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...
bordering on a
tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
temperature regime.


Transport

*See Richmond Airport


References


External links


Richmond Shire Council

University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Richmond and Richmond ShireTravelmate - Richmond, Queensland

Town map of Richmond, 1973

Annual reports Richmond Hospitals Board
State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...
{{authority control Towns in Queensland Shire of Richmond Localities in Queensland