Selwyn 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 Cloncurry The Shire of Cloncurry is a 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 shire is Cloncurry. Prior to ...

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. Selwyn is now an abandoned mining town. In the the locality of Selwyn had a population of 50 people.

History

StateLibQld 2 81795 Mt Elliott Mine in 1909

Selwyn takes its name from the Selwyn Range, which was named in turn after

Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn, CMG, LL.D, FRS, FGS (26 July 182419 October 1902) was a British geologist and public servant, director of the Geological Survey of Victoria from 1852 to 1869, director of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) fro ...

, a geologist who was Director of the

Geological Survey of Victoria Geological Survey of Victoria (GSV) is a government agency responsible for mapping the geology of Victoria, Australia. The Geological Survey was founded in the 1852 in the Victorian gold rush era, and proceeded to actively explore the state of ...

from 1852 to 1869. It was formerly known as Mount Elliott after the prospector James Elliott who discovered copper and gold in the area in 1889. Mount Elliott Provisional School opened on 1908. On 1 January 1909 it became Mount Elliott State School. In 1912 it was renamed Selwyn State School. It closed circa 1936. On 15 December 1910 the Selwyn railway line opened to service the Hampden and Mount Elliott mines. It was a branch of the Great Northern Railway and ran south from

Cloncurry Cloncurry is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Cloncurry had a population of 2,719 people. Cloncurry is the administrative centre of the Shire of Cloncurry. Cloncurry is known a ...

to Selwyn. Selwyn's population peaked in 1918 with an estimated population of 1500 people with a hospital and four hotels. However, in 1920, copper prices collapsed and by 1921 only 191 people were still living in Selwyn. Mount Cobalt Provisional School opened on 1924 and closed on 1926. The railway line to Selwyn was closed in 1961. In the the locality of Selwyn had a population of 50 people.

Heritage listings

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

Mount Elliott Mining Complex Mount Elliott Mining Complex is a heritage-listed copper mine and smelter at Selwyn, Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by William Henry Corbould and built in 1908. It is also known as Mount Elliott Smelter and Selwyn. ...

Present day

Although the town of Selwyn is now abandoned, the mining and processing of

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...

occurs in the south-west of the locality at Phosphate Hill (). The facility employs about 250 people with annual capacity of 975,000 tonnes. The mine is serviced by the on-site Phosphate Hill Power Station. The mine is serviced by the Phosphate Hill railway station at the terminus of the Phosphate Hill railway line which branches from the Great Northern Line at the Flynn railway station.

References

External links

Town plan of Selwyn, 1979
{{Shire of Cloncurry Shire of Cloncurry Mining towns in Queensland Ghost towns in Queensland Localities in Queensland