Barcaldine, Queensland
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Barcaldine ( ) is a rural town and locality in the
Barcaldine Region The Barcaldine Region is a local government area in Central West Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas which had existed for over a century. It has an estimated operating budget of ...
in
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. This is the administrative centre of the
Barcaldine Region The Barcaldine Region is a local government area in Central West Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas which had existed for over a century. It has an estimated operating budget of ...
. Barcaldine played a major role in the
Australian labour movement The Australian labour movement began in the early 19th century and since the late 19th century has included industrial (Australian unions) and political wings (Australian Labor Party). Trade unions in Australia may be formed on the basis of cra ...
. In the , Barcaldine had a population of 1,540.


Geography

Barcaldine is in
Central West Queensland Central West Queensland (abbreviated CWQ) is a remote region in the Australian state of Queensland which covers 396,650.2 km2. The region lies to the north of South West Queensland and south of the Gulf Country. It has a population of appr ...
, approximately by road west of the city of
Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...
, north of Charleville. The town is situated on Lagoon Creek, which flows into the Alice River approximately five kilometres south of the Barcaldine. Major industries are sheep and beef cattle rearing. The streets in Barcaldine are named after different types of trees.


History

Barcaldine lay on the traditional tribal lands of the Iningai. Iningai (also known as Yiningay, Muttaburra, Tateburra, Yinangay, Yinangi) is an
Australian Aboriginal language The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...
spoken by the Iningai people. The Iningai language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Longreach Region and
Barcaldine Region The Barcaldine Region is a local government area in Central West Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas which had existed for over a century. It has an estimated operating budget of ...
, particularly the towns of Longreach, Barcaldine,
Muttaburra Muttaburra is an outback town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia. Muttaburra was the discovery site of the ''Muttaburrasaurus'', one of Australia's most famous dinosaurs. In the , t ...
and Aramac as well as the properties of Bowen Downs and catchments of Cornish Creek and Alice River. The first European to enter the area was Frederick Walker, the 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 ...
, who in 1861 led an expedition through what is now Barcaldine searching for the explorers
Burke and Wills 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 nine ...
. The town takes its name from a
sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...
called ''Barcaldine Downs'', which was established in 1863 by Donald Charles Cameron, whose family property in Ayrshire, Scotland, was named after Barcaldine, Argyll, Scotland. Cameron had been a sugar plantation owner and slaveholder in
Berbice Berbice () is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1792 a colony of the Dutch West India Company and between 1792 and 1815 a colony of the Dutch state. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Brita ...
,
British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...
. The local Aboriginal people were not allowed onto ''Barcaldine Downs'' and blackbirded South Sea Islander labour was utilised in the 1860s and 1870s. The first town lots were sold in 1885 and within a year several buildings were under construction. By the end of 1886 the town had been surveyed. The Central Western railway line to Barcaldine opened on 8 November 1886. Barcaldine Post Office opened on 13 November 1886. The artesian water at Barcaldine is full of minerals. A bore had been constructed in 1887, but was unsuitable for the water needs of the steam locomotives and so the water was let run to waste. By 1891, a local doctor observed that water contained soda and
potash Potash ( ) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form.
which he believed would have health benefits. In 1907, a swimming pool using the artesian water was built by the Barcaldine Shire Council, along with baths and showers for therapeutic use. Although Barcaldine was being promoted as a
spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, Ba ...
into the mid-1930s, interest in " taking the waters" declined after that period as medical opinion became increasingly doubtful of the benefits of mineral waters, favouring drugs and physiotherapy as better treatments. In 1887 a Methodist church was erected in Ash Street, Barcaldine, the first church in the town. The church building had previously been used at a number of railway camps involved in the construction the Central Western railway line. As each new segment of the line was completed, the camp and the church building were relocated to the new railhead. Barcaldine was its final location. In 1893 a new wooden church was erected in Maple Street. The foundation stone for the current brick church was laid on 1 July 1961 by Reverend Joseph Tainton, President of the Queensland Methodist Conference, with the former wooden church beside it becoming the church hall. In 1977 following the amalgamation that created the
Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most Wiktionary:congregation, congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church o ...
, the Barcaldine Methodist Church became the Barcaldine Uniting Church. Barcaldine State School opened on 4 July 1887.In 1892, the
local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...
of Barcaldine Division was established, by separating it from the Kargoolnah Division which had its headquarters in Blackall. Since then, Barcaldine has been the headquarters of local government in the area, commencing with the Barcaldine Divisional Board, which became the Barcaldine Shire Council in 1903, and then the Barcaldine Regional Council in 2008. The initial local government meetings were held in a building in Oak Street, which burned down in 1896. A shire hall was then constructed in 1898 on the south-east corner of Ash and Beech Streets, which eventually became too small. In February 1912 a new larger shire hall was opened and that building (somewhat modified and extended) is still in use today and is
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 ...
. St Joseph's Catholic Primary School was opened in 1896 by
Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...
, specifically Sister Mary Muredach McMullen (superior), Sister Mary Catherine Cleary, and Sister Mary Fayne, with the assistance of lay teacher Catherine Lobie. The original building had two storeys with the sisters living upstairs and the classrooms downstairs. In 1906 a new school building was erected to accommodate the school's 195 students. The current school building opened on 21 October 1962.In August 1909, a devastating fire destroyed buildings in Oak Street, including a general store (J. Dias), a saddlery (H. A. Hawthorne) and the Welcome Home Hotel (W. Kemp). The Barcaldine War Memorial was unveiled by Queensland Governor,
Matthew Nathan Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Matthew Nathan (3 January 1862 – 18 April 1939) was a British soldier and colonial administrator, who variously served as the governor of Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Hong Kong, Natal and Queensland. He was Under-Secre ...
, on 21 May 1924. The current Barcaldine Public Library opened in 2016. On 26 May 2019, Barcaldine set a world record for a line of 868 motorhomes, caravans, campervans and fifth wheelers outside the town, beating the previous record of 672 vehicles in Italy in 2003. On 22 November 2019, the
Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...
decided to amalgamate the localities in the Barcaldine Region, resulting in five expanded localities based on the larger towns:
Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...
, Aramac, Barcaldine,
Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...
and
Muttaburra Muttaburra is an outback town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia. Muttaburra was the discovery site of the ''Muttaburrasaurus'', one of Australia's most famous dinosaurs. In the , t ...
. Barcaldine was expanded to incorporate Barcaldine Downs, Evora, Grant (all except for the eastern corner), Home Creek, Ingberry (southern part), Moombria, Narbethong (all except for the north-eastern corner), Patrick, Saltern Creek, and Tara Station.


Labour movement

Barcaldine played a significant role in the
Australian labour movement The Australian labour movement began in the early 19th century and since the late 19th century has included industrial (Australian unions) and political wings (Australian Labor Party). Trade unions in Australia may be formed on the basis of cra ...
and the birth of the
Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...
. In 1891, it was one of the focal points of the
1891 Australian shearers' strike The 1891 shearers' strike is one of Australia's earliest and most important industrial disputes. The dispute was primarily between Trade union, unionised and non-unionised wool workers. It resulted in the formation of large camps of striking wor ...
, with the
Eureka Flag The Eureka Flag was flown at the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, which took place on 3 December 1854 at Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. It was the culmination of the 1851 to 1854 Eureka Rebellion on the Victorian goldfields. Gold miners prot ...
flying over the strike camp. The landmark Tree of Knowledge, under which the strikers met, stood outside the railway station. In 2006, persons unknown poisoned the tree with the herbicide Roundup, which led to its demise. One of the first
May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...
marches in the world took place during the strike on 1 May 1891 in Barcaldine. The ''
Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...
'' reported that of the 1,340 men that took part, 618 were mounted on horses. Banners carried included those of the Australian Labor Federation, the Shearers' and Carriers' Unions, and one inscribed 'Young Australia'. The leaders wore blue sashes and the Eureka Flag was carried. The ''Labor Bulletin'' reported that cheers were given for "the Union", "the
Eight-hour day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses of working time. The modern movement originated i ...
", "the Strike Committee" and "the boys in gaol". It reported the march:On the 9 September 1892 the ''Manifesto of the Queensland Labour Party'' was read out under the well known Tree of Knowledge at Barcaldine following the Great Shearers' Strike. The
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 ...
now holds the manifesto, in 2008 the historic document was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Australian Register and in 2009, the document was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World International Register. Th
Australian Workers Heritage Centre
opened in Barcaldine in 1991 as a museum to pay tribute to Australian workers.


Heritage listings

Barcaldine 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: * Barcaldine Shire Hall, Ash Street * Barcaldine War Memorial Clock, Ash Street * Shearers' Strike Camp Site, Bank of Lagoon Creek * Barcaldine Masonic Temple, 39 Beech Street * St Peter's Anglican Church and Hall, 85 Elm Street * Tree of Knowledge, Oak Street


Demographics

In the , the locality of Barcaldine had a population of 1,540. In the , the locality of Barcaldine had a population of 1,422. In the , the town of Barcaldine had a population of 1,316, while the locality had a population of 1,655.


Climate

Barcaldine experiences 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 sem ...
( Köppen: BSh), with a short
wet season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...
from December and March and a lengthy
dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...
from April and November, with cool nights. Average maxima vary from in July to in December. Average annual rainfall is low: , occurring within 40.2 rainfall days, and primarily from
tropical cyclones A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...
or monsoonal depressions in summer. Rainfall is extremely erratic due to ENSO, with annual totals ranging from in 1946 to in 2010. The town is very sunny, averaging 172.7 clear days and only 61.1 cloudy days annually. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 20 June 1976 and 10 July 1974 to on 30 November 2006.


Education

Barcaldine Prep–12 State School is a government primary and secondary (Early Childhood to Year 12) school for boys and girls at Gidyea Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 284 students with 29 teachers (27 full-time equivalent) and 22 non-teaching staff (16 full-time equivalent). St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is a Catholic primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at 23 Willow Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 26 students with 5 teachers (4 full-time equivalent) and 3 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent). Wanpa-rda Matilda Outback Education Centre is an Outdoor and Environmental Education Centre at the corner of Ash and Willow Streets ().


Media

Barcaldine has only one commercial radio station, West FM (Resonate Radio), which transmits on 100.9 FM. The
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
transmits ABC TV and its sister channels ABC Kids,
ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...
,
ABC Entertains ABC Entertains is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was launched on 4 December 2009 as a children's channel called ABC3. It was rebranded on 19 September 2016 to ABC ME. It rebra ...
and
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
through its relay station, ABBQ. The
Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
and its sister channels 7two,
7Mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a c ...
and
7Flix 7flix is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 28 February 2016. 7flix targets a variety of viewers and offers drama, comedy, reality, docusoap, and movies. History On 18 Decembe ...
transmit to Barcaldine through its regional area affiliate, ITQ. The
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
and its sister channels
9Gem 9Gem is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, launched by the Nine Network in September 2010. The channel provides general entertainment and movie programming, from which the original name "GEM" is derived. History The la ...
,
9Go! 9Go! is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009, replacing Nine Guide. It is a youthful channel that offers a mix of comedy, reality, general entertainment, movies, anima ...
and
9Rush 9Rush is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, launched by the Nine Network on 5 April 2020. The channel is a joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery Asia-Pacific (which also supplies its programming) and is broadcast on ...
transmit to Barcaldine through its regional area affiliate, IMP.
Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...
and its sister channels
10 Bold Drama 10 Bold Drama (set to rebrand as 10 Drama in 2025) is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It originally launched on 26 March 2009 as One HD with a focus on broadcasting sports-based programming and eve ...
, 10 Peach Comedy and
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
transmit to Barcaldine through its regional area affiliate, CDT. The
Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels (SBS (Australian TV chann ...
and its sister channels
SBS Viceland SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS V ...
,
SBS World Movies SBS World Movies is an Australian free-to-air television channel showing international movies. The channel features foreign language films, documentaries, independent, annual films, art films and mainstream cinema and interviews with intern ...
and
SBS Food SBS Food (formerly Food Network) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel airs programs about food and cooking, from cultures around the world. History SBS first ...
also transmit to Barcaldine.


Amenities

Barcaldine has a bowls, tennis clubs, a combined racecourse and showground near the golf course, a historical and folk museum, swimming pool and visitor information centre. Barcaldine Regional Council operates a library at 71 Ash Street, with a high-speed
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the digitalised circuits of the public switched telephone network. ...
broadband Internet connection to Brisbane (via the National Broadband Network). The Barcaldine branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association has its rooms at 5 Maple Street (corner of Ash Street, ). Barcaldine Uniting Church is at 7-9 Maple Street ().


Attractions

The attractions in Barcaldine include: * the Tree of Knowledge * the Australian Workers Heritage Centre * the Barcaldine and District Historical Museum


Cultural references

''The Working Man's Paradise: an Australian Labour novel'', was written by William Lane under the pseudonym John Miller in 1892, inspired by the events of the 1891 Shearers' Strike in Barcaldine. This story shows a contrast between the 'haves' and the 'have nots' (slum dwellers and the wealthy citizens) and depicts the conflict between the squatters and pastoral workers. The preface of the book states, 'The scene is laid in Sydney because it is not thought desirable, for various reasons, to aggravate by a local plot the soreness existing in Queensland'. Barcaldine features in ''Hail Tomorrow'': ''a play in four acts'', written by
Vance Palmer Edward Vivian "Vance" Palmer (28 August 1885 – 15 July 1959) was an Australian novelist, dramatist, essayist and critic. Early life Vance Palmer was born in Bundaberg, Queensland, on 28 August 1885 and attended the Ipswich Grammar School. Wi ...
in 1947. The full-length play's conflict centres about the Queensland shearers' strike of 1891.


See also

* Barcaldine Airport * List of tramways in Queensland


References


Further reading

*


External links


University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Barcaldine and Barcaldine Shire
* *
Manifesto of the Queensland Labour Party
- digitised and held by John Oxley Library,
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 ...
, Australia.
Town map of Barcaldine, 1984

Barcaldine Photographs 1900-1946
State Library of Queensland
Annual reports Barcaldine Hospitals Board
State Library of Queensland {{authority control Towns in Queensland Hot springs of Australia Barcaldine Region Localities in Queensland