Finch Hatton is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Mackay Region The Mackay Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas with modern histories extending back as far as 1869. It has an estimat ...

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 Finch Hatton had a population of 531 people.

Geography

Finch Hatton lies in the valley of Cattle Creek (a tributary of the Pioneer River) which flows from west to east through the locality. Although the centre of the locality beside the creek is at 100 metres above sea level, the northern and southern parts of the locality are mountainous rising to 970 metres in the north and 870 metres in the south. The valley contains the town, roughly centre of the locality. The

Mackay–Eungella Road Mackay–Eungella Road is a continuous road route in the Mackay Region, Mackay region of Queensland, Australia. The entire route is signed as State Route 64. It is a state-controlled regional road (number 532). At the western end it becomes E ...

passes through the valley and the town from west to east, although it is called Anzac Parade within the town.

History

The town is believed to be named after Hon. Harold Heneage Finch-Hatton (1856–1904), a British aristocrat turn grazier of Mount Spencer run (1881–83), and imperial federationist in

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

(1884–1904). He gave an account of his experiences in the area through his book entitled Advance Australia! This book covers various topics including the sugar industry, cattle grazing,

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 ...

, Aboriginals,

Kanakas Kanakas were workers (a mix of voluntary and Blackbirding, involuntary) from various Pacific Islands employed in British Empire, British colonies, such as British Columbia (Canada), Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and Queen ...

and gold mining techniques. The first settlers were Hermann Wilhelm Zahmel and his wife Adeline Wilhelmina (née Grawunder), who had immigrated from Germany to Queensland in 1872 and 1876 respectively. They married in Mackay in 1877. In 1889 the Zahmels acquired a parcel of land (Portion 1044 in the Parish of Mia Mia) to the west of the present-day town, where they raised a family of nine children. The Cattle Creek Sugar Mill commenced in 1906, closing in 1990. It was located on the south side of Anzac Parade between the railway station and the school (). Finch Hatton Post Office opened by December 1906 (replacing 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 serv ...

named Pelion open from December 1895). Finch Hatton State School opened on 5 July 1909. The

Finch Hatton War Memorial Finch Hatton War Memorial is a heritage-listed memorial at Anzac Parade, Finch Hatton, Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Melrose & Fenwick and built in 1921 by Melrose & Fenwick. It was added to the Queensland Heritage ...

was erected in 1921. It commemorated those servicemen from Finch Hatton and

Netherdale Netherdale is a sports complex in Galashiels, Scottish Borders, consisting of two adjacent stadiums used for rugby union and Association football, football. The rugby ground is the home of Gala RFC and was formerly used by the professional Border ...

who died in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Later an additional plaque was added with the details of those who died in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The memorial is located in Anzac Parade (). On 18 February 1958, Mackay was hit with massive flooding caused by heavy rainfall upstream with of rain falling at Finch Hatton in 24 hours. The flood peaked at . The water flowed down the valley and flooded Mackay within hours. Residents were rescued off rooftops by boats and taken to emergency accommodation. The flood broke Australian records.

Demographics

In the , the locality of Finch Hatton had a population of 499 people. In the , the locality of Finch Hatton had a population of 531 people.

Heritage listings

Finch Hatton 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: * Anzac Parade:

* Mackay–Eungella Road: Finch Hatton railway station

Education

Finch Hatton State School is a co-educational government primary (P–6) school located on the Mackay–Eungella Road (). In 2016, it had an enrolment of 49 students with 8 teachers (5 equivalent full-time) and 7 non-teaching staff (3 equivalent full-time).

Amenities

The

Mackay Regional Council The Mackay Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas with modern histories extending back as far as 1869. It has an estimat ...

operates a mobile library service on a fortnightly schedule at the corner of Zahmel Street and Mackay–Eungella Road.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Mackay Region Towns in Queensland Localities in Queensland