Jarvisfield is a coastal rural

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

Shire of Burdekin The Shire of Burdekin is a local government area located in North Queensland, Australia in the Dry Tropics region. The district is located between Townsville and Bowen in the delta of the Burdekin River. The shire covers an area of . It has e ...

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 , Jarvisfield had a population of 343 people.

Geography

Jarvisfield is bounded by the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

to the east, the

Burdekin River The Burdekin River is a river in North and Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the northern slopes of Boulder Mountain at Valley of Lagoons, part of the western slope of the Seaview Range, and flows into the Coral Sea at Upsta ...

to the south and Plantation Creek to the north. The locality is flat low-lying land (below 10 metres above sea level). Most of the locality is freehold and used for growing

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

. However, the most eastern coastal parts of the locality are not developed and are at risk of

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of Wind wave, waves, Ocean current, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts ...

from storms and from sea levels rising. A cane tramway through the locality carries harvested sugarcane to the local sugar mills, Pioneer Sugar Mill and Kalamia Sugar Mill, both located in Brandon.

History

The Budekin River was explored by

John Clements Wickham John Clements Wickham (21 November 17986 January 1864) was a Scotland, Scottish explorer, naval officer, magistrate and administrator. He was first lieutenant on during its Second voyage of HMS Beagle, second survey mission, 1831–1836, un ...

in in 1839. In 1859 the lower Burdekin River was explored by Captain Sinclair and James Gordon from Bowen. After the

Separation of Queensland The Separation of Queensland was an event in 1859 in which the land that forms the present-day state of Queensland in Australia was excised from the Colony of New South Wales and proclaimed as a separate crown colony. History European settlemen ...

in December 1859, the newly established

Queensland Parliament The Parliament of Queensland is the unicameral legislative body of the Australian state of Queensland. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Queensland, and the ...

sent further expeditions to assess the potential of the Burdekin River for settlement, leading to the area being officially opened for settlement from 1 January 1861, leading to the "Great Land Grab". In 1861 Edward Spencer Antill (who was a son of the distinguished colonist Henry Colden Antill) arrived in the region to take up land. The following year, he selected a large area of land along the lower Burdekin River for 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 ...

which he named Jarvisfield after the Antill family estate near Picton. Jarvisfield Station was later bought by

Robert Towns Robert Towns (10 November 1794 – 11 April 1873) was a British master mariner who settled in Australia as a businessman, sandalwood merchant, colonist, shipowner, pastoralist, politician, whaler and civic leader. He was the founder of Townsvil ...

and Alexander Stewart, both of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. The present day locality takes its name from the Jarvisfield Station (although it is not as large in area as that pastoral run). In 1863–1864 there was an attempt to establish a port called Wickham on the north bank of the Burdekin River near the Jarvisfield Estate, despite Captain Wickham himself being dubious as to its viability noting that the river had two entrances, both very shallow, and that the river banks were vulnerable to flooding. However, the project proceeded but ultimately failed due to constant problems with mosquitoes, difficulties in navigating to upper reaches of the Burdekin through much of the year and problems with coastal erosion from storms. Initially Jarvisfield Station was used for sheep and cattle grazing. In 1869, Alexander Stuart attempted to grow sugar as did a number of other local farmers but inconsistent rainfall was a problem, so cattle grazing was the most common use of the land in the area. It was only when it was realised that the freshwater lagoons in the Burdekin Delta could be used for irrigation that the reliable cultivation of sugarcane became possible and far more profitable than cattle grazing. It was possible for a farmer to make a good living from a small block of land with sugarcane compared with a large parcel of land needed to make a good living from cattle. This raised the value of land and larger estates, such as Jarvisfield Station, were subdivided. This brought more farmers into the area and with them the extra labour needed to grown sugarcane. This increase in population led to the development of towns and service industries in the Burdekin district. Jarvisfield State School opened on 29 March 1915. It celebrated its centenary on 3 October 2015.

Demographics

In the , Jarvisfield had a population of 367 people. In the , Jarvisfield had a population of 343 people.

Education

Jarvisfield State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 516 Rita Island Road (). In 2016, the school had an enrolment of 13 students with 2 teachers (1 full-time equivalent) and 5 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 13 students with 2 teachers (1 full-time equivalent) and 3 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent). There are no secondary schools in Jarvisfield. The nearest government secondary school is Ayr State High School in neighbouring

Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...

to the west. There are also non-government schools in Ayr.

References

External links