Nobby 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 ...

on the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally ...

in the

Toowoomba Region The Toowoomba Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area (LGA) on the border of Darling Downs and South East Queensland regions of Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, the LGA was preceded by several other local go ...

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. It is located halfway between

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

and

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

. It is known for its association with

Steele Rudd Steele Rudd was the pen name of Arthur Hoey Davis (14 November 1868 – 11 October 1935) an Australian author, best known for his short story collection ''On Our Selection''. In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, Rudd was named one of the ...

(author) and Sister Elizabeth Kenny (effective treatment of

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

using

physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

). In the , the locality of Nobby had a population of 609 people.

Geography

The Southern railway line passes through the locality but Nobby railway station is now abandoned (). Nobby has the following mountains: * Kent () * Mount Kent () * Rocky Point ()

History

The origin of the name ''Nobby'' is unknown. When the Western railway line from

was being constructed, a worker's camp known as McDonald's Camp was established in the area in 1868 and this gave its name to the general area. However, the railway siding created was known as ''Nobby's Siding'' and the area become known as ''Nobby''. However, the township that was surveyed alongside the railway in 1891 was named ''Davenport'' after George Davenport, a former local

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland, sorted by parliament. See also * Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts This is a list of current and former Electoral dis ...

for Drayton and Toowoomba whose pastoral run was at nearby

Headington Hill Headington Hill is a hill in the east of Oxford, England, in the suburb of Headington. The Headington Road goes up the hill leading out of the city. There are good views of the spires of Oxford from the hill, especially from the top of South Par ...

. However, the Railway Department refused to rename the railway station, which created confusion having the railway station and the town with different names, leading to many people continuing to refer to the town as ''Nobby''. Eventually the town's name was officially changed back to ''Nobby'' in 1931. Davenport Township land sale map 1889

On 24 September 1889, Arthur Martin & Co auctioned 258 town allotments under the name Davenport Township. These blocks were located on south west side of Nobby railway station. Nobby's Siding Post Office opened by March 1894 (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 ...

had been open from 1885). It was renamed Nobby's by 1902 and simply Nobby by 1908. Mount Kent State School opened on 14 May 1883 and closed on 1959. It was on Ted Mengel Road, now within the locality of Felton (). Nobby Provisional School opened on 15 November 1897, becoming Nobby State School on 1 January 1909. It closed in 1921 and a new school Nobby Township State School opened on 30 January 1922, which was later renamed Nobby State School. The school celebrated its 125th anniversary on Saturday 12 November 2022. Rockfield Provisional School opened on 23 October 1905. On 1 January 1909, it became Rockfield State School. It closed circa 1928. It was at 349 Mount Kent Boundary Road (corner Denton Road, ). A School of Arts was opened in Nobby in 1909. The hall, along with an adjacent bank building, was completely destroyed by fire in July 1928 and was rebuilt in 1929. Bellview State School opened on 2 February 1920. It closed on 1949. The Nobby 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 ...

was established in April 1925; its first president was Sister Elizabeth Kenny. St Paul's Church of England in Back Plains was dedicated on 12 February 1892 by Archbishop of Brisbane William Webber. The last service was conducted on 8 August 1943. In 1953 the church building was relocated to Nobby where it was re-established as St Paul's Church of England. The last service at Nobby was conducted circa 11 May 1975. In 1979 the church building was relocated to 12 Jubb Street, Allora to become the Scots Presbyterian Church for those Presbyterians in the district who did not wish to become part of the

Uniting Church of 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 church in Allora was dedicated on 26 July 1980 by Presbyterian Moderator Rt Rev F. White. In November 1947 on the 50th anniversary of Nobby State School, a war memorial gate was officially unveiled in the school grounds.

Demographics

In the , the locality of Nobby had a population of 391 people. In the , the locality of Nobby had a population of 484 people. In the , the locality of Nobby had a population of 563 people. In the , the locality of Nobby had a population of 609 people.

Heritage listings

Nobby 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: * Victor Denton War Memorial, Nobby Cemetery ()

Education

Nobby State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 4 Davenport Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 55 students with 4 teachers and 8 non-teaching staff (4 full-time equivalent). There are no secondary schools in Nobby. The nearest government secondary school is Clifton State High School in Clifton to the south.

Attractions

Rudd's Pub was originally built in 1893 across the road from the Nobby railway station as the Davenport Hotel; the architects were James Marks and Son. Based on local folklore that author

(who lived in Nobby) wrote some of his works in the pub, it was renamed Rudd's Pub in the 1980s.

Sister Kenny House is a memorial to Sister Elizabeth Kenny who pioneered physiotherapy as a treatment for

. This small museum holds artefacts relating to her life and therapies.

Notable people

It is noted for having been home to two eminent Australians: *

, author of the

On Our Selection ''On Our Selection'' (1899) is a series of stories written by Australian author Steele Rudd, the pen name of Arthur Hoey Davis, in the late 1890s, featuring the characters Dad and Dave Rudd. The original edition of the book was illustrated by ...

series of books * Sister Elizabeth Kenny, who pioneered the use of physiotherapy in treating

References

External links

University of Queensland: Queensland Places:Nobby
{{authority control Toowoomba Region Towns in Queensland Towns in the Darling Downs Localities in Queensland