Stamford 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 Shire of Flinders,

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 Stamford had a population of 77 people.

Geography

The town is on the

Kennedy Developmental Road The Kennedy Highway is a highway in northern Queensland, Australia. It runs as National Route 1 for approximately 243 km from Smithfield, Queensland, Smithfield, on the northern outskirts of Cairns, to the Gulf Developmental Road in the vic ...

that links

Hughenden Hughenden may refer to: *Hughenden, Queensland, a town in Australia * Hughenden, Alberta, a village in central Alberta, Canada *Hughenden Valley, a village in Buckinghamshire, England *Hughenden Manor, a mansion in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Eng ...

and Winton, north west of the state capital,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and west of the regional centre of

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

. It is situated in the north-east of the locality. Chinbi is a neighbourhood () within the locality to the south-west of the town of Stamford based around the former Chinbi railway station. Whitewood is a neighbourhood () within the locality south-west of Chinbi based around the former Whitewood railway station. The land use is

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

on native vegetation.

History

Stamford was once an overnight stop for

Cobb & Co Cobb & Co was the name used by several independent Australian coach businesses. The first company to use 'Cobb & Co' was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name grew to great prominence in the late 19th century, ...

coaches travelling between Winton and Hughenden. The

Hughenden-Winton railway line The Hughenden-Winton railway line was a railway line in Queensland, Australia, branching from the Mt Isa line at Hughenden and connecting to the Central West line at Winton. It was originally part of the Great Northern Railway (Mt Isa li ...

(a branch line of the Great Northern railway line) opened to Stamford in 1897, closing officially in 2008 and dismantled in 2012. It followed the same route as the Kennedy Developmental Road. There were a number of now-abandoned railway stations on the line within the locality (from north-west to south-east): * Alba railway station () *Waback railway station () *Warianna railway station () *Stamford railway station, serving the town of Stamford () *Chinbi railway station () *Whitewood railway station () * Tarvano railway station () Stamford Provisional School opened in 1899 and closed in 1906. The neighbourhood of Chinbi takes its name from the Chinbi railway station, which in turn was named on 18 February 1915 by the

Queensland Railways Department Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Rail is owned by the Queensland Government, and operates both suburban and interurban rail services in South East Queensland, as well as long-distance passenger t ...

. It is an Aboriginal word meaning ''

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

''. Stamford State School opened on 23 January 1984. It closed on 29 July 2013. The school was located at 5 Marathon Stamford Road (). The school's website was partially archived. On 9 June 2003 in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, Mrs Jean Eva Anderson of Ballater Station of Stamford was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

for her "service to the community of Hughenden, particularly through the Country Womens Association". She had given 52 years of service to the Hughenden 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 ...

. Her award was presented to her by the then

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the state of Queensland. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, governor-general at the national level, the governor Governors of ...

Quentin Bryce Dame Quentin Alice Louise Bryce, (née Strachan; born 23 December 1942) is an Australian academic who served as the 25th Governor-General of Australia from 2008 to 2014. She is the List of elected and appointed female heads of state, first wom ...

. In 2012, the town of Stamford consisted of a roadhouse and has a permanent population of 3. Prior to 19 November 2021, the town of

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

was within the locality of Stamford. However, this arrangement caused confusion, so on 19 November 2021, a new locality of Marathon was created around the town, excising the land from the localities of

Dutton River Dutton River is a rural locality in the Flinders Shire, Queensland, Australia. In the , Dutton River had a population of 66 people. Geography The ''Flinders River'' flows through from south-east to south-west. ''Dutton River'' (the watercour ...

and Stamford.

Demographics

In the , the locality of Stamford and the surrounding area had a population of 75 people. In the , the locality of Stamford had a population of 43 people. In the , the locality of Stamford had a population of 77 people.

Economy

There are a number of homesteads in the locality, including: * Abbotsford () * Afton Downs () * Aireworth () * Cannonball () * Cannum Downs () * Conamore () * Coorabelle () * Cracrin () * Dalmuir () * Eldorado () * Elvira () * Glenelg () * Hazelwood () * Hilltop () * Hillview () * Illalong () * Kalboona () * Katandra () * Killarney () * Limbri () * Maidavale () * Malakoff Downs () * Maranie () * Marathon South () * Moonby Downs () * Morvada () * Mugwee Outstation () * Nottingham Downs () * Ophir Downs () * Roscaven () * Stamford Downs () * Stanley Downs () * Star Downs () * Tamworth () * Terranburby () * Thornhill () * Vellum Downs () * Vuna () * Waihaorunga () * Warianna Outstation () * Weanbah () * Wilfred Downs () * Woolfield () * Wyoming ()

Education

There are no schools in Stamford. The nearest primary schools are Hughenden State School in neighbouring

to the north-east and Cameron Downs State School in neighbouring

Tangorin Tangorin is a rural town and locality in the Flinders Shire, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Tangorin had a population of 47 people. Indigenous language Jirandali (also known as Yirandali, Warungu, Yirandhali) is an Australia ...

to the east. The nearest secondary school is Hughenden State School which provides schooling to Year 12. However, given the size of the locality, the distances involved may necessitate using alternatives such as

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

and boarding schools.

Events

The Stamford Races are a popular social event in the area involving horse racing.

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in Queensland Shire of Flinders (Queensland) Localities in Queensland