Western Creek is a

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

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. In the , Western Creek had "no people or a very low population".

Geography

The creek of the same name rises in the east of the locality and flows west through the locality into neighbouring locality of Weir River where it becomes a tributary of the river of the same name. Most of Western Creek is within the Western Creek State Forest with only a few small areas of farmland and undeveloped land in the northern, eastern and southern parts of the locality.

History

The locality takes its name from the parish, which in turn was named after an early pastoral run Western Creek belonging to James Laidley during the 1840s. In 1849 it was taken over by Captain Frances Durrell Vignoles in 1849, who held it for about thirty years, but problems with grass seed and his sheep ruined him financially. It was taken over in 1883 by The Scottish Australian Investment Company Limited and then by Dalmally Limited in association with W.A. Russell. Following Russell's death, it was taken over by Albert Edward Specht of Wellcamp, the son of pioneering family 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 ...

. When Specht died in 1941, the property was taken over by his two brothers William Dougall Specht and Archibald John Specht. After Archibald's death in 1944, William continued to run the property until his death in 1952. The property was then purchased by Thomas Barkla son of J.E.E Barkla who had purchased adjacent Dunmore station in 1916. The property originally carried over 100,000 head of sheep in addition to cattle and horses, but resumptions of land over the years reduced its capacity.

Demographics

In the , Western Creek had a population of 15 people. In the , Western Creek had "no people or a very low population".

Education

There are no schools in Western Creek. The nearest government primary schools are Cecil Plains State School in

Cecil Plains Cecil Plains is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Cecil Plains had a population of 380 people. Geography Cecil Plains is in the Darling Downs ...

to the north-east, Millmerran State School in

Millmerran Millmerran , known as Domville between 1 June 1889 and 16 November 1894, is a town and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Millmerran had a population of 1,545 p ...

to the east, and Kindon State School in Kindon to the south-west. The nearest government secondary school is Millmerran State School (to Year 10). There are no schools nearby offering secondary schooling to Year 12; the options are

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 ...

or boarding school.

References

{{Toowoomba Region Toowoomba Region Localities in Queensland