Burdekin Shire
Located in the Dry Tropics region between Townsville and Bowen in Yuru country, the Shire of Burdekin covers an area of 5,044 square kilometres, much of which is within the Burdekin River's delta and associated wetlands. The shire has existed as a local government entity since 16 January 1888, when the Ayr Division was excised from Subdivision 3 of the Thuringowa Division under the 1887 Divisional Boards Act. Subsequent legislative changes saw the Ayr Division become the Shire of Ayr in 1903, which was subsequently renamed the Shire of Burdekin.
Ludwig Leichhardt was travelling well inland in 1849 when he encountered and named the river after Thomas Burdekin, one of his expedition's sponsors. Leichhardt charted the river west of the range, and the river's outlet remained a mystery until an 1860 Queensland Government expedition established that the river mouth discovered and named by John Wickham in 1839 was, in fact, the Burdekin.
The first wave of Northern settlers took up pastoral runs on the lower Burdekin in the early 1860s, with a shortlived settlement at Wickham on Rita Island as the district's port. After floodwaters swept Wickham away and pastoral runs at Jarvisfield and Inkerman were opened to selectors in the early 1880s, sugar growers occupied the area, establishing townships at Brandon and Ayr in 1882 and opening numerous sugar mills. Most failed, but Kalamia (near Ayr and Pioneer just north of Brandon have operated continuously since 1884.
While the district's rainfall would be inadequate for sugar growing under normal conditions, the Burdekin aquifers have ensured an adequate water supply since John Drysdale used Abyssinian spears and wind pumps to extract water from the shallow water table. Government purchases of land on the Inkerman Station (1914) and the Haughton River (1921) established the townships of Home Hill and Giru, and the Inkerman and Invicta sugar mills increased the district's crushing capacity.
In the meantime, a low level bridge across the Burdekin extended the railway line connecting Ayr to the port of Townsville to Home Hill and points beyond. A similar road bridge followed in 1930. Both were superseded by the dual-traffic high-level Silver Link bridge in 1957. Post-World War II soldier settlement schemes saw new settlements upstream from Ayr at Clare, Dalbeg, and Millaroo. Initially, the new farms focused on tobacco, until disease, storm damage, and leaf quality issues prompted growers in the area to diversify into sugar, rice, maize and vegetables.
The Shire of Burdekin includes the following localities:
Airdmillan
Airville
Alva
Ayr
Barratta
Brandon
Carstairs
Clare
Colevale
Cromarty
Dalbeg
Eight Mile Creek
Fredericksfield
Giru
Groper Creek
Home Hill
Horseshoe Lagoon
Inkerman
Jarvisfield
Jerona
Kalamia
Kirknie
Maidavale
Majors Creek
McDesme
Millaroo
Mona Park
Mount Kelly
Mount Surround
Mulgrave
Osborne
Parkside
Rangemore
Rita Island
Shirbourne
Swans Lagoon
Upper Haughton
Wangaratta
Wunjunga
Links to add:
Ayr Division
Thuringowa Division
1887 Divisional Boards Act.
Shire of Ayr
Ludwig Leichhardt
Thomas Burdekin
1860 Queensland Government expedition
John Wickham
Wickham
Kalamia mill
Pioneer mill
Burdekin aquifers
John Drysdale
Abyssinian spears
Haughton River
Giru
Inkerman mill
Invicta mill
Silver Link bridge
