Luckily for visitors, Theodore Centennial Celebrations are scheduled over 4 years, beginning in 2021 through to 2024! The riverside town will celebrate with community events, regular snippets of history as told by locals, sporting events and a number of re-enactments, including a re-enactment of the Vice Regal Tour of 1922, when the Governor came to the district.
cENTENNIAL EVENTS
2022 Centennial Celebration Event:
OUR TOWN, OUR HISTORY INTRODUCTION
OUR TOWN, OUR HISTORY
1883 Map showing the 8 runs which made up Walloon Station: Woolthorpe; Hope; Castle Creek; Thalaba East; The Dorest; Thalaba; Belmont and North Branch.
By 1878, all of the Walloon runs were under the control of the Commercial Banking Company. To date, we have not been able to establish why Woolthorpe township is beyond the boundaries of Woolthorpe station.
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OUR TOWN, OUR HISTORY
Map showing Woolthorpe township, situated where the road to Rockhampton and Taroom crossed the Dawson River. Today the crossing is known as Iron Gate crossing. and the remnants of the road known as the Flagstaff Road. The Woolthorpe Hotel, established in 1857, attracted some colourful characters. An interesting collection of artefacts collected from the site, can be seen at Theodore’s Dawson Folk Museum, where you can read more about this fascinating township.
OUR TOWN, OUR HISTORY
In 1874, Mr A.P. Barton purchased the 8 runs that comprised Walloon. However, within 10 years, the Crown Lands Act of 1884, resulted in many of the runs, including those south of Castle Creek being classified as Grazing Farms and able to be resumed by the Govt. when required. The Woolthorpe run was divided into Portions 5v and 6v Parish of Walloon, and resumed in 1892. Both were to be made available for lease as Grazing Farms, namely GF8 and GF102 respectively…. an integral part of our town’s history. (Document from Queensland State Archives Item ID: 2388696)
OUR TOWN, OUR HISTORY
Having received his Certificate of Fulfilment, W.G. Woolrych became the official leasee of 5v GF 8 just prior to Christmas 1895. Within 2 months, he had lodged an application to ringbark 1000 acres of timber on the property. However, permission was not granted until 1899. In February 1901 Mr Woolrych applied to ringbark a further 1000 acres, and permission was granted within a month. The accompanying map gives some perspective to the area within Portion 5v – Woolrych’s GF8.
OUR TOWN, OUR HISTORY
It was William Gerald Woolrych, a young Englishman who eventually leased Portion 5v (Grazing Farm No 8). Under the “Crown Lands Act of 1884”, in order to secure the lease, Woolrych had to fulfil certain conditions, which included building a residence, and fencing the boundary of the property. In August 1895, Woolrych wrote to the Lands Commissioner applying for a Certificate of Fulfilment, thereby entitling him to the Lease. Note that the letter is written from “Bauhinia Plains”, the name he had chosen to give to this property. (Document from Queensland State Archives Item ID: 2388696)
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