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Hungerford, Queensland

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Hungerford is an outback town in the Shire of Bulloo and a locality in the Shire of Bulloo and Shire of Paroo, South West Queensland, Australia.[2][3][4] The locality is on the Queensland border with New South Wales (which is also the Dingo fence).[5]

Hungerford
Queensland
The view around the Royal Mail Hotel
Hungerford is located in Queensland
Hungerford
Hungerford
Coordinates28°59′46″S 144°24′29″E / 28.9961°S 144.4080°E / -28.9961; 144.4080 (Hungerford (town centre))
Population19 (2021 census)[1]
 • Density0.00284/km2 (0.00736/sq mi)
Postcode(s)4493
Elevation130 m (427 ft)
Area6,690.5 km2 (2,583.2 sq mi)
Time zoneAEST (UTC+10:00)
Location
LGA(s)
RegionSouth West Queensland
CountyNumalla County
State electorate(s)Warrego
Federal division(s)Maranoa
Localities around Hungerford:
Thargomindah Thargomindah Eulo
Bulloo Downs Hungerford Cuttaburra
Wanaaring (NSW) Hungerford (NSW) Yantabulla (NSW)

In the 2021 census, the locality of Hungerford had a population of 19 people.[1] The locality of Hungerford on the New South Wales side of the border had a population of 15.[6]

Hungerford will be the site of a total solar eclipse on 22 July 2028.[7]

Geography

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The locality is split between the Shire of Bulloo (western part) and the Shire of Paroo (eastern part).[8][9] The town is located in the Shire of Bulloo immediately north of the border between Queensland and New South Wales.[5]

Surrounding the town is the Currawinya National Park.

Hungerford Aerodrome is operated by the Bulloo Shire Council. It is to the east on the town on the Hungerford Airstrip Road (28°59′47″S 144°27′09″E / 28.9965°S 144.4525°E / -28.9965; 144.4525 (Hungerford Aerodrome)). There is one sealed runway 1,100-metre (3,600 ft) long. It has no lighting but portable lights and flairs can be used in emergencies.[10]

History

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Hungerford was in Badjiri territory.[11]

The town is named after Thomas Hungerford who once camped at the site.[12] The town developed from a border customs post on a stock route alongside the Paroo River. In 1874, the first hotel opened and the following year the town was gazetted.[12] For a number of years, before a proper survey was conducted the town was thought to be located in New South Wales.[12]

Hungerford Post Office opened on 1 October 1880, was replaced by a New South Wales office in 1881, reopened in 1886 and closed by 1907, replaced the New South Wales office in 1941 and closed by 1985.[13]

In 1892–3, Henry Lawson visited the town and wrote a short story named after it. In the story he wrote:

The town is right on the Queensland border, and an inter-provincial rabbit-proof fence -- with rabbits on both sides of it -- runs across the main street. ...
Hungerford consists of two houses and a humpy in New South Wales, and five houses in Queensland. Characteristically enough, both the pubs are in Queensland. We got a glass of sour yeast at one and paid six pence for it -- we had asked for English ale.[14]

A Cobb & Co coach service to the town was stopped in 1904.[12]

Hungerford Provisional School opened in 1892, becoming Hungerford State School in 1909. It closed in 1918, due to low attendance. It reopened in 1928, but low attendances caused it to close again in 1930. The school was on a 5-acre (2.0 ha) site bounded by Arcturus Street, Achernar Street, Aldebran Street and Canopus Street (28°59′36″S 144°24′39″E / 28.9934°S 144.4107°E / -28.9934; 144.4107 (Hungerford State School (former))).[15] The school was reopened one final time in the Bulloo Shire Hall between 30 January and 11 December 1981.[16]

 
Charleville Police keeping the border closed at Hungerford during the Spanish flu pandemic, 1919

In 1919 during the Spanish flu pandemic, Queensland Police were dispatched from Charleville to Hungerford to close the border at Hungerford, to prevent people crossing into Queensland from New South Wales to reduce the spread of the flu.[17] A medical screening process was used to determine if Queensland residents could safely return to the state.[18]

 
Charleville Police keeping the border closed at Hungerford during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020

During 2020 and 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Queensland Police again closed the border at Achenar Street at Hungerford to prevent movement of people between the two states.[17][19][20]

Demographics

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In the 2016 census, Hungerford had a population of 23 people.[21] The locality of Hungerford on the New South Wales side of the border had a population of 15.[6]

In the 2021 census, the locality of Hungerford had a population of 19 people.[1]

Heritage listings

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Hungerford has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Economy

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There are a number of homesteads in the locality:[23]

Attractions

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Walters Range Lookout is off the Old Thargominda Hungerford Road (28°37′33″S 144°20′09″E / 28.6257°S 144.3359°E / -28.6257; 144.3359 (Walters Range Lookout)).[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Hungerford (SAL)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 February 2023.  
  2. ^ "Hungerford – town in Shire of Bulloo (entry 16466)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  3. ^ "Hungerford – locality in Shire of Bulloo (entry 42946)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Hungerford – locality in Shire of Paroo (entry 42656)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Queensland Globe". State of Queensland. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Hungerford (NSW)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 30 July 2017.  
  7. ^ "Total Solar Eclipse of 2028 Jul 22". NASA. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Hungerford – locality in the Shire of Bulloo (entry 50024)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  9. ^ "Hungerford – locality in the Shire of Paroo (entry 50025)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  10. ^ "Aerodrome". Bulloo Shire Council. Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  11. ^ Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). "Badjiri (QLD)". Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names - p. 164. Australian National University Press. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland) (2002). Heritage Trails of the Queensland Outback. State of Queensland. p. 114. ISBN 0-7345-1040-3.
  13. ^ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Archived from the original on 15 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  14. ^ Peter Pierce, ed. (1987). The Oxford Literary Guide to Australia. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. p. 47.
  15. ^ "Town map of Hungerford". Queensland Government. 1963. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  16. ^ Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN 978-1-921171-26-0
  17. ^ a b Boodnikoff, Sergeant Caroline (31 May 2020). "History repeats as police patrol the border at Hungerford". South West. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  18. ^ "FROM the VAULT - Queensland Border Policing During 1919 Influenza Outbreak". Queensland Police Museum. 9 June 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Road Status Update for South West". Department of Transport and Main Roads. 19 December 2021. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. ^ "Queensland border restrictions in South West". South West. Queensland Police. 3 April 2020. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  21. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Hungerford (SSC)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 October 2018.  
  22. ^ "Royal Mail Hotel (entry 601390)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  23. ^ "Homesteads - Queensland". Queensland Open Data. Queensland Government. 18 November 2020. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  24. ^ "Tourist points - Queensland". Queensland Open Data. Queensland Government. 18 November 2020. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
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