Hungerford, Queensland
Encyclopedia
Hungerford is a locality in outback
Queensland
, Australia
, immediately north of the border with New South Wales
and the Dingo fence
. At the 2006 census
, Hungerford and the surrounding area had a population of 59. Surrounding the town is the Currawinya National Park
.
who once camped at the site. The town developed from a border customs post on a stock route
alongside the Paroo River
. In 1874, the first hotel in the opened and the following year the town was gazetted. For a number of years, before a proper survey was conducted the town was thought to be located in New South Wales.
In 1892-3, Henry Lawson
visited the town and wrote a short story named after it. In the story he wrote:
A Cobb & Co coach service to the town was stopped in 1904.
Outback
The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush".-Overview:The outback is home to a...
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, immediately north of the border with New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and the Dingo fence
Dingo Fence
The Dingo Fence or Dog Fence is a pest-exclusion fence that was built in Australia during the 1880s and finished in 1885, to keep dingoes out of the relatively fertile south-east part of the continent and protect the sheep flocks of southern Queensland. It is one of the longest structures in the...
. At the 2006 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
, Hungerford and the surrounding area had a population of 59. Surrounding the town is the Currawinya National Park
Currawinya National Park
Currawinya is a national park near Hungerford in south west Queensland, Australia, 828 km west of Brisbane. Part of the mulga lands bioregion this is an area of dry sandy plain with small trees and shrubs...
.
History
The town is named after Thomas HungerfordThomas Hungerford
Sir Thomas Hungerford was the first person to be recorded in the rolls of the Parliament of England as holding the office of Speaker of the House of Commons of England.-Biography:...
who once camped at the site. The town developed from a border customs post on a stock route
Stock route
In Australia, the Travelling Stock Route is an authorised thoroughfare for the walking of domestic livestock such as sheep or cattle from one location to another...
alongside the Paroo River
Paroo River
The Paroo River is a river in Eastern Australia and is often considered to be major tributary of the Darling River in eastern Australia, although its flow generally dissipates before it reaches the Darling...
. In 1874, the first hotel in the opened and the following year the town was gazetted. For a number of years, before a proper survey was conducted the town was thought to be located in New South Wales.
In 1892-3, Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson was an Australian writer and poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period and is often called Australia's "greatest writer"...
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 fenceRabbit-proof fenceThe State Barrier Fence of Western Australia, formerly known as the No. 1 Rabbit-proof Fence, the State Vermin Fence and the Emu Fence, is a pest-exclusion fence constructed between 1901 and 1907 to keep rabbits and other agricultural pests, from the east, out of Western Australian pastoral...
-- 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 pubsAustralian pubsA public house in Australia is an establishment performing many functions, often serving alcoholic beverages, meals, and providing basic accommodation.-Origin:...
are in Queensland. We got a glass of sour yeast at one and paid six pence for it -- we had asked for English ale.
A Cobb & Co coach service to the town was stopped in 1904.