Duchess, Queensland facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Duchess Queensland
Ant Hills, Duchess, 2013
Duchess Location in Queensland
Population	53 (2021 census)
• Density	0.01460/km2 (0.0378/sq mi)
Established	1897
Postcode(s)	4825
Area	3,629.4 km2 (1,401.3 sq mi)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10:00)
Location	80.1 km (50 mi) SSE of Mount Isa 134 km (83 mi) SW of Cloncurry 918 km (570 mi) WSW of Townsville 1,841 km (1,144 mi) NW of Brisbane
LGA(s)	Shire of Cloncurry
State electorate(s)	Traeger
Federal Division(s)	Kennedy
Localities around Duchess: Mount Isa (locality) Cloncurry Kuridala Waverley Duchess Kuridala Dajarra Dajarra Selwyn

Duchess is a small town in Queensland, Australia. It's located in a rural area called the Shire of Cloncurry. In 2021, only 53 people lived in Duchess.

Where is Duchess?

Duchess is in the eastern part of its local area. Roads and railways connect it to other places. The Great Northern railway goes through the town, and Duchess has its own railway station. The area around Duchess has many large farms called pastoral stations, like Mayfield and Stradbroke. The Dajarra railway line also passes through the area.

There are also smaller areas, or neighbourhoods, within Duchess that grew around railway stations:

• Butru is a neighbourhood that formed around the Butru railway station.
• Juenburra is another neighbourhood that grew near the Juenburra railway station.
• Woobera is a neighbourhood that developed around the Woobera railway station.

In the northern part of Duchess, there's a special area called a watershed. This means that rain that falls here flows in different directions into three main drainage basins (areas where water collects). Some water flows north towards the Gulf of Carpentaria through rivers like the Leichhardt River. Other water flows northeast into the Cloncurry River and then into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Water that falls in the south of Duchess flows south into the Georgina River, which usually dries up before reaching Lake Eyre.

A Look at History

The land around Duchess has a long history. The Kalkatunga people are the traditional owners of this area. Their language, also known as Kalkadoon, is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken in North West Queensland.

The town of Duchess got its name from a mine. In 1897, a man named John Peter Kennedy found copper here. His father, Alexander Kennedy, named the mine "Duchess." This name came from the nickname of an Aboriginal woman who was close to a pastoralist (a large-scale farmer) known as "The Duke." She had sought safety at Alexander Kennedy's farm.

Team of camels at the Duchess Railway Station, around 1910. Camels were important for transport before cars and trucks were common.

Mining became very important in the area. To help transport the minerals, a railway line was built. The Duchess railway station opened on 21 October 1912, connecting Duchess to the Great Northern railway line.

Duchess grew quickly! In 1911, about 397 people lived there. By 1915, the population boomed to over 1000 people. At its busiest, Duchess had four pubs, a school, a post office, a train station, and four car repair shops. However, by the 1920s, the town's population started to drop.

The railway stations in the nearby neighbourhoods also have interesting names:

• The Butru railway station was named in 1915. "Butru" is an Aboriginal word for a waterhole where the railway crosses the Wills River.
• The Woobera railway station was named in 1917. "Woobera" is an Aboriginal word meaning shelter for sleeping.
• The Juenburra railway station was named in 1918. "Juenburra" is an Aboriginal word meaning bush fly.

Duchess also had its own school. Duchess Provisional School opened on 17 July 1911 and became Duchess State School in 1915. It closed in 1983. Another school, Trekelano State School, opened in 1918 but closed and reopened a few times before closing for good in 1941.

Population of Duchess

In 2016, the population of Duchess was 23 people. By 2021, the number of people living in Duchess had grown to 53.

Learning in Duchess

There are no schools directly in Duchess today. Students usually travel to nearby towns for school. The closest primary schools are in Mount Isa (Happy Valley State School) and Dajarra (Dajarra State School). For high school, students can go to Spinifex State College in Mount Isa.

However, because Duchess is quite spread out, some students might live too far away to travel to these schools every day. In these cases, students can learn through distance education (learning from home with teachers online or by mail) or attend boarding schools. Spinifex State College in Mount Isa has boarding facilities where students can live during the school term.

What to Do in Duchess

• Duchess Pub

Getting Around