Jondaryan Woolshed facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Jondaryan Woolshed |
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Woolshed building, 2014
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| Location | Evanslea Road, Jondaryan, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1840s - 1860s (mid-19th century) |
| Built | 1859 - 1861 |
| Official name: Jondaryan Woolshed, Jondaryan Station | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 21 October 1992 |
| Reference no. | 600633 |
| Significant period | 1850s-1880s (historical) 1850s-1860s (fabric) |
| Significant components | shearing shed/woolshed, residential accommodation - shearers' quarters, yards - livestock |
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The Jondaryan Woolshed is a very old and important building in Queensland, Australia. It's a special kind of shed where sheep were shorn for their wool. Built between 1859 and 1860, it replaced an even older shed. This woolshed was once part of Jondaryan Station, which was one of the biggest farms in Queensland.
The woolshed became famous for a big disagreement between workers and owners in the late 1880s and early 1890s. This conflict helped lead to the important 1891 Australian shearers' strike.
In 1946, the company that owned Jondaryan Station closed down. The land was divided and sold, and the woolshed got a new owner. In 1972, the owner gave the woolshed and some land to the people of Jondaryan. A group called the Jondaryan Woolshed Historical Museum and Park Association was started in 1976. Since then, the woolshed has become a popular place for tourists to visit. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on October 21, 1992, which means it's a protected historical site.
The original Jondaryan Homestead (the main house of the station) is also still around, even though the first house burned down in 1937. It's listed as a heritage site too.
Contents
History of Jondaryan Woolshed
Early Settlement and Station Growth
The Darling Downs area was first explored by Allan Cunningham in 1827. People wanted more land for farming, and Cunningham said this area was good for raising sheep. However, European settlement was delayed because of a prison colony nearby. In the 1830s, farmers from New South Wales moved north looking for new land. The first sheep farm on the Downs was set up in 1840.
Henry Dennis picked land for a farm in 1840, but he didn't officially register it. So, in 1842, Charles Coxen took over the land. Coxen sent his nephew, Henry, to manage the property. Henry named the place "Jondaryan," which is believed to be an Aboriginal name for a large waterhole. Henry Coxen built the first simple house in 1844. Later that year, he built a new house on the spot where the current homestead is, to avoid lightning strikes. He also built other buildings, including a small shearing shed.
In 1845, the Coxens left the property, and for some years, investors from the south owned it. The farm started with about 13,000 acres, but by 1855, it had grown to 128,000 acres. In 1856, Robert and Edwin Tooth bought Jondaryan for £30,000. The Tooth brothers were also involved in starting famous companies like Tooth and Co. brewery and the Bank of New South Wales.
Building the New Woolshed
In 1858, a partnership called Kent and Weinholt took over Jondaryan. James C White managed the station for them. This was a time when wool prices were high, and the sheep farming business was doing very well. Kent and Weinholt decided to improve and expand the buildings at Jondaryan.
Between 1859 and 1861, workers spent many weeks cutting timber to build new structures. A lot of building work was done, including a small church called St Anne's Anglican Church, Jondaryan (around 1859), living quarters for the shearers (1860), a new station store (1862), a butcher's shop, and a stable (1862).
J. C. White, who had experience designing buildings, drew up the plans for the new woolshed. A carpenter named T. Jones started building it in 1859. The roof was first planned to be made of wooden shingles, but in 1860, they decided to use imported corrugated iron instead.
The building was shaped like a "T." It had a short middle section for packing and loading wool. Two long wings stretched out from this section. Sheep would enter the building from each end. They would move through pens to a shearing area with 52 stands, where shearers would remove their wool. The first shearing happened in 1861. After that, some changes were made to improve the design. This included digging under the woolshed and paving the yards with cobblestones.
In 1863, Kent and Weinholt bought the property for £108,000. They also bought other nearby farms, using Jondaryan as the main station. Jondaryan became like a small village, with many workers and their families living there. They had homes, a store, a blacksmith, and other important services.
Jondaryan and the Railway
In 1867, the Western railway line, Queensland passed through Jondaryan land. It reached Dalby in 1868. A small town grew up around the railway station at Jondaryan, taking the same name. By the 1870s, about 100 people lived there. The importance of Jondaryan station was clear, as its managers often became leaders of the local government.
Sheep from other farms were also sent to be shorn at the Jondaryan woolshed. In 1873, 24,000 sheep from other properties were shorn there. In 1891, machine shearing was introduced at Jondaryan, and the number of shearing stands was reduced to 36.
The Shearers' Strike
Jondaryan Station continued to grow, reaching a huge size of 300,000 acres. It was once the largest privately owned farm in Queensland. The station played a big part in the fight for better pay and working conditions for farm workers. This struggle led to the famous 1891 Australian shearers' strike.
The owners and managers of large stations like Jondaryan had a lot of power over their workers. In 1887, the Queensland Shearers Union was formed. Within a year, it had 1300 members. This showed that workers felt they needed to join together to get fair pay and conditions.
Jondaryan became an early test for the union. In 1888, the station managers used workers who were not part of the union. Because of this, the union shearers refused to work there the next season. In 1889, the farm owners joined together to try and lower pay rates. The manager of Jondaryan, Charles Williams, was a founding member of the United Graziers Association.
Many workers then joined the unions. The Shearers' Union grew to over 3000 members, and the Labourer's Union had 2,250 members. At Jondaryan, no union members were hired for the 1889 season. In response, the union declared a "ban" on the shed in 1890. Non-union workers sheared the sheep, but the wool was stopped at every step of its journey. Members of other unions refused to handle it. Bales of Jondaryan wool sat on the docks until a deal was made. This was the first time different unions worked together, which later led to the Barcaldine strike of 1891 and the start of the Labor political party.
Changes and Preservation
In 1894, the Kent and Weinholt partnership ended, and a new company called Jondaryan Estates Company of Australia was formed. From the 1890s, much of the leased land was taken back by the government for farming. Wheat and lucerne were grown on Jondaryan for its own use. In 1906, new land rules forced the sale of parts of the freehold land. Even so, by the early 1920s, Jondaryan was still one of the biggest farms on the Darling Downs.
In 1937, the main homestead building burned down and was rebuilt. But in the 1940s, more land sales continued to shrink the property. The company decided to sell land directly, giving first choice to former employees and experienced farmers. On January 1, 1946, Jondaryan stopped being a working station, and the company closed down. The homestead and 2000 acres were kept. At this time, the land with the woolshed was sold. It's thought that part of the western wing of the woolshed was removed to be used as a farm machinery shed.
In 1972, after a successful celebration at the woolshed, the owner offered the woolshed and 12 acres of land to the people of Jondaryan. As a result, the Jondaryan Woolshed Historical Museum and Park Association was officially started in October 1976. Since then, the woolshed has been developed into a tourist attraction. A lot of repair and rebuilding work has been done on the woolshed, including rebuilding the western wing. Since 1977, an annual Australian Heritage Festival has been held at the woolshed. The remaining shearers' quarters were turned into backpacker accommodation in 1978.
Many buildings from the surrounding area have been moved to the site. Some were originally from Jondaryan or its smaller farms, like an 1850s blacksmith's shop (moved in 1977) and a shepherd's hut (moved in 1978). Other buildings came from different places, such as the Woodleigh Cheese factory (moved in 1994) and the Jondaryan Railway Station (moved in 1998).
New buildings have also been constructed, including a dairy, a sawmill, and various display areas. There is a large collection of old farm machinery and tractors on the site. These newer and moved buildings are not part of the original Queensland Heritage Register listing for the woolshed.
What the Woolshed Looks Like
The Jondaryan Woolshed is located about 3 kilometers south of the town of Jondaryan. It sits on a flat area near Oakey Creek. Today, it's the main part of the Jondaryan Woolshed Historical Museum and Park. Besides the woolshed and the shearers' quarters (which are now separated from the old Jondaryan Homestead by a road), the park has many other old buildings moved from the area.
The woolshed is a very large building shaped like a "T." The main part runs from east to west, with a shorter section sticking out to the north. It's made of timber with a roof covered in corrugated iron. It's surrounded by a system of wooden yards where sheep were held.
Inside the main part of the building are the pens for sheep, the shearing board, and areas for sorting wool. It has a central space with side walkways, and timber frames support the roof. The walls are made of timber slabs, some original and some newer. The floors in the pens are made of wooden boards with spaces between them, so sheep droppings could fall through. The wool sorting area has a large table for rolling out the wool fleeces, and this area has been made bigger over time.
The central section to the north has a small roof extension that holds the pulleys for the wool-bale loading hoist. This area was used for storing wool after it was sorted and pressed.
The shearers' quarters is a rectangular timber building behind the woolshed. It has a gabled roof made of corrugated iron and walls covered in vertical corrugated iron sheets. There's a verandah along one side with doors opening onto it. At the back, there are corrugated iron shutters that open upwards. Today, this building is used for accommodation.
Why Jondaryan Woolshed is Important
The Jondaryan Woolshed was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on October 21, 1992, because it meets several important criteria:
- Shows Queensland's History: Jondaryan Station was one of the first and largest farms on the Darling Downs. It helped towns grow by providing jobs and facilities for many people. The woolshed, built in 1859–60, shows how much the wool industry grew in the mid-1800s. Its design and materials show how wool was produced in the 19th century. Changes to the woolshed, like extending the wool table, also show how the industry changed. Jondaryan played a key role in the early conflicts between farm owners and workers, which led to the 1891 Shearers' Strike and the start of the Labor political party.
- Rare and Unique: The Jondaryan Woolshed is rare because it's a very large and old woolshed in Queensland. It's believed to be one of the oldest surviving woolsheds in the state.
- Helps Us Learn: The area around the woolshed is important because it could be an archaeological site. Digging there might help us learn more about how the woolshed was used and how the early farming industry worked in Queensland.
- Good Example of its Type: The Jondaryan Woolshed still looks much like it did originally. It's a great example of how these types of buildings were designed, built, and what materials were used in the mid-19th century.
- Looks Great: Its large size and location on a flat plain make it a striking building in the landscape. Its simple design and materials, typical of Australian country buildings, are considered beautiful by many people.
- Special Community Connection: The local community cares deeply about the woolshed. Their efforts to preserve it as the main part of a museum showing the area's history prove its importance to them.
