Kilbirnie Homestead facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kilbirnie Homestead |
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Kilbirnie Homestead, 2009
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| Location | Argoon-Kilburnie Road, Jambin, Shire of Banana, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1870s - 1890s (late 19th century) |
| Built | 1884 |
| Official name: Kilbirnie Homestead | |
| Type | state heritage (landscape, built) |
| Designated | 21 October 1992 |
| Reference no. | 600016 |
| Significant period | 1880s-1900s (historical) 1884-1900s (fabric) |
| Significant components | headstone, kitchen/kitchen house, fencing, decorative finishes, residential accommodation - main house, burial/grave, shed/s, grave surrounds/railings |
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Kilbirnie Homestead is a historic farm property located on Argoon-Kilburnie Road in Jambin, Shire of Banana, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1884. This special place shows how early settlers lived and worked in Queensland. Today, it is protected as a heritage site, meaning it's an important part of Queensland's history.
Contents
History of Kilbirnie Homestead
The buildings at Kilbirnie Homestead are old timber structures. They were built by the Campbell family in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Early Exploration and Settlement
In 1844, an explorer named Ludwig Leichhardt traveled through the Callide and Dawson Valleys. Later, in the 1850s, European farmers began to settle in this area. Back then, Queensland was still part of New South Wales. In 1869, the government allowed land to be chosen from two large farm areas called Winterbourne and Thalberg. By 1877, these areas were leased by Thomas Cadell.
The area grew, and the town of Banana was started in the 1860s. In 1880, the local government, called the Banana Divisional Board, was formed.
The Campbell Family Arrives
On May 12, 1883, a man named John Campbell applied to lease 12 square miles of land from the Thalberg area. John Campbell had arrived in Brisbane in 1873 when he was 23 years old. Soon after, he married his fiancee, Elizabeth Brydges, who had traveled with him from Ireland.
John first worked on a sugar farm and then as a shepherd. He saved money by raising his own sheep. This money helped the Campbells buy their own property.
Building Kilbirnie
In 1884, John Campbell was granted a 10-year lease for his chosen land. He named it Kilburnie. With help from a carpenter named Bryce Kilpatrick, John began building a six-room house, a stockyard, and fences. In 1885, the house was finished, and he moved his wife and children there.
A year later, about half of the Kilbirnie land was taken back by the government. John Campbell argued that this land had no water and was not good for farming. He was allowed to continue using it for grazing. In 1889, he was given a license to use the whole area.
Growing the Farm
John Campbell raised cattle and Clydesdale horses at Kilbirnie. By 1892, he had built stables and other farm buildings. He also had a horse paddock and a field for growing crops. He had put up about 4 miles of fences.
The first house was built directly on the ground. This caused a lot of damage from white ants. So, in 1901, the house was moved and rebuilt. The back of the house was probably covered with weatherboards at this time. In 1902, John got permission to build a hayshed and another stockyard, and to make a dam. In 1903, he was allowed to build a new 12-room house. The older house was then used as a kitchen building.
The Coach Stop
Kilbirnie was also a stop for a mail coach. Before the town of Biloela was founded in 1924, Banana was the main town nearby. From 1897, mail was delivered by G H (Bob) Fry. By the early 1900s, many people needed the service. So, Bob Fry started using a three-seater wagon, known as Fry's mail coach. This coach traveled between Gladstone and Banana. The trip took two days, and the coach would stop at Kilbirnie for morning tea and to change horses. This service continued until 1928.
In 1921, a mistake was found in the official description of the Kilbirnie land. This was fixed to match the land the Campbells were actually using. In 1924, a large part of the property (about 9267 acres) was taken back by the government for a new settlement plan. At that time, the property had grown to 48 square miles.
Elizabeth Campbell passed away in 1913. She had eight children. John Campbell lived to be 98 years old and died in 1943. The house stayed in the family. For about 20 years from the 1970s, no one lived in the house, but an overseer looked after the property. Later, new family members, who were great-grandchildren of John and Elizabeth Campbell, moved into the house.
What Kilbirnie Homestead Looks Like
Kilbirnie Homestead is near the Boundary Hill Mine Road. It has many timber buildings, including a main house, a separate kitchen building, and several sheds. There are also two graves on the property.
The Main House
The main house is a timber building raised high on timber stumps. Some rooms have been built underneath it. It has a hipped roof covered with corrugated iron. There's a verandah (a covered porch) all around the top floor. This verandah has its own roof supported by timber posts.
Some L-shaped bedrooms are built into the corners of the verandah. This leaves an open section in the middle of each side. The handrail on these verandah sections is made of timber, with steel mesh below it. The top floor of the house has a living room, a main bedroom, and two smaller bedrooms in the middle. You can still see the original decorative paint designs inside. These include stencils of iris flowers on the upper walls of the living room and a stenciled dado (a decorative strip) in the northern bedroom.
On the ground floor, the middle part between the stumps is enclosed with vertical corrugated iron sheets. This creates four rooms, including a dining room and storerooms. The area around this core is concreted and acts as a verandah. There's a separate bathroom next to the house at the northwest corner. It's made of ripple iron with a curved corrugated iron roof.
The Kitchen Building
Behind the main house, there's a single-story building connected by a covered walkway. This building is made of timber slabs and weatherboards and sits on low timber stumps. It has a gabled roof covered in corrugated iron. A verandah runs along the front between two rooms that stick out. The back of the building and part of the southern end are covered in weatherboard.
This building is used as a separate kitchen, but it also has other rooms. The kitchen has been made bigger at the northern end and into the verandah room on the northeast corner. Inside, walls made of corrugated iron divide the rest of the building into a store and a large nursery room. This nursery room has colorful stencils of "Japanese" figures and birds as a decorative frieze (a band of decoration).
Farm Sheds
The living buildings are separated from the working buildings by a timber picket fence. There are three sheds around a yard area behind the kitchen building.
- The shed on the southern side of the yard has a pole frame and a hipped roof covered in corrugated iron. Two of its walls are made of stacked logs, and two sides are open.
- The shed to the west of the yard is a rectangular building with a gabled roof and shallow side sections. The southern side is open, with the roof supported by timber posts. The roof and the western wall are covered in corrugated iron. It has a pole frame and walls made of different materials, including timber and corrugated iron.
- The building to the north of the yard has a gabled roof covered with corrugated iron and a skillion roof (a single-sloping roof) extension on its northern side. The main part of the building is made of dropped timber slabs, with vertical slabs for the extension. The wall on the southern side has gates into the yard. This building might have been used to house animals.
Graves
To the north of the buildings are the graves of Elizabeth Campbell, who died in 1913, and John Campbell, who died in 1943. Their graves have matching headstones and are surrounded by a decorative iron railing. A modern steel pipe fence also protects them.
Why Kilbirnie Homestead is Important
Kilbirnie Homestead was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on October 21, 1992. This means it is recognized as a very important historical site for several reasons:
Showing Queensland's History
Kilbirnie Homestead helps us understand how Queensland was settled. It shows how large farm properties were developed before towns and farms for growing crops became common. As an early homestead in the Leichhardt Pastoral District, it is connected to the history of farming in Queensland.
A Great Example of a Homestead
The Kilbirnie homestead complex shows how a farm property grew over time. It started with simple slab buildings in the 1880s and became a comfortable house made of sawn timber. It is a good example of a homestead group, with a main house, a separate kitchen, other farm buildings, graves, and fences. It also shows the building methods used back then.
Connected to Important People
Kilbirnie Homestead has a special connection to the life and work of four generations of the Campbell family. As early farmers, they played a part in developing this area of Queensland.
