The origin of the name Richmond comes from when Arthur Bundock and Walter Hayes took up land in the district which they named the Richmond Downs Pastoral Run. It was named after the Richmond River in northern New South Wales which was where Bundock had been born.[4]
Geography
The town is 498 kilometres (309 mi) west of Townsville and 406 kilometres (252 mi) east of Mount Isa. The Flinders Highway traverses the locality from east to west passing through the town which is located in about the centre of the locality. The Great Northern railway runs immediately south and parallel to the highway through the east of the locality, crossing over in the town which is served by the Richmond railway station, and then the railway runs immediately north and parallel to the highway through the west of the locality. There is a second railway station, the Moselle railway on the far eastern edge of the locality, named after the pastoral run, which in turn was named in about the 1870s by pastoralist J.B. Brodie after the Moselle River in eastern France.[5][6]
The Flinders River flows through the locality from east to west, passing to the west of the town, where the river has its confluence with its tributary Dutton River.[5]
The explorer William Landsborough camped at the site that would become the town of Richmond on 13 March 1862.[10] Explorer and former Commandant of the Native Police, Frederick Walker, had previously passed through the area in October 1861, naming and camping on the Dutton River. Both the Landsborough and Walker parties were attempting to locate the Burke and Wills expedition.[11]
The leasehold of the Richmond Downs Pastoral Run was granted in 1863 to Wellington Cochrane Bundock and Enoch Price Walter Hays who came from the Richmond River in New South Wales.[12][13][14][15] In 1866 the Crown Lands Office transferred the leasehold on the Pastoral Runs of Wyanganie, Landsborough Downs and Richmond Downs in the Burke district from W C Bundock and F S Hays to Robert Napier, manager of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney.[16][17] Then in 1867 the interest of the bank in these three properties was transferred back to W C Bundock and Francis S Hays.[18]
By 1867, Richmond Downs had a postal service.[19][20] However at some stage the service drew the attention of the Postmaster General for inefficiency.[21] In the 1870s services became intermittent.[19][22][23][24] In May 1899, the post office name was changed from Richmond Downs to Richmond, and a new post office built.[2][25]
In 1880, gold was found at Woolgar to the north and Richmond became an important stagecoach stop en route to Woolgar.[26]
The town was surveyed on 9 December 1882 by surveyor Joseph Hargreaves with town lots sold from April 1883.[27]
Richmond Provisional School opened on 22 May 1889 with 23 pupils, becoming Richmond State School on 27 February 1902 when it had 113 pupils.[28][29]
Official opening of the railway line to Richmond, 1904
The Great Northern railway reached the town in June 1904. At the official celebration on 2 June 1904, it was explained that the line was the first to be built by cheaper methods by replacing the track ballast with packed earth, but the cost saving was at the expense of train speed, which was expected to be 15 miles per hour. It was hoped that cheaper methods would allow more pastoral areas to be serviced by rail with an immediate desire to connect through to Cloncurry.[30]
Traditionally, the two biggest industries in Richmond are sheep- and cattle-farming, however tourism is an increasingly important aspect of the local economy. In addition to being a major transit stop on the Flinders Highway, recent paleontological discoveries have unearthed the fossils of prehistoric marine creatures, some of which are on display in Richmond.
Attractions
Kronosaurus Korner, Richmond, Queensland. Dinosaur Museum. 2009Cambridge Downs Heritage Display Centre – a replica of the original Cambridge Downs Homestead built in the late 1860s.[26]
Richmond State School is a government primary and secondary (Prep–10) school for boys and girls at 88 Crawford Street (20°44′03″S143°08′35″E / 20.7341°S 143.1430°E / -20.7341; 143.1430 (Richmond State School)).[40][41] In 2016, the school had an enrolment of 78 students with 10 teachers and 12 non-teaching staff (7 full-time equivalent).[42] In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 84 students with 12 teachers and 13 non-teaching staff (8 full-time equivalent).[43]
There is no school in Richmond providing education to Year 12; the nearest such school is Hughenden State School in Hughenden to the east. However, given the distances involved, other options are distance education and boarding schools.[5]
^"STATION SALES". The Northern Miner. Queensland, Australia. 29 May 1911. p. 7. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
^ ab"UPPER FLINDERS". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XXIV, no. 3, 853. Queensland, Australia. 9 February 1870. p. 3. Retrieved 9 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"THE CONTRIBUTOR". Leader. Vol. XLII, no. 1250. Victoria, Australia. 13 December 1879. p. 33. Retrieved 9 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Melbourne". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XXXIII, no. 3, 765. Queensland, Australia. 12 June 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 10 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"PUBLIC WORKS". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. LVI, no. 12, 945. Queensland, Australia. 8 July 1899. p. 4. Retrieved 10 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^ abcd"Richmond and Richmond Shire". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
^"WESTERN MAIL NEWS". Morning Bulletin. Vol. XXX, no. 4706. Queensland, Australia. 26 April 1883. p. 3. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Richmond Library". Public Libraries Connect. State Library of Queensland. 28 April 2014. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
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