Leyburn, Queensland

Leyburn (pronounced Leeburn) is a town in the Southern Downs Region and a locality split between the South Downs Region and the Toowoomba Region in Queensland, Australia.[2][3][4]

Leyburn
Queensland
Macintyre Street (main street), Leyburn, 2015
Leyburn
Coordinates28°00′43″S 151°35′02″E
Population416 (2011 census)[1]
Postcode(s)4365
Location
LGA(s)
State electorate(s)
Federal Division(s)Maranoa
Localities around Leyburn:
Tummaville Ellangowan Ellangowan
Stonehenge Leyburn Old Talgai
Pratten
Stonehenge Karara Thanes Creek

History
Royal Hotel, Leyburn, circa 1933
Royal Hotel, Leyburn, 2015

Leyburn was named in the 1840s by William Gray, Snr., who came to the area by bullock dray from Pitt Town on the Hawkesbury River in New South Wales.[5] The first name for the locality was Canal Creek; the name was changed to Leyburn by Henry and Jane Kirby, Gray's son-in-law and daughter, and derives from the market town of Leyburn in the English county of Yorkshire.[5] The site for the town was surveyed in November 1852. Henry Kirby and another man named Collins applied in 1854 for the licence of the Travellers' Home Inn at Leyburn.[5]

The post office at Leyburn opened on 1 January 1861.[6]

Leyburn State School opened in 1862 and caters for students from Prep to Year six.[7][8]

The Rosenthal Division was established in 1889 and became the Shire of Rosenthal in 1903. Although Leyburn was the largest town within this local government area, it was not chosen as the administrative centre as Leyburn did not have a railway connection in 1889. Instead, offices were established in Warwick outside of the district.[9]

An airfield with a 7,000-foot runway was constructed by April 1943 for the use of the United States Army Air Force.[10] The airfield was eventually used by 21 Squadron, 23 Squadron and 99 Squadron.[10] and was eventually abandoned by the RAAF in December 1945.[10] The abandoned airfield became the site of the 1949 Australian Grand Prix, the first time the Australian Grand Prix was held in Queensland.

At the 2006 census, Leyburn and the surrounding area had a population of 348.[11]

In the 2011 census, Leyburn had a population of 416 people.[1]

Geography

The Toowoomba Karara Road (State Route 48) passes through the locality from north-east to south, running immediately to the east of the town. Tourist Drive 12 (the Sprint Route) follows Leyburn Cunningham Road to the outskirts of Warwick.[12]

Events
Centaur Waggott GT, Leyburn Sprints, 2007

In 1996 the Leyburn Sprints was established. Celebrating the 1949 Australian Grand Prix, historic racing cars and cars of special interest compete in numerous classes to compete in a short 1.0 kilometre (0.62 mi) course through the town. The event has become the town's biggest attraction.[13]

Heritage listings
Granall, former coffee house and court house, erected 1858, the oldest surviving building in Leyburn, 2015

Leyburn has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Amenities

The Southern Downs Regional Council operates a mobile library service which visits Leyburn School in Peter Street and Leyburn Hall in MacIntyre Street.[17]

The Leyburn branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association has its hall at 89 MacIntyre Street.[18]

Notable residents

Australian rugby league player Shane Webcke grew up in Leyburn.

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Leyburn (SSC)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  2. "Leyburn (town) (entry 19259)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  3. "Leyburn (Southern Downs locality) (entry 45947)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  4. "Leyburn (Toowoomba locality) (entry 47990)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  5. From series of articles published under the title Queensland place names and obelisks by Sydney May (formerly Honorary Secretary of the Queensland Place Names Committee) in Local Government, June 1957 - November 1964
  6. Porter, Harry S. (1954) Queensland Numeral Cancellations, p. 13. Melbourne: The Hawthorn Press
  7. "Opening and closing dates of Queensland Schools". Queensland Government. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  8. "Leyburn SS". Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  9. "Rosenthal Shire". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  10. Dunn, Peter. "LEYBURN AIRFIELD, LEYBURN, QLD, AUSTRALIA ALSO KNOWN AS STRATHANE INITIALLY DURING WW2". www.ozatwar.com. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  11. Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Leyburn (Warwick Shire) (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
  12. Google (29 July 2019). "Leyburn, Queensland" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  13. "Historic Leyburn Sprints". Leyburn Motor Sprints Committee Inc. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  14. "St Augustines Anglican Church, Leyburn (entry 600828)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  15. "Leyburn State School (entry 600827)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  16. "Local Heritage Register". Southern Downs Regional Council. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  17. "Library Details". Southern Downs Regional Council. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  18. "Branch locations". Queensland Country Women's Association. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.

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