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Woolgar Queensland
Woolgar
Coordinates	19°59′33″S 143°26′26″E / 19.9926°S 143.4405°E / -19.9926; 143.4405 (Woolgar (centre of locality))
Population	17 (2021 census)
• Density	0.00367/km (0.00950/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	4822
Area	4,636.9 km (1,790.3 sq mi)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10:00)
LGA(s)	Shire of Richmond
State electorate(s)	Traeger
Federal division(s)	Kennedy
Suburbs around Woolgar: Bellfield Gilberton Porcupine Saxby Woolgar Dutton River Burleigh Richmond Dutton River

Woolgar is a rural locality in the Shire of Richmond, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Woolgar had a population of 17 people.

Geography

The Woolgar River rises in the north-east and flows through to the south-west. The stream known as Stawell River or Cambridge Creek flows through from east to west. The Dutton River forms part of the southern boundary.

The Richmond–Croydon Road crosses the north-western corner.

History

On 14 September 1881, Sub-inspector Henry Pollock Kaye of the Native Mounted Police, was responding to complaints from at the Woolgar gold fields townspeople of the First Nations persons stealing and other offences. Together with other police and a native trooper, he mustered the indigenous persons to remove them from the area. It was indicated there may have been up to 800 indigenous persons in the area, although only some thirty to forty were to be removed. Within fifteen minutes of Sub-inspector Nichols leaving to get other officers, Kaye was fatally speared by the persons. A retaliatory massacre is believed to have occurred against the indigenous persons.

Woolgar Upper Provisional School opened on 19 June 1901 and Woolgar Lower Provisional School opened on 24 June 1901, to work together as part-time schools (meaning a single teacher was shared between them). They closed in October 1903 but reopened in April 1904. Woolgar Lower Provisional School closed on 11 October 1906 while Woolgar Upper Provisional School continued as a full-time school and closed circa 1912.

The Woolgar Valley Aboriginal Corporation had previously purchased Middle Park Station, 'to provide opportunities for the traditional owners of that area, the Woolgar people, who mostly live in Yarrabah, Hopevale and Townsville'. The corporation was successful in legal action for compensation payable for renewal of a mining lease.

Demographics

In the 2016 census, Woolgar had a population of 8 people.

In the 2021 census, Woolgar had a population of 17 people.

References

1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Woolgar (SAL)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
2. "Woolgar – locality in Shire of Richmond (entry 42357)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
3. "Woolgar, Queensland" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
4. Woolgar, Queensland (Map). OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
5. "The murder of Sub-inspector Kaye". The Queenslander. Vol. XX, no. 322. Queensland, Australia. 22 October 1881. p. 532. Retrieved 21 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
6. "Police gather to memorialise fallen colleagues". myPolice. State of Queensland (Queensland Police Service). 29 September 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
7. "Woolgar Massacre: Investigating the Woolgar Aboriginal Massacre Site, northwest Qld". Wallis Heritage Consulting. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
8. Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN 978-1-921171-26-0
9. "Krieg v Woolgar Valley Aboriginal Corporation [2021] QLC 28". Supreme Court Library of Queensland. State of Queensland. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
10. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Woolgar (SSC)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 October 2018.

• Shire of Richmond
• Localities in Queensland