Beenleigh, Queensland

Once a separate town, Beenleigh is now on the southern outskirts of Brisbane.
Location: 35 km south of Brisbane.
Origin of name: John Davey and Frank Gooding arrived in the area in 1865 and established a farm which they called Beenleigh, after their family estate in Devon, England.
Brief history: in 1864 Robert Johnston became the first European settler in the area, establishing a sugar cane and arrowroot plantation in 1864. The following year John Davey and Frank Gooding settled in the area and established Beenleigh farm. Due to its proximity to the Moreton Bay settlement, the district quickly developed into a major sugar growing area. A floating rum distillery, the SS Walrus, once travelled from one mill to the next converting the by-products of sugar manufacture into rum.
Natural features: Moreton Bay; Logan River; Albert River; Springbrook National Park; Numinbah Forest Reserve; Tamborine National Park; Border Ranges National Park
Heritage features: Beenleigh Rum Distillery (built in 1864, it has the oldest-surviving still in Australia); Rocky Point Sugar Mill (1879); former St George's Anglican Church (1876)