WARWICK, QUEENSLAND

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A major commercial and administrative centre for the Darling Downs that was the first important inland settlement in Queensland. Warwick is the headquarters of the Australian Rough Riders Association and every October the city host the Warwick Rose Festival.
Location: 162 km south west of Brisbane; 480 m above sea level.
Origin of name: The local Aborigines knew the area as Gooragooby. The town name was given by Patrick (1815-1881) and George Leslie, pastoralists of Canning Downs station, after historical figure, Warwick the Kingmaker, a character in the novel The 'Last of the Barons', by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, published in 1843. The historical character is based on Richard Neville, Sixth Earl of Warwick, (1428 Cannington but changed to Warwick in 1847.
Brief history: The Darling Downs were discovered and explored by Allan Cunningham passed through the area in 1823, however it wasn't until the 1842 that Governor Gipps relented and allowed squatters and pastoralists to move onto its rich, fertile plains. The Leslie Brothers established the Canning Downs run in 1840 and built a home in 1846. The station became an important centre for the region with a blacksmith, a store, accommodation and eating facilities. In 1847 the NSW government gave Patrick Leslie permission to select a site for a town on his Canning Downs station. The town was duly surveyed in 1849 and land was first sold in 1850.
Cobb & Co. began running a coach to the township in 1865 and by 1871 the railway from Ipswich had reached Warwick. It became a municipality in 1861 and a city (the second largest on the Darling Downs) in 1936.
Natural features: Scenic Rim National Park; McPherson Ranges; Mount Barney National Park; Queen Mary Falls National Park; Rocky Creek National Parks
Built features: Jackie Howe Memorial (Howe was a famous blade shearer).
Heritage features: Criterion Hotel (1917); Post Office (1891); Town Hall (1888); old St Mary's Church (1864); St Mary's Church (1926); St Mark's Church (1868); Court House (1885); Police Station (1890); Warwick East State School (Warwick National School, 1862); St Marks Church (1868); 'Pringle Cottage' (1869, Warwick and District Historical Society Museum); National Hotel (c.1890); Masonic Hall (1886); 'Glengallan' homestead (15 km north, c.1875); 'Canning Downs' homestead (c.1846)