Fernvale

History

Fernvale falls within the area formerly occupied by the Indigenous Jagera people. Just upstream from Fernvale is a significant archaeological site known as Platypus Rockshelter, a double chambered weathered cavity in conglomerate cliff, now largely inundated by Wivenhoe Dam. The site was excavated as a salvage operation in the late 1970s. Excavation recovered thousands of stone artifacts, associated with large amounts of shellfish (predominantly freshwater mussel), mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian and fish bones. Following the British Government’s establishment of a penal settlement where the city of Brisbane now stands, an embargo was placed on the occupation of land within fifty miles of the ‘closed’ penal establishment. Several officers of the colony made journeys of exploration up the Brisbane River, passing through the area which would become Fernvale. After Allan Cunningham's discovery in 1828 of Cunninghams Gap a wave of squatters travelled from Sydney via the inland areas of New England and the Darling Downs, bringing sheep to settle on the rich pastures of the Brisbane Valley, taking up runs of tens of thousands of acres. When the embargo was lifted in 1842, the first Europeans to select land and settle in the Fernvale area were Edmund Blucher Uhr and his brother, whose river frontage run they called Fernie Lawn. This large, unfenced holding which included the area now known as Fernvale was purchased from the Uhr brothers by the North family early in 1843. Wivenhoe, the adjoining station higher up the Brisbane River, was then taken up by Edmund Blucher Uhr and J. S. Ferriter until it too was bought by the North family in 1849. Part of this land was called North’s Pocket, now known as Wivenhoe Pocket. The future township of Fernvale became a known…

Geography

Approximately west of Brisbane, Fernvale lies on the Brisbane River in the southern part of Somerset Region. The town acts as a centre for the adjacent areas of Fairney View, Vernor and Wivenhoe Pocket.

Most-observed species

• Lewin's Honeyeater

  Meliphaga lewinii (Swainson, 1837) · Aves
  6,848
• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  6,327
• Laughing Kookaburra

  Dacelo novaeguineae (Hermann, 1783) · Aves
  6,139
• Rainbow Lorikeet

  Trichoglossus haematodus (Linnaeus, 1771) · Aves
  6,131
• Eastern Whipbird

  Psophodes olivaceus (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  6,045
• Eastern Yellow Robin

  Eopsaltria australis (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  5,468
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  5,367
• Noisy Miner

  Manorina melanocephala (Latham, 1801) · Aves
  5,280