Rockhampton

History

The Capricorn district is the traditional home of the Darumbal Aboriginal people. The Darumbal (Tarumbul, Tharoombool) language region includes the city of Rockhampton extending south towards Raglan Creek and north towards the Styx River and inland along the Broad Sound Ranges. The British colonisation of the area began in 1853, when the Archer brothers, Charles and William, who were seeking grazing lands arrived in the Rockhampton area. They were acting on information from earlier expeditions by Ludwig Leichhardt and Thomas Mitchell, who had explored the area in 1844 and 1846 and noted suitable land for grazing then. In January 1854, the New South Wales government proclaimed two new districts: Port Curtis and Leichhardt (roughly today's Fitzroy Region), and the Archer brothers returned in August 1855 to set up their pastoral run at Gracemere. The Fitzroy River provided a convenient waterway for shipping of supplies and produce, and the Archer brothers constructed a wool shed just downstream of a bar of rocks that prevented further upstream navigation from the coast. These rocks were incorporated with the traditional English term for a village, and the name "Rockhampton" was first coined by Charles Archer and the local Commissioner from Crown Lands, William Wiseman. Their father was James Elliot, 3rd Laird of Wolfelee House near Hawick in Scotland. One of their other brothers was Walter Elliot of the East India Company and secretary to the governor of the Madras Presidency. In January 1856, after a massacre of local Aboriginal people perpetrated by Lieutenant John Murray of the Native Police at nearby Nankin Creek, some 200 Aboriginal men, women and children came to Canoona and began shouting at the employees of the Elliots. William Thomas Elliot and his men opened…

Geography

The town lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from where the river enters the Coral Sea, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane. Rockhampton has a north and south side with three bridges connecting the two sides, one for trains and two for vehicles and people. Rockhampton lies just north of the Tropic of Capricorn in Central Queensland. A sculpture originally marking the latitude was later moved into town to be more accessible to tourists. Although the Tropic of Capricorn is represented on maps as a "dotted line" that lies at 23° 26' 22", there is actually a bio-geographical overlap of Tropical and Temperate zones more than wide; Rockhampton is roughly at its centre on the East Coast of Australia. The city is located on the banks of the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth. The Berserker Range lies on the eastern side of the city, with the Athelstane Range to the west. The coastal area to the east of the city is known as the Capricorn Coast, with the rapidly growing town of Yeppoon its major centre. Rockhampton experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa/Cwa) with hot, humid summers and very mild, relatively dry winters with cool nights. The city receives 116.3 days of clear skies annually, primarily in winter. The highest recorded temperature in Rockhampton was , while the lowest was . Furthermore, the highest recorded 24-hour rainfall total was due to the January 2013 Eastern Australia floods. In summer, Rockhampton is subject to summer thunderstorms, and lying within the cyclone risk zone, it has experienced several large floods cyclones since European settlement. This is exemplified by the Fitzroy River; which has a lengthy, well documented history of flood records dating back to 1859. The highest recorded flood occurred in…

Most-observed species

• Rainbow Lorikeet

  Trichoglossus haematodus (Linnaeus, 1771) · Aves
  1,589
• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  1,546
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  1,312
• Blue-faced Honeyeater

  Entomyzon cyanotis (Latham, 1801) · Aves
  1,294
• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  1,286
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  1,185
• Pied Butcherbird

  Cracticus nigrogularis (Gould, 1837) · Aves
  1,154
• Australian Ibis

  Threskiornis molucca (Cuvier, 1829) · Aves
  1,122