Theodore

History

The Aboriginal inhabitants of the area were the Gangulu people. Gangalu (Gangulu, Kangulu, Kanolu, Kaangooloo, Khangulu) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Gangula country. The Gangula language region includes the towns of Clermont and Springsure extending south towards the Dawson River. The first European settler in the district was Joseph Thompson who amassed a number of pastoral leases from 1850 to his death in 1857, including Oxtrack Creek, Okangal, Coteeda, Delusion Creek, Macoom, Hope, Thalba and Woolthorpe. He entered a partnership with James Reid who acquired the Boam run and acquired Thompson's runs after his death and then acquired further runs, before beginning to sell out to new settlers. In 1864 a town called Woolthorpe was surveyed and town lots offered for sale, but few were sold and no town developed at that time. This comment about transport followed Minister Bell's earlier criticism of the condition of the roads west of Gladstone which were the responsibility of the Banana Shire and the Taroom Shire. The idea of a major irrigation scheme involving the Dawson River continued to be considered by the Queensland Parliament over a number of years. However, it was not until February 1920, that the Premier of Queensland Ted Theodore announced his support for a Dawson River irrigation scheme. Later that year, in September 1920, Ted Theodore announced that a dam would be built at The Gorge on the Dawson River () enabling of fertile land to be created through irrigation along of the Dawson River. The irrigated area would be organised into five zones: Isla, Castle Creek (later Theodore), Huon, Moura and Coolibah, with each zone having a central township. In 1922, it was announced that the gorge and the dam would both be named after Matthew…

Geography

Theodore is situated on the Dawson River just off the Leichhardt Highway north-west of the state capital, Brisbane. Castle Creek flows through the town and into the Dawson River immediately south of the town centre. Theodore has a humid subtropical climates (Köppen: Cfa), with hot, wet summers and mild, dry winters with cool nights. Average maxima vary from in December to in July while average minima fluctuate between in January and February and in July. Mean average annual precipitation is moderate: , but is highly concentrated during the summer. Rainfall is spread across 53.1 precipitation days (above the threshold), and the town experiences 86.7 clear days and 44.8 cloudy days per annum. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 28 January 1990 to on 6 July 1982. Sunshine data was sourced from Brigalow Research Station, which is northwest of Theodore.

Most-observed species

• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  44
• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  40
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  31
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  29
• Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

  Cacatua galerita (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  25
• Blue-winged Kookaburra

  Dacelo leachii Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  24
• Crested Pigeon

  Ocyphaps lophotes (Temminck, 1822) · Aves
  24
• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  23