Ayr, Queensland
Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:GeoGroup Template:Infobox Australian place Ayr is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Burdekin, Queensland, Australia.<ref name=qpnt>Template:Cite QPN</ref><ref name=qpnl>Template:Cite QPN</ref> It is the centre of a sugarcane-growing region and the administrative centre for the Burdekin Shire Council.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the Template:CensusAU, the locality of Ayr had a population of 8,603 people.<ref name=Census2021/>
Geography
Ayr is located Template:Convert south of Townsville on the Bruce Highway and Template:Convert away from the (smaller) town of Home Hill. It is Template:Convert north of Bowen and Template:Convert north of Mackay. Ayr is located near the delta of the Burdekin River. It is within the Burdekin Shire, which produces the most sugar cane per square kilometre in Australia, accessing underground water supplies and water from the Burdekin Dam to irrigate crops when rains fail.
Mirrigan is a neighbourhood within the locality (Template:Coord). It takes its name from the former Mirrigan railway station (Template:Coord)<ref name="railwaystations">Template:Cite web</ref> which was assigned by the Queensland Railways Department on 10 September 1914. It is an Aboriginal name meaning star.<ref name="qpn22283">Template:Cite QPN</ref>
Parkside is a neighbourhood within the south-east of the town (Template:Coord).<ref name="qpn39023">Template:Cite QPN</ref>
Ayr railway station (Template:Coord) is on the North Coast railway line and is a passenger stop for the Spirit of Queensland.<ref name="railwaystations" />
Kalamia Sidings railway siding point is on the Kalamia Sugar Mill's cane tramway (Template:Coord).<ref name="railwaystations" />
Climate
Ayr experiences a tropical savannah climate (Koppen: Aw), with a short wet season from December to April and a long dry season from May to November. The average annual rainfall is Template:Convert, primarily concentrated in the austral summer. Extreme temperatures in Ayr have ranged from Template:Convert on 2 July 1984 to Template:Convert on 7 January 1994.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
Aboriginal history
Biri (Birri) is a language of Central and North Queensland. Biri refers to a language chain extending from Central Queensland towards Townsville and is often used as a universal name for other languages and/or dialects across the region. The language area includes the towns of Bowen, Ayr, Collinsville and Nebo.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
British exploration
The first British exploration of the area occurred in 1839 during the third voyage of HMS Beagle where Captain John Clements Wickham travelled 10 miles up the waterway later known as the Burdekin River. His progress was stopped by a fishing weir built by the local Aboriginal people that spanned the river.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In 1843, during the surveying voyage of HMS Fly, Lieutenant John Ince, Joseph Jukes and Frederick Evans sailed up the river near to where the town of Ayr is now located. They encountered two large tribes of Aboriginal people with whom they had friendly interactions, exchanging items and participating in an apparent Welcome to Country ceremony. Artist, Harden Sidney Melville was also present, later drawing a depiction of the meeting.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Shipwreck survivor James Morrill lived with Aboriginal people in the region for seventeen years from 1846 when he was washed ashore on a makeshift raft. Morrill lived a traditional Aboriginal lifestyle and later made a culturally and historically important record of his experiences.<ref name="morrill">Template:Cite book</ref>
In 1859, Henry Daniel Sinclair, James Gordon and Ben Poole conducted a sea voyage that examined the mouth of the Burdekin River. They travelled about 8 miles up the river but were afraid to explore further as they were wary of the resident Aborigines and had limited firearms.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
George Elphinstone Dalrymple led an overland expedition to the area in 1859 looking for land acquisitions and he returned again in 1860 as the head of a seagoing exploratory party. Dalrymple had several violent encounters with the local Aboriginal people during these expeditions.<ref name="spitfire">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1862, Dalrymple made another journey to the lower Burdekin region concluding that the "richly grassed open forest country" would become "a most valuable addition to the pastoral and agricultural resources of the colony."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
British colonisation
The area was opened up to pastoral squatting leases in 1861 and in that year Edward Spencer Antill (who was a son of the distinguished colonist Henry Colden Antill) arrived in the region to take up land.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1862, he selected a large area of land along the lower Burdekin River for a sheep station which he named Jarvisfield after the Antill family estate near Picton.<ref name="antill">Template:Cite news</ref> Groups of armed settlers and Native Police started to force the Aboriginal people off the land around this time, with James Morrill documenting a massacre of a resident Burdekin River tribe.<ref name="morrill" /> E.S. Antill bore a life-long scar on his forehead from a boomerang thrown at him during one of these episodes of frontier violence.<ref name="antill" /> Morrill attempted to negotiate a treaty between the British and the Aborigines whereby the coastal area on the north side of the Burdekin would be a reserve for the Indigenous people but this was ignored by the authorities.<ref name="morrill" />
After E.S. Antill had become established, other colonists took up land in the region, namely John Graham MacDonald who formed the Inkerman Downs property with the financial backing of Robert Towns,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Edward Cunningham who formed Woodhouse station.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In retribution for murders and cattle spearing, punitive expeditions by the Native Police led by Lieutenant John Marlow would "disperse" the local Aboriginal population.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
A township, named Wickham,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> was formed in the region in 1864 but was destroyed in 1870 during a flood.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Robert William Graham formed the Lilliesmere run in 1876 and in 1881 the township of Ayr was laid out on this property by surveyor Ellis William Lymburner.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Ayr was named after the Scottish town of Ayr, the birthplace of nineteenth-century Queensland Premier, Sir Thomas McIlwraith.<ref name="short">Template:Cite news</ref>
Ayr Post Office opened on 25 August 1883.<ref name = "Post Office">Template:Cite web</ref>
Sugarcane plantations and mills
Large scale cultivation of sugarcane began in the region in 1879 with the formation of the Burdekin Delta Sugar Company through the partnership of local landholders Robert William Graham and Archibald Campbell MacMillan. Their plantation was called Airdmillan and in 1883 the Airdmillan sugar mill was built.<ref name="short" /> Both the mill and the plantation became financially unviable in 1885 after the repatriation of kidnapped<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> South Sea Islander labourers working on the plantation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Of the 532 Islanders brought to Airdmillan, 128 or 24% had died by 1885.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the 1890s, Airdmillan was subdivided and today much of the town of Ayr is located on what was once part of the Airdmillan estate.<ref name="short" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The nearby locality of Airdmillan is named after the plantation.<ref>Template:Cite QPN</ref>
Other colonists also established plantations and mills in the region during the 1880s. James Mackenzie formed the Seaforth estate and mill, while Colin Munro built the Drynie mill. In 1882, John Spiller and Henry Brandon established the Pioneer plantation which was soon sold to the Drysdale brothers. The Drysdales built the Pioneer Mill in 1884 and later constructed the Inkerman Mill in 1914. Charles and John Young formed the Kalamia plantation in 1882, the Kalamia Mill being operational two years later.<ref name="short" /> Much of the labour on these plantations during the early years was performed by South Sea Islanders, many of whom died in the first year after being shipped in.<ref name="young">Template:Cite news</ref> At Kalamia<ref name="young" /> and Pioneer,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the death rate was 14%, and at Seaforth it was 26%.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Islander labour in the region was discontinued in the early 1900s.<ref name="short" />
The Pioneer, Kalamia and Inkerman mills are still operational and are owned by Wilmar Sugar.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Schools
Ayr State School opened on 15 November 1886. In 1928 it was expanded to include a secondary school. In 1937, the secondary school became a separate entity, Ayr State High School.<ref name=":0">Template:Citation</ref>
St Francis Primary School opened in 1912 operated by three Sisters of the Good Samaritan.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Ayr War Memorial Arch is the entrance to the Memorial Park and commemorates those who served in World War I. It was dedicated in November 1925 by the shire chairman, Councillor Barsby.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1926 Annie Dennis founded the Burdekin Community Church as a Pentecostal mission for South Sea Islanders.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>
East Ayr State School opened on 8 August 1952.<ref name=":0" />
Ayr Opportunity School opened for children with disabilities in 1972. It was renamed Burdekin Special School in about 1985. In 2001 the name was changed to Burdekin School.<ref name=":0" />
Burdekin Catholic High School opened on 1 April 1974 in the Marist tradition.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Burdekin Christian College was opened on 5 February 1982 by the Burdekin Community Church.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
Burdekin Library opened in 1984.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In June 2018, the town become the centre of controversy when a racist poster was displayed in a shop window, asserting that foreigners and backpackers were not welcome. Within hours, Burdekin Shire Council Mayor Lyn McLaughlin condemned the people responsible for the poster.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Demographics
In the Template:CensusAU, the locality of Ayr had a population of 8,738 people.<ref name="Census2016">Template:Census 2016 AUS</ref> Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 7.7% of the population. 82.4% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was Italy at 2.1%. 85.4% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian at 2.8%. The most common responses for religion were Catholic 37.3%, Anglican 15.7% and No Religion 15.0%.<ref name="Census2016" />
In the Template:CensusAU, the locality of Ayr had a population of 8,603 people.<ref name=Census2021>Template:Census 2021 AUS</ref>
Heritage listings
Ayr has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
- Ayr Post Office, 155 Queen Street<ref>Template:Cite AHD</ref>
- Ayr Court House, 163 Queen Street<ref>Template:Cite QHR</ref>
- Ayr Masonic Temple, 118–120 Macmillan Street (Template:Coord):<ref>Template:Cite QHR</ref>
- Ayr State High School 82–90 Wickham Street<ref>Template:Cite QHR</ref>
- Burdekin Shire Council Chambers, 145 Young Street<ref>Template:Cite QHR</ref>
Education
Ayr State School is a government primary (Preparatory to Year 6) school for boys and girls at 141 Graham Street (Template:Coord).<ref name=SchoolList2018>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 119 students with 14 teachers (11 full-time equivalent) and 17 non-teaching staff (10 full-time equivalent).<ref name=ACARA2017>Template:Cite web</ref>
East Ayr State School is a government primary (Preparatory to Year 6) school for boys and girls at 43–73 Ross Street (Template:Coord).<ref name=SchoolList2018/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 557 students with 47 teachers (40 full-time equivalent) and 22 non-teaching staff (15 full-time equivalent).<ref name=ACARA2017/> It includes a special education program.<ref name=SchoolList2018/>
St Francis' School is a Catholic primary (Preparatory to Year 6) school for boys and girls at 99 Edward Street (Template:Coord).<ref name=SchoolList2018/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 304 students with 20 teachers (17 full-time equivalent) and 17 non-teaching staff (11 full-time equivalent).<ref name=ACARA2017/>
Burdekin Christian College is a private primary and secondary (Preparatory to Year 12) school for boys and girls at 2–12 Melbourne Street (Template:Coord).<ref name=SchoolList2018/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 133 students with 13 teachers (12 full-time equivalent) and 10 non-teaching staff (8 full-time equivalent).<ref name=ACARA2017/>
Burdekin School is a special primary and secondary (Early Childhood to Year 12) school for boys and girls at 159 Young Street (Template:Coord).<ref name=SchoolList2018/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 17 students with 5 teachers (4 full-time equivalent) and 11 non-teaching staff (6 full-time equivalent).<ref name=ACARA2017/>
Ayr State High School is a government secondary (7 to 12) school for boys and girls at Cnr Edwards and Wickham Streets (Template:Coord).<ref name=SchoolList2018/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 480 students with 46 teachers (44 full-time equivalent) and 30 non-teaching staff (23 full-time equivalent).<ref name=ACARA2017/> It has a special education program.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Burdekin Catholic High School is a Catholic secondary (7 to 12) school for boys and girls at 45 Gibson Street (Template:Coord).<ref name=SchoolList2018/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 436 students with 40 teachers (39 full-time equivalent) and 23 non-teaching staff (19 full-time equivalent).<ref name=ACARA2017/>
Facilities
Ayr is home to a small, state owned hospital. The one-storey building offers basic emergency care and has a helipad for more-serious emergencies.
Amenities
Ayr has range of shops and banks.
The Burdekin Shire Council operates a public library in Ayr at 108 Graham Street (Template:Coord).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Ayr branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at 20 Chippendale Street.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Burdekin Uniting Church has two churches, one at 130 Mackenzie Street (Template:Coord) in Ayr and the other in Home Hill.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Google maps</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Sport
A wide variety of sports are played in Ayr, including touch football, rugby league, rugby union, soccer, tennis and golf. Netball and table tennis (ping pong) are also popular. The Ayr Surf Life Saving club is small and well-established.
Pioneer Park Speedway is a motorcycle speedway venue to the west of the town on Bruce Highway.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The track has been a significant venue for important speedway events, including qualifying rounds of the Speedway World Championship<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the final of the Australian Solo Championship.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Attractions
Alva Beach, also known as Lynch's Beach, is a popular area for fishing and swimming located Template:Convert east of Ayr.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Media
Published every Thursday, the Burdekin Local News is the region's only locally owned and independent newspaper distributed across the Burdekin region as well as Bowen and the Townsville CBD.Template:Citation needed
Transport
Ayr's main street, Queen Street, is a wide two-laned street. The A1 passes through the town. A mostly two-laned highway, it is the major road of the Burdekin, linking Ayr with nearby Brandon and Home Hill.
Ayr Railway Station is the town's rail-transit stop with regular services from Brisbane to Cairns. While the town has no public transport, several bus routes pick up school children across the region.
Notable people
- Mark Allison: business executive
- Zachary Anderson: football player – Central Coast Mariners
- Tom Barton: politician
- Lt Col Jim Bourke: soldier, decorated Vietnam veteran<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- George Brabon: cricketer
- Tarin Bradford: rugby league player
- Nathan Burgers: field hockey player
- Patricia Cockrem: former Australian basketball player
- Mark Dalle Cort: rugby league player
- Mitchell Davey: motorcycle speedway rider
- Matthew Ham: football player – North Queensland Fury
- Jackie Huggins: Aboriginal author and historian
- Bob King: politician
- Vicky Kippin: politician
- Jeff Knuth: politician
- Peter Lawlor: politician
- Michael Macklin: politician
- Andrea McDonnell: Paralympic table tennis player
- Andrew Meads: rugby league player
- Shane Muspratt: rugby league player
- Johnny Nicol: jazz singer
- Barry O'Rourke: politician
- Kel O'Shea: Australian representative rugby league player<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Ryan Phelan: journalist and television presenter
- Patricia Taylor: Australian-born Canadian microbiologist and virologist, best known for her efforts in the Iranian hostage crisis.
- Heath Tessmann: rugby union player
- Don Walker: musician/songwriter – Cold Chisel
- Karrie Webb: professional golfer, member of LPGA Hall of Fame
- Ray Wilkie: meterologist
See also
- SS Gothenburg which was wrecked off the coast of Ayr
References
External links
Template:Commons category Template:Wikivoyage
- Burdekin Shire Council Website
- University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Ayr
- Annual reports Ayr Hospitals Board, State Library of Queensland