The Colinton War Memorial (1917), located in road reserve on the southwestern corner of Emu Creek Road and the D'Aguilar Highway at Colinton in the upper
Brisbane Valley, is a sandstone and marble memorial to the men of Colinton and district who served during
World War I (WWI). This stone memorial board by well-known monumental masons F Williams and Co. is the earliest WWI memorial monument known to be erected in Queensland. It is important in demonstrating Queensland's involvement in a major world event and has a special association with the upper Brisbane Valley community. The original Colinton Station was made up of six leases: Colinton East and West, Mt Stanley East, Mt Stanley West, Diaper and Altyre, comprising covered . As a result of land clearance by the selectors in the upper Brisbane Valley, a timber industry flourished, with one of the first sawmills being established at Colinton in the 1870s. In 1907 Colinton Provisional School opened nearby in Emu Creek Road, and T H Moore of nearby Colinton Station helped establish the
Standard Dairy Company Limited condensery, when he presented the company with its factory site at Colinton. Its second factory opened at Colinton on 15 February 1908, located on the north bank of Emu Creek beside the main road between
Kilcoy and
Blackbutt. The company stated that "thousands of pounds have been invested in the building and plant [and the condensery was] one of the most complete, largest, and fully equipped in the Commonwealth... capable of treating 10,000 gallons of milk per day". From December 1909, nearby
Nurinda railway station loaded goods to and from the factory. In August 1916 Joseph H Frisby, secretary of the Colinton Honour Board Committee, was granted permission by the
Esk Shire Council to erect an honour board at the Colinton School of Arts, which was the social hub of the town and district, where meetings, dances, balls, and send-offs and memorials for soldiers were held. At the time of its unveiling, the memorial was "believed to be the first of its kind in the state". The stone honour board was described as follows:"[t]he base, pillars and crown are of sandstone, the centre being of white marble, on which are inscribed the names of the volunteers."'It is between 10 and 11 feet in height [3-3.3 m], the slab in the centre being marble, and the rest sandstone. The cost was subscribed by the residents of Colinton (Queensland)."No state government other than
Victoria's made direct grants for local WWI memorials except for the building of halls, hospitals and schools which were eligible for public money whether or not they were memorials. Fund-raising for local war memorials was thus a voluntary community effort, as was the case at Colinton. In Colinton's case, the memorial was created to honour all the men of their community who volunteered to serve, and they were affectionately called "Our Boys" on the memorial. Australia's first permanent WWI memorial to honour the men from a particular community was unveiled at
Balmain in
Sydney,
New South Wales on 23 April 1916. The firm was noted for ecclesiastical marble work and supplied memorials throughout Queensland. It was responsible for about 15 war memorials in southeast Queensland and was also commissioned to create 179 headstones for the graves of WWI soldiers and sailors throughout Queensland. Frank Williams' reputation as a monumental mason was such that well-known sculptor
Daphne Mayo learnt the art of carving from him in 1919, prior to travelling to London on Queensland's first traveling art scholarship. To date, no previous or subsequent war has had such an impact on Australia in terms of loss of life; almost every community in every Australian state lost young people. Even before the end of hostilities, memorials were being erected by Australian communities to honour local people who had served and/or died. These memorials were a spontaneous and highly visible means of honouring those who served and expressing national grief; substitute graves for the Australians whose bodies lay in battlefield cemeteries in Europe and the Middle East. Of these, only 13 returned to Colinton or its adjacent districts at the end of WWI and in 1922 only five of these were still working in the district. However, in August 1920 it was reported as still operating at Colinton. The move was completed by June the following year, when
Nestlé and
Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Co. (Australia) Ltd was formed to acquire the Australasian business of Nestle and Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company, as well as Bacchus Marsh Concentrated Milk Co. Pty Ltd, the Standard Dairy Co. Ltd (with factories at Wyreema,
Wellcamp and Nerang) and Australian Milk Products Ltd. The Nestle Company condensery at
Toogoolawah took over the Colinton factory's milk supply. Despite the continuation of dairying as an important industry in the Brisbane Valley, the 1933 census showed a decline in the Colinton district's population to 181. After
World War II dairy production in Queensland followed the national shift from cream, butter and cheese production to the supply of pasteurized bulk milk, made possible by improvements to rural roads and in road transportation. Stricter regulations for the running of dairies, lower prices, the loss of the British market, and foreign imports also took their toll. Many farmers either switched to bulk milk production or left the dairy industry altogether. This decline was no doubt exacerbated by the re-alignment of the
Brisbane Valley Highway (now D'Aguilar Highway) in the late 1950s further to the south of that part of the township lying southeast of Emu Creek. By 1971 there were no houses left in the township, although a general store operated beside the re-aligned highway. Today the locality of Colinton has a service station on the southern side of the highway and the Colinton Memorial Park, where the Colinton War Memorial stands. The Colinton area and the neighbouring town of
Moore have a combined population of about 315. Colinton War Memorial, although lacking a surrounding township, is the focus of occasional community commemorations and is recognised and visited by passing motorists travelling the adjacent D'Aguilar Highway. It has been the subject of artistic rendition by well-known photographer, Richard Stringer and artist, Lyn Felman. == Description ==