The first inhabitants of Queanbeyan were the Ngambri peoples of the
Walgalu Nation. The town grew from a squattage held by ex-
convict and inn keeper, Timothy Beard, on the banks of the
Molonglo River in what is now
Oaks Estate. The town centre of Queanbeyan is located on the
Queanbeyan River, a tributary of the
Molonglo River and approximately south-southeast of Oaks Estate. Queanbeyan was officially proclaimed a township in 1838 when the population was about 50. The local
parish was also known by that name and later still the member for the electorate of Queanbeyan held a seat in the legislative assembly of the colony of NSW. On 28 November 1837 the Colonial Secretary announced the appointment of Captain Alured Tasker Faunce as resident police magistrate at Queanbeyan. His homestead, called Dodsworth, was situated on the banks of the Queanbeyan river opposite the town. The town plan was laid out by surveyor
James Larmer, in 1838. Traces of gold were discovered in 1851 and lead and silver mines also flourished briefly. Settlers were harassed by
bushrangers, of which James Shaw, William Millet, and John Rueben,
John Tennant,
Jacky Jacky,
Frank Gardiner and
Ben Hall were some of the more notorious. In 1836, a Post Office was established. The
Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited (CBC, now part of the
National Australia Bank) opened in Queanbeyan on 19 September 1859. The
Bank of New South Wales began service in Queanbeyan in 1878.
The Golden Age (now
The Queanbeyan Age) was Queanbeyan's first newspaper and was founded in 1860 by
John Gale. In 1880 the residence of John James Wright, the first mayor of Queanbeyan, was constructed along the edge of the Queanbeyan River. In 1982 that building became the Queanbeyan Art Centre. The
Salvation Army claimed an outpost in Queanbeyan in 1884. Queanbeyan became an increasingly successful primary producing district, and was proclaimed a Municipality in February 1885 incorporating an area of . The railway reached
Queanbeyan railway station in 1887 and it became the junction for the lines going to
Canberra and
Bombala. The town is served by the thrice-daily
NSW TrainLink Xplorer service between Canberra and Sydney. |left
William James Farrer, the wheat experimentalist, established Queanbeyan's reputation as an agricultural district with his famous "Federation" rust-free strain, developed on his property
"Lambrigg" at
Tharwa. Farrer's work was only slowly recognised elsewhere in Australia, but local farmers supported him, particularly in his development of "Blount's Lambrigg", another strain which in 1889 gave hope to farmers after the disastrous season of 1887 when crops had failed after heavy Christmas rains. At the height of its rural prosperity Queanbeyan boasted sixteen public houses and six flourmills powered by wind, water, horse and steam. The Royal Hotel on Monaro Street opened in 1926. In Canberra alcohol was prohibited from 1911, at the time of the territory's foundation, until 1928, when Federal Parliament had relocated from Melbourne. In that period many of the capital's residents crossed the border to drink at one of Queanbeyan's hotels. Queanbeyan was granted city status on 7 July 1972. On 21 July 1975 the Queen's Bridge was opened. This bridge took pressure off the existing bridge in linking Monaro Street directly to the east. From 1982 to 1989, the
Canberra Raiders rugby league team played their home games in Queanbeyan, at
Seiffert Oval. Since December 2008, the Australian Defence Forces's HQ
Joint Operations Command has been based adjacent to the
Kowen district of the
Australian Capital Territory, just south of the
Kings Highway, about 15 km east of Queanbeyan, and 15 km south of
Bungendore, New South Wales. == Heritage listings ==