Beaudesert, Queensland


Beaudesert is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region of Queensland, Australia. In the, the locality of Beaudesert had a population of 6,752.
Beaudesert is the administrative centre for the Scenic Rim Region.

Geography

Beaudesert is south of Brisbane and west of the Gold Coast.
Beaudesert is located on the Mount Lindesay Highway, some south of Brisbane. The area sources its income predominantly from rural activities such as cropping, grazing and equine activities, as well as tourism.
In the Logan River and Albert River valleys, Beaudesert is a regional hub serving surrounding communities such as Rathdowney, Kooralbyn, Canungra, Tamborine Mountain and Jimboomba. It is approximately 91 kilometres from Brisbane and connected by the Mount Lindesay Highway.
The town of Beaudesert is located above sea level.
In the east of the locality is the decommissioned Nindooinbah Dam. The much larger Wyaralong Dam is situated roughly to the north west of the town and was completed in 2011.

Climate

Beaudesert experiences a humid subtropical climate, having hot, wet summers with frequent thunderstorms and mild, dry winters with cool nights, averaging 15-20 ground frosts annually.
The maximum recorded temperature is 44.6 °C on 4 January 2014, and the coldest recorded temperature is −5.5 °C on 11 July 1972.
The lowest maximum temperature of 12.8°C was recorded on 4 July 2022, and the highest minimum temperature of 27.0°C was recorded on 27 January 2024. Historical temperature extremes are only available from between 1967 and 1979, and then again from 2007.
Beaudesert has an average annual rainfall of around per year, the vast majority of which falls in summer, with a high annual variability. 2019 saw the driest year on record, with a mere 395.4mm measured. The wettest year on record was 1893, with 1,726.5mm measured.
Beaudesert can experience significant and severe storms in the warmer months, producing flash flooding, large hail, and more rarely tornadoes.

History

Yugembah is one of the Australian Aboriginal languages in areas that include the Beaudesert, Gold Coast, Logan, Scenic Rim, Albert River, Beenleigh, Coolangatta, Coomera, Logan River, Pimpama, Tamborine and Tweed River Valley, within the local government boundaries of the City of Gold Coast, City of Logan, Scenic Rim Regional Council and the Tweed River Valley.
Mununjali is a dialect of the Yugambeh language. The Mununjali language area includes landscape within the local government boundaries of the Scenic Rim and Beaudesert Shire Councils.
The town is possibly named after Beau Desert Park, the property of Charles Henry Alexander Paget, 6th Marquess of Anglesey in Staffordshire, England. Yet it is certain that Queensland's Beaudesert was named in about 1841 or 1842 by 'Ned Hawkins', or Edward Brace Hawkins, who was claiming the area as a sheep station on behalf of his employer William Henry Suttor senior at Bathurst. It is not known why Hawkins picked the name Beaudesert.
The town was originally set out in a grid pattern; however, several of the streets followed cart tracks. The area was originally settled for growing cotton and sheep. However, the area is also notoriously short of water and the cotton was not a successful crop. Hoop pine was very successfully collected from the area. In 1863 the cotton workers were indentured labourers from the South Sea Islands, the first such use in Queensland.
Located in the Beaudesert Historical Museum is the Milbanks Pioneer Cottage. This cottage was originally built in 1875 by Patrick Milbanks on his Kerry property, out of local hand-hewn timbers, slats and shingle roof. It has four-poster bed, large cedar sideboard and numerous articles that portray the life of the early pioneers.
Upper Beaudesert Provisional School opened circa 1882 and closed circa 1885.
Beaudesert Provisional School opened on 26 March 1882 but closed on 9 September 1886. On 13 September 1887, it reopened as Beaudesert State School.
On 15 August 1885 at Stretton's Hotel at Beaudesert, auctioneer C.J. Warner offered 125 town lots in the Beaudesert Township Extension estate. The lots were mostly and were on Brisbane Street, Tubber Street, Gordon Street, Birman Street, James Street, Edward Street and Alice Street. The advertising noted that the Queensland Government had voted the funds to extend the railway line from Logan Village to Beaudesert.
The Beaudesert railway line from Bethania to Beaudesert opened on 16 May 1888. Beaudesert railway station served the town. Use of the passenger services declined with the increasing ownership of cars following World War II, leading to the termination of the passenger services in 1961. However the Beaudesert abattoir and the dairy farmers continued to use the freight services on the line until freight services terminated on 20 May 1996.
On Tuesday 24 July 1888, the foundation log of St Thomas' Anglican church was laid by Mrs De Burgh Persse of Tabragalba with an address given by Archdeacon Nathaniel Dawes. On 24 November 1956 the foundation stone for a new church was laid by the Governor of Queensland, John Lavarack, and blessed by Archbishop Reginald Halse.The second St Thomas' Anglican Church was consecrated on Sunday 4 July 1965 by Archbishop Philip Strong. The 1888 church was used as the church hall.
On 3 February 1889, Roman Catholic Archbishop Robert Dunne blessed the foundation stone for the first Catholic church in Beaudesert. The event raised £74 with a further £7 pledged. As 2 February was the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it was decided to call the church Our Lady of the Purification, but it was commonly known as St Mary's. Dunne returned on 2 June 1889 to open the new church. Internally the church was with ceilings. It was built by James Madden of Ipswich, who design the church for free. It was fitted with an altar, altar rails and 20 pews. On Sunday 15 September 1907 the second St Mary's was opened, with the original church dismantled and re-assembled at Kerry where it was named St John's Catholic Church.
In 1897 a Baptist church was opened in Beaudesert on land purchased for that purpose in 1889. The foundation stone was laid in April 1897 and the church was officially opened on Wednesday 16 June 1897.
On 14 April 1901, the foundation stone was laid for St Mary's Convent School. The school opened on 19 August 1901 with an initial enrolment of 101 students and was operated by the Sisters of Mercy. The original timber building remained in use until 1939 when its condition was becoming dangerous. The school operated temporarily from the church until a new brick building was erected. The brick building was blessed and opened by Archbishop James Duhig on 3 September 1939. The timber building remains on the site as Mercy Hall. Further buildings were added over the years. On 19 August 2013, the 1939 brick building was badly damaged by a fire. However, the exterior and stained glass windows survived and the building was rebuilt, re-opening on 20 February 2015; it is now used for school administration.
On 17 December 1901 auctioneers M. Selwyn Smith offered nine grazing and agricultural lots surrounding the town of the Beaudesert ranging in size from, totalling. The land was being sold following the death of its owner Ernest White.
The Beaudesert Shire Tramway to Christmas Creek, Lamington and Rathdowney, operated by the Beaudesert Shire, opened in 1903 and closed in 1944.
A local newspaper, the Beaudesert Times was established in 1908.
The Beaudesert War Museum was unveiled on 28 September 1921 by Queensland Governor Matthew Nathan.
In 1936 ex-prime minister Billy Hughes was injured in a plane crash during an emergency landing in Wood's Paddock.
From the nineteenth century through to the 1980s, it was a thriving centre with a shoe factory and meat works as well as markets, a hospital and an ambulance service. The Enright family managed a major department store. The Blunck family managed an electrical store and a car servicing and sales business.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church was officially opened on Sunday 20 August 1949 by Pastor F. A. Mote, of Sydney, the secretary of the Australasian Inter-Union Conference, and foundation stone for the Beaudesert Baptist Church was laid on 8 October 1949 by C.G. Sweetman, President of the Baptist Union in Queensland.
From 1954 to 1962, the Beaudesert State School also provided a secondary school program, which ceased when a separate Beaudesert State High School was opened in January 1963.
From 1961 until 2001, the controversial child-welfare organisation BoysTown operated in Beaudesert. It had the largest case of child abuse at a single institution in Australia's history.
In 1999, the Biddaddaba History Group brought together the history of the area from the earliest settlement of white people up to 1990 in a comprehensive book available from libraries.
Prior to construction, the site of McAuley College was blessed by Archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge. It opened on 25 January 2017 with 36 students in Year 7. It was officially opened on 17 November 2017 by Scott Buchholz, Member for Wright with a blessing by Coleridge.

Timeline

Demographics

In the, the locality of Beaudesert had a population of 6,752.
In the, the locality of Beaudesert had a population of 6,395.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 7.2% of the population. 80.6% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were New Zealand 3.2% and England 2.7%. 89.7% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 23.4%, Anglican 21.3% and Catholic 21.2%.

Heritage listings

Beaudesert has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
  • Beaudesert Showgrounds, Albert Street
  • St Thomas’ Anglican Church, 7–9 Albert Street
  • Beaudesert Racecourse and Grandstand, 3180 Beaudesert–Boonah Road
  • Beaudesert Masonic Centre, 33 Brisbane Street
  • Beaudesert Hotel, 80 Brisbane Street
  • Scenic Rim Regional Council Chambers, 82 & 84 Brisbane Street
  • St Mary's Catholic Church, Bromelton Street
  • Beaudesert War Memorial, William Street