barambah

A Salvation Army officer at Nanango, William Thompson, secured the severance of 7000 acres from the Barambah pastoral station in 1901. The allotment was gazetted as a mission station and known as the Barambah Industrial School. Its establishment predated the beginnings of Murgon township by three years. Thompson gathered local Aborigines onto the mission station and was superintendent until 1904. Conditions were rudimentary, worsened by drought and lack of finance. Control of Barambah passed to the state government in 1905, but the superintendent allowed Aboriginal residents to be forcibly hired out for casual labour in the rapidly growing local agricultural economy. Despite this, the settlement became substantially self-sufficient in food (goats, poultry, vegetables), a hospital was built and a sawmill opened in 1917. Improved housing was built with locally milled timber." Source:https://queenslandplaces.com.au/cherbourg-aboriginal-shire-council

Talking about The First Nation we can not escape historical facts and consequences of colonisation.

Vesna Verencevic At the State library we hold the Cherbourg Tindale genealogical [family history] collection. For more information please visit. www.slq.qld.gov.au/research-collections/family-history/ab... and more.

"1913 — The Dormitory system is expanded to include Mothers and their children. A policy of rescuing young women and children is introduced. It is not enough to remove them to a settlement for better care and protection, they have to be placed in a controlled environment. The dormitory system, which continued until the 1980s is a strict form of segregation and discipline." Source:http://cherbourgmemory.org/group-of-women-with-children-at-barambah-aboriginal-settlement-1911/

"From the beginning our people loved sport. We had a sports ground – where the school is now. In summer we played cricket and in winter we played rugby league. We also had boxing matches, athletics, swimming carnivals and sports’ days with novelty events. " source:http://cherbourgmemory.org/tag/1900s/

There is a blog story on Jerry Jerome (Aboriginal boxer) 1874-1943 at www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/jerry-jerome-aboriginal-boxer-187.... Jerry Jerome died on 27 September 1943 at Cherbourg Aboriginal mission penniless and is assumed to be buried at Murgon cemetery. He had a great boxing career.