Byrnestown
Byrnestown is a rural locality in the North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the, Byrnestown had a population of 34 people.
The town was established as one of the first communes in Queensland.
In response to the idea of communes promulgated by utopian William Lane, in 1893 the Queensland Government legislated the Queensland Co-operative Communities Land Settlement Act to allow a group of 30 or more men and their families to establish a commune in Queensland. This led to many groups forming to pursue the goal of establishing a commune; one of these groups called themselves Byrnestown after the then Queensland Attorney-General Thomas Joseph Byrnes (who became Premier of Queensland in 1898).
In late 1893, sites near Roma were deemed too far from the town. In January 1893, the Byrnestown group inspected land in the Burnett area and found it suitable, having a water supply from the Wetherton Creek and frontage to the prospective railway to Gayndah. As a result, the Byrnestown commune (comprising 34 members) was registered on 24 February 1894 receiving 4600 acre for an 8-year term. Another group calling themselves Resolute selected land immediately to the east of the Byrnestown group, while a third group Bon Accord also took land in the Burnett area at Bon Accord.
The first of the Byrnestown settlers arrived in March 1894. Although all communes were given initial funds, by June 1894, Byrnestown requested and received additional financial assistance. By October 1894, there were 169 people in the Byrnestown commune: 34 men, 28 wives and 107 children. The group had erected numerous bark dwellings, farm buildings and were beginning work on a school building, but had made more limited progress on clearing and planting the land.
The Byrnestown commune did not succeed. As early as November 1894, there were allegations (denied by the group) that some of their members were working outside the commune but not contributing their wages to the commune as their agreement required. The following month some members were petitioning the government for funds, saying that the commune's management committee was denying them food. At the agricultural show at Degilbo in February 1895, it was revealed that 6 men had left the group and a further 9 were refusing to work, with the group's secretary suggesting the internal disputes arose from differences in nationality and religion. An inspection in April 1895 reported on limited progress at cultivation of the land, possibly linked to the number of men in the group working outside the commune. By July 1895, members of group had resorted to legal action over the management committee refusal to provide food to members who disagreed with their decisions. Byrnestown was not alone in its failure; in August 1895 a report by the Under-Secretary for Agriculture revealed most of the communes established were "in a state of collapse" and that there was little prospect of them being economically self-supporting.
One small success for the commune was the opening of the Byrnestown Provisional School on 4 September 1895. However, the Byrnestown commune soon complained that children from the neighbouring Resolute commune were attending their school without contributing to it.
In October 1895, the Byrnestown committee instituted a system of punishments for any member (or their wife) who criticised their commune or suggested it might not be a success. In December 1895, the Queensland Government passed legislation to enable communes to be dissolved and the communal land divided among the members. The members of Byrnestown immediately petitioned the Queensland Government to divide their communal land into individual portions. In April 1896, 2560 acre of the Byrnestown communal land was divided among 16 of its members, bringing the commune to an end. Those members who chose to take up individual land generally succeeded in their enterprise and were described less than two years later in February 1896 as "doing pretty well", suggesting that dissolution of the commune had rid the community of those men unsuited to agriculture or generally disinclined to work.
A report by R. W. Winks of the Department of Agriculture, Brisbane, surveying for the proposed Degilbo to Gayndah railway line extension, dated 10 November 1897 stated:- "The first really good piece of country of any extent begins some little distance from the coach stage at Wetheron, Two Mile, extending beyond the head station and running thence in a south-westerly direction to Oakey Creek. This belt, which takes in the whole of what was the Byrnestown and part of the Resolute and Bon Accord Groups, about 8 mi in length, and varying in breadth from 3 to 4 miles, is on the whole good land. It is principally composed of fine, black and chocolate soil ridges, even in contour, and in many places lightly timbered with broad-leafed ironbark and a kind of bloodwood. In some parts there is scarcely any timber, from which fact a portion of this zone is known locally as the Wetheron Clear Lands. Want of water is the chief drawback, but from some wells I saw on what was once group property, it would appear that good water can be obtained by comparatively shallow sinking. The average depth of the wells seemed about 40 ft."
In 1903, there were over 1000 acre under cultivation, growing mostly maize, potatoes and fodder crops; the main barrier to greater prosperity was the distance to the railway.
The town was established as one of the first communes in Queensland.
In response to the idea of communes promulgated by utopian William Lane, in 1893 the Queensland Government legislated the Queensland Co-operative Communities Land Settlement Act to allow a group of 30 or more men and their families to establish a commune in Queensland. This led to many groups forming to pursue the goal of establishing a commune; one of these groups called themselves Byrnestown after the then Queensland Attorney-General Thomas Joseph Byrnes (who became Premier of Queensland in 1898).
In late 1893, sites near Roma were deemed too far from the town. In January 1893, the Byrnestown group inspected land in the Burnett area and found it suitable, having a water supply from the Wetherton Creek and frontage to the prospective railway to Gayndah. As a result, the Byrnestown commune (comprising 34 members) was registered on 24 February 1894 receiving 4600 acre for an 8-year term. Another group calling themselves Resolute selected land immediately to the east of the Byrnestown group, while a third group Bon Accord also took land in the Burnett area at Bon Accord.
The first of the Byrnestown settlers arrived in March 1894. Although all communes were given initial funds, by June 1894, Byrnestown requested and received additional financial assistance. By October 1894, there were 169 people in the Byrnestown commune: 34 men, 28 wives and 107 children. The group had erected numerous bark dwellings, farm buildings and were beginning work on a school building, but had made more limited progress on clearing and planting the land.
The Byrnestown commune did not succeed. As early as November 1894, there were allegations (denied by the group) that some of their members were working outside the commune but not contributing their wages to the commune as their agreement required. The following month some members were petitioning the government for funds, saying that the commune's management committee was denying them food. At the agricultural show at Degilbo in February 1895, it was revealed that 6 men had left the group and a further 9 were refusing to work, with the group's secretary suggesting the internal disputes arose from differences in nationality and religion. An inspection in April 1895 reported on limited progress at cultivation of the land, possibly linked to the number of men in the group working outside the commune. By July 1895, members of group had resorted to legal action over the management committee refusal to provide food to members who disagreed with their decisions. Byrnestown was not alone in its failure; in August 1895 a report by the Under-Secretary for Agriculture revealed most of the communes established were "in a state of collapse" and that there was little prospect of them being economically self-supporting.
One small success for the commune was the opening of the Byrnestown Provisional School on 4 September 1895. However, the Byrnestown commune soon complained that children from the neighbouring Resolute commune were attending their school without contributing to it.
In October 1895, the Byrnestown committee instituted a system of punishments for any member (or their wife) who criticised their commune or suggested it might not be a success. In December 1895, the Queensland Government passed legislation to enable communes to be dissolved and the communal land divided among the members. The members of Byrnestown immediately petitioned the Queensland Government to divide their communal land into individual portions. In April 1896, 2560 acre of the Byrnestown communal land was divided among 16 of its members, bringing the commune to an end. Those members who chose to take up individual land generally succeeded in their enterprise and were described less than two years later in February 1896 as "doing pretty well", suggesting that dissolution of the commune had rid the community of those men unsuited to agriculture or generally disinclined to work.
A report by R. W. Winks of the Department of Agriculture, Brisbane, surveying for the proposed Degilbo to Gayndah railway line extension, dated 10 November 1897 stated:- "The first really good piece of country of any extent begins some little distance from the coach stage at Wetheron, Two Mile, extending beyond the head station and running thence in a south-westerly direction to Oakey Creek. This belt, which takes in the whole of what was the Byrnestown and part of the Resolute and Bon Accord Groups, about 8 mi in length, and varying in breadth from 3 to 4 miles, is on the whole good land. It is principally composed of fine, black and chocolate soil ridges, even in contour, and in many places lightly timbered with broad-leafed ironbark and a kind of bloodwood. In some parts there is scarcely any timber, from which fact a portion of this zone is known locally as the Wetheron Clear Lands. Want of water is the chief drawback, but from some wells I saw on what was once group property, it would appear that good water can be obtained by comparatively shallow sinking. The average depth of the wells seemed about 40 ft."
In 1903, there were over 1000 acre under cultivation, growing mostly maize, potatoes and fodder crops; the main barrier to greater prosperity was the distance to the railway.
Map - Byrnestown
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