Colinton War Memorial is a heritage-listed war memorial at the corner of the D'Aguilar Highway and Emu Creek Road, Colinton, Somerset Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1917. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 15 July 2016.
History 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 upper Brisbane Valley was settled by squatters in the 1840s and was initially used for depasturing sheep, but later for cattle. Colinton Run, taken up by the Balfour Brothers (John, Charles and Robert) in 1841, included the site of Colinton War Memorial.Ruth Kerr, Confidence and Tradition: A History of the Esk Shire, Council of the Shire of Esk, Esk, 1988, p. 5. 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 .Brisbane Valley Heritage Trails: Moore, http://www.dilgp.qld.gov.au/resources/brochure/bvrt/heritage-moore.pdf, accessed 4 May 2016.
Closer settlement in the Brisbane Valley began in the 1870s. Colinton Run was reduced when the resumption of from Colinton East and West took place in 1876.'Queensland Parliament', The Darling Downs Gazette and General Advertiser, 21 October 1876, p. 4. 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.
Sufficient settlement of the Brisbane Valley had taken place by 1877 for inspection of the land for a rail route from Walloon, via Esk and Nanango, to Gympie. The first section of the Brisbane Valley railway line, to Lowood, opened on 16 June 1884 while the second section, to Esk, opened on 9 August 1886; where the terminus remained for 17 years. During the 1880s closer settlement of the Brisbane Valley intensified with more land resumed from pastoral stations and settled. Further reduction of Colinton Station took place in 1904 when the Colinton Estate was sold as 145 farms ranging from in size and suitable for dairying and agriculture.'The Colinton Estate', The Queenslander, 27 February 1904, p. 25
Dairy farming had commenced in the Brisbane Valley in the late 19th century, aided by the advancing Brisbane Valley railway line, which transported farm produce to dairy factories. The first of these was established at Lowood in 1890..
As a result of closer settlement, the township of Colinton formed as a service town for its surrounding agricultural community. In the Queensland Post Office Directory of 1900, three people were listed as residents of Colinton.Queensland Post Office Directory, (QPOD) 1900, country directory. 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.M J Fox, History of Queensland: its people and industries: an historical and commercial review, descriptive and biographical facts, figures and illustrations : a epitome of progress, Vol. 1, States Publishing Company, Brisbane, 1919, p. 341The provisional school became a state school in 1909. See: E DeLacy, The Colinton Boys, Boolarong Press, 2015, p. 12.
The Standard Dairy Company became a well-known condensed milk producer in Queensland early in the 20th century and played an important role in the settlement and progress of the Colinton district. It had opened a condensed milk factory at Wyreema on the Darling Downs before 1906.Darling Downs Gazette, 10 March 1906, p. 1. 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.'New Factory Opened at Colinton', The Queenslander, 22 February 1908, p. 40. 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". The condensed milk factory made "Prairie" milk from the district's dairy produce.'Through the Stanley District', Queensland Times, 21 May 1915, p. 3Esk Divisional Board and Shire Council Minutes (ESKM), 18 July 1907, p. 2 cited by Ruth S Kerr, Confidence and Tradition: A History of the Esk Shire, Council of the Shire of Esk, Esk, 1988, p. 77'Prairie Milk', The Queenslander, 21 August 1909, p. 47'Manufactures Week', The Brisbane Courier, 26 May 1914, p. 5. From December 1909, nearby Nurinda railway station loaded goods to and from the factory.Kerr, Confidence and Tradition, p. 108.
At the outbreak of WWI, Colinton was a growing township. In that year, 27 people were listed there for postal purposes, of which 22 were dairy farmers. The 1911 census for Colinton district had recorded a population of 213. The Standard Dairy Co. Ltd's condensery in the township received the produce of about 44 dairy farmers and provided employment at the factory for at least 40 locals. Photographic evidence of Colinton from 1914 and 1915 shows: about a dozen houses; two stores; and a School of Arts (1911–12), which was located north of Emu Creek, opposite the condensery.Census figures prepared by the Office of Economic & Statistical Research, Queensland Treasury (Q150 Release) cited by DeLacy, The Colinton Boys, p. 7QPOD 1914-15, country directory'Contents', The Week, 28 August 1914, p. 20'Mrs Stapleton's cash store in Colinton', 1914, SLQ Image 166507'View of Colinton, 1915', JOL, Image 27023-0001-0001'Staff at Colinton Condensery, 1918', Esk & District Co-operative Society archive'Our Harlin Letter', Queensland Times, 25 April 1911, p. 8DeLacy, The Colinton Boys, p. 111 puts the number of employees at the Standard Dairy Company Colinton factory at 55 men, boys and girls in 1911 and the factory receiving milk from 53 farms within a 10 miles radius.
Given its population of a little over 200, Colinton's enlistment response was substantial. By January 1917, 44 Colinton men had successfully enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF).DeLacy, The Colinton Boys, p. 5.
The plan to establish Colinton War Memorial to recognise their war service was initiated in May 1916. "[A] meeting was held to decide in what way to best place on record the excellent response the district has made to the call of the Empire, there having been 46 [sic] good men accepted for service from Colinton and the surrounding district. It has been practically decided to erect a marble slab, bearing the names of those who have volunteered".Queensland Times, 24 May 1916, p. 3 cited by DeLacy, The Colinton Boys, p. 13. 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.'Esk Honour Board', The Brisbane Courier, 30 August 1916, p. 9DeLacy, The Colinton Boys, p. 8Queensland Times, 22 August 1916, p. 3.
On 18 January 1917, the Colinton Honour Board (now known as the Colinton War Memorial) was unveiled by the local member of parliament, Henry Plantagenet Somerset, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. The stone honour board was located directly in front of the Colinton School of Arts, facing north.Photograph, unveiling the Colinton monument, 1917 provided by the applicant1917 photograph of the Colinton War Memorial and School of Arts, provided by the applicant.
Colinton War Memorial is the earliest WWI memorial of the monument type known to have been erected in Queensland.Timber Honour Boards pre-date WWI memorial monuments. Two other war memorial monuments were recorded in The Queenslander in December 1917 as being unveiled that year: at East Brisbane, for which fund-raising was underway in May 1916and at Toogoolawah, which was unveiled on 31 March 1917. See: "East Brisbane Carnival. Soldiers" Memorial Fund', The Brisbane Courier, 28 May 1917, p. 8'Toogoolawah Soldiers' Memorial, I, 31 March 1917, p. 9. 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:'Esk Notes Unveiling of Colinton Honour Board', Queensland Times, 25 January 1917, p. 6.Sydney Mail, 7 February 1917, p. 2."[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.KS, Inglis, Sacred Places: War memorials in the Australian landscape. Miegunyah Press, Victoria, 1998, p. 134. Fund-raising for local war memorials was thus a voluntary community effort, as was the case at Colinton.
The decision about whose names should appear on a war memorial varied across Australia. While some only listed the dead, many also listed those who returned from service. War memorial committees were also lobbied to consider including people who missed military service for various reasons.see Inglis, Sacred Places: War memorials in the Australian landscape, pp.182-185 for discussion on naming decisions for war memorials. 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.
WWI memorials took a variety of forms in Australia, including honour boards (from 1915), stone monuments (including obelisks, soldier statues, arches, crosses, columns, urns, or slabs - such as the one at Colinton), tree-lined memorial avenues, memorial parks, and utilitarian structures such as gates, halls and clocks. In Queensland the "digger" statue was the most popular choice of monument, while the obelisk predominated in southern states.Inglis, Sacred Places: War memorials in the Australian landscape, p.161. 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.Inglis, Sacred Places: War memorials in the Australian landscape, pp. 108-9.