The early days of Barcaldine, in colour.

The Wool Industry

A sheep station was set up in the district in 1863, and named Barcaldine Downs. The owner of that station had been a slaveholder in British Guiana, and employed South Sea Islander labour on the station in the early years. Presumably, the man had seen a successful business model in operation, and didn’t feel inclined to modify it too much in the new country.

Horse drawn wool wagon, Barcaldine, c 1905

McLaughlin’s Wool scour near Barcaldine, c 1910

Bullock teams carrying wool bales to the railway station at Barcaldine, c 1906

Wool bales at the railway station goods shed along Oak Street, Barcaldine, c 1888

Barcaldine Town

The first European to visit the Barcaldine area was – to modern eyes – the worst European: Frederick Walker, of Native Police infamy. Walker was in search of Burke and Wills at the time (1861).

Queensland National Bank in Barcaldine, around 1887. Surrounded by a rough wooden fence, and populated by official-looking coves.

The town of Barcaldine was laid out in the mid-1880s, with banks, post offices and a railway station built in quick succession.

Queensland National Bank, Barcaldine, 1905. Now a meeting place for swells.

Big day at the races in Barcaldine, Queensland, circa 1904

Oak Street in Barcaldine, Queensland, ca 1905

Devastation caused by a fire in Barcaldine, August 1909

Shearers’ Strike

By 1891, a dispute arose in the wool industry, as employers resorted to hiring non-union labour. The unionised shearers, having only recently been able to organise for better conditions and pay, commenced strike action. The result looks to modern eyes like an uneven struggle, with shearers in camps in the bush outside of town and the military tooled up in highly organised encampments. The strike made Barcaldine a key location in the growing labour movement.