Cherbourg, Queensland

Cherbourg is located off the Bunya Highway approximately {{convert|250|km|mi|0}} north-west of Brisbane and {{convert|6|km|mi|1}} from the town of Murgon. It is situated on Barambah Creek, close to Bjelke-Petersen Dam.

Wakka Wakka (Waka Waka, Wocca Wocca, Wakawaka) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken in the Burnett River catchment. The Wakka Wakka language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the North and South Burnett Regional Council, particularly the towns of Cherbourg, Murgon, Kingaroy, Gayndah, Eidsvold and Mundubbera.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

The town was founded as a settlement for Aboriginal people, known as an Aboriginal reserve, under a policy of segregation being pursued by the Government of Queensland under the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897. In 1900, the Salvation Army negotiated for the establishment of the Barambah Aboriginal Settlement, which was gazetted over {{convert|7000|acre|ha}} on 23 February 1901.{{cite web |url=http://www.atsip.qld.gov.au/people/communities/cherbourg/ |title=Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships: Cherbourg community |access-date=2009-08-22 |publisher=The State of Queensland |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912190752/http://www.atsip.qld.gov.au/people/communities/cherbourg/ |archive-date=12 September 2009 |df=dmy-all }}{{cite web | title=Our History | website=Cherbourg | date=9 September 2019 | url=https://cherbourg.qld.gov.au/council/our-history/ | access-date=8 April 2021 | archive-date=13 April 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413043818/https://cherbourg.qld.gov.au/council/our-history/ | url-status=live }} It was sponsored by the Ipswich Aboriginal Protection Society.{{cite web | title=Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement (c. 1904 - 1986) | website=Find & Connect | date=20 November 2018 | url=https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/qld/biogs/QE01069b.htm | access-date=8 April 2021 | archive-date=16 June 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616031056/https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/qld/biogs/QE01069b.htm | url-status=live }}{{cite web | title=Cherbourg | website=Queensland Government | date=8 April 2015 | url=https://www.qld.gov.au/atsi/cultural-awareness-heritage-arts/community-histories/community-histories-c-d/community-histories-cherbourg | access-date=8 April 2021 | archive-date=10 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110001625/https://www.qld.gov.au/atsi/cultural-awareness-heritage-arts/community-histories/community-histories-c-d/community-histories-cherbourg | url-status=live }} 50px Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016190421/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |date=16 October 2020 }} licence.

File:Cobbo, Daniel. Member of the Australian Light Horse, 1917.jpg, 1917. Cobbo came from the Barambah Aboriginal Mission.{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/ww1/2017/08/28/daniel-cabbo-q19612/|title=DANIEL CABBO #Q19612|last1=Powell|first1=Marg|last2=Crump|first2=Des|date=28 August 2017|website=Queensland's World War 1 Centenary|publisher=State Library of Queensland|access-date=16 April 2018|archive-date=16 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416200435/http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/ww1/2017/08/28/daniel-cabbo-q19612/|url-status=live}}]]

File:Beautiful Angora billy goat and goat herd from Barambah Aboriginal Settlement, Queensland, 1912 (17317337705).jpg

It was known as Barambah Aboriginal Settlement from {{circa}}1904 to 1932 and then Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement until 1986. Other names include Barambah Aboriginal Mission, Barambah Aboriginal Reserve, Barambah Mission Reserve and Barambah Mission Station.{{cite web| title=Barambah Aboriginal Settlement| website=Queensland State Archives - Queensland Government| url=https://www.archivessearch.qld.gov.au/agencies/A9657| access-date=8 April 2021| archive-date=16 June 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616030932/https://www.archivessearch.qld.gov.au/agencies/A9657| url-status=live}}

The district was renamed Cherbourg on 8 December 1931 to avoid confusion with the mail deliveries to the Barambah pastoral station. The name Cherbourg derives from the parish name, which takes its name from the original 1840s pastoral run name, which is believed to be a corruption of Chirbury, a town in Shropshire, England, the birthplace of pastoralist Richard Jones who leased the pastoral run in the 1850s.{{Cite QPN|6987|Cherbourg|parish in the South Burnett Region|access-date=9 June 2021}}

It was initially populated with a few local Aboriginal people, but others from the Esk region and further afield were soon sent to the reserve. Many were forcibly removed from their land and "settled" at Barambah. People from 109 different areas{{cite book |title=A History of Queensland |last=Evans |first=Raymond |year=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Port Melbourne, Victoria |isbn=978-0-521-87692-6 |page=140 }} were mixed together and they were not allowed to speak their own languages. The effect of mixing these different groups of people together and forcing them to learn to speak a foreign language (English) has been an almost total loss of their cultural heritage. Many of the languages are considered to be extinct, surviving only in notes and recordings stored at the University of Queensland. The settlement housed a reformatory school and training farm, a home training centre for girls, a hospital, dormitories in which the women and children lived, and churches of various denominations. Training was provided in a variety of agricultural, industrial and domestic fields. People were hired out as cheap labour and at one stage they were not allowed to leave the reserve. In fact, until the referendum in 1967, the Indigenous people at Cherbourg were not even counted in the census.{{cite book|url=https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/amendment-amid-21.html|title=Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act|chapter=Amendment to Section 127|page=24|access-date=9 November 2016|via=Documenting a Democracy Museum of Australian Democracy}}

Barambah Aboriginal School opened in 1904, its name changing to Cherbourg Aboriginal School in 1931–1932. The school was operated by the Department of Native Affairs until the 1960s when it came under the control of Queensland Department of Education and became Cherbourg State School.{{Cite web|date=2020-02-21|title=Our school|url=https://cherbourgss.eq.edu.au/our-school|access-date=2021-02-02|website=Cherbourg State School|language=en|archive-date=13 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313105517/https://cherbourgss.eq.edu.au/our-school|url-status=live}}

The reserve was administered by the Aboriginal Protection Society, Ipswich, until February 1905, when control passed to the Government of Queensland and a Superintendent was appointed, who reported to the Chief Protector of Aborigines. There were approximately 2079 documented removals of Aboriginal people to Barambah between the years of 1905 and 1939.

Cherbourg Provisional School opened on 1932 for the children of the white officials, separate to the school for the Aboriginal children. It closed in 1941.{{Citation | author1=Queensland Family History Society | title=Queensland schools past and present | publication-date=2010 | publisher=Queensland Family History Society | edition=Version 1.01 | isbn=978-1-921171-26-0 }}

The Anglican Church of the Holy Spirit was dedicated on 19 February 1939 by the Bishop-Coadjutor. Its closure circa 2018 was approved by Bishop Cameron Venables.{{Cite web|title=Closed Anglican Churches|url=https://www.anglicanarchives.org.au/churches/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403003329/https://www.anglicanarchives.org.au/churches/|archive-date=3 April 2019|access-date=29 June 2020|website=Anglican Church South Queensland}}

Cherbourg Post Office opened on 15 November 1965 and closed in 1986.{{Cite web | last = Premier Postal History | title = Post Office List | publisher = Premier Postal Auctions | url = https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=QLD&country= | access-date = 10 May 2014 | archive-date = 15 May 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140515223132/http://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=QLD&country= | url-status = live }}

In 1982, Cherbourg was granted a Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT), becoming self-managed by its own local authority.

Over the years, the policies towards Aboriginal people changed from protection to assimilation and eventually participation and a measure of self-government with the passage of the Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984. The Act provided for elected community councils who could make recommendations to the Minister for Community Services on matters relating to the progress, development and wellbeing of the people they represented. On 28 August 1986 a Deed of Grant in Trust was granted to the Cherbourg community, giving this council official status.

The Local Government (Community Government Areas) Act 2004 gave Cherbourg formal legal recognition as a local government.

Alcohol limits were imposed on Cherbourg residents in March 2009 in an attempt to reduce violence.{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/07/2618630.htm |title=Cherbourg alcohol bans 'failing' |author=Emma Pollard |access-date=2009-10-22 |date=7 July 2009 |work=ABC News Online |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |archive-date=21 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090921011851/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/07/2618630.htm |url-status=dead }} In 2009, then-Mayor Sam Murray claimed the restrictions were not being enforced and the problem was being pushed underground.

In 2022, Fujitsu opened a First Nations Service Centre in Cherbourg. The Service Centre is part of a program to boost the economic development of Queensland First Nations communities through digital skills training and employment opportunities.{{cite web |title=Fujitsu launches First Nations-led pilot program with Queensland Government to promote digital inclusion |url=https://www.fujitsu.com/au/about/resources/news/press-releases/2022/fujitsu-launches-first-nations-led-pilot-program-with-qld-gov-to-promote-digital-inclusion.html |access-date=26 June 2025}}{{Cite web |title=First Nations digital service centres {{!}} |url=https://www.qld.gov.au/about/how-government-works/strategies-and-initiatives/digital-economy-strategy/what-we-are-doing/first-nations-digital-service-centres |access-date=2025-06-26 |website=Environment, land, and water |publisher=Queensland Government}}

In the {{CensusAU|2006}}, the town of Cherbourg had a population of 1,128 people.{{Census 2006 AUS|id=UCL312600|name=Cherbourg (Urban Centre/Locality)|access-date=3 May 2011|quick=on}}

In the {{CensusAU|2016}}, the locality of Cherbourg had a population of 1,269 people, of whom 98.7% identified as Indigenous Australians.{{Census 2016 AUS|id=SSC30596|name=Cherbourg (SSC)|access-date=20 October 2018|quick=on}}

In the {{CensusAU|2021}}, the locality of Cherbourg had a population of 1,194 people, of whom 1,151 (96.4%) identified as Indigenous Australians.{{Census 2021 AUS|id=SAL30592|name=Cherbourg (SAL)|access-date=16 June 2024|quick=on}}

Cherbourg State School is a government primary (Early Childhood-6) school for boys and girls at 15 Fisher Street ({{coord|-26.2929|151.9551|type:edu_region:AU-QLD|name=Cherbourg State School}}).{{cite web|date=9 July 2018|title=State and non-state school details|url=https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/state-and-non-state-school-details/resource/5b39065c-df32-415c-994c-5ff12f8de997|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121065959/https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/state-and-non-state-school-details/resource/5b39065c-df32-415c-994c-5ff12f8de997|archivedate=21 November 2018|access-date=21 November 2018|publisher=Queensland Government}}{{cite web|title=Cherbourg State School|url=https://www.cherbourgss.eq.edu.au|access-date=21 November 2018|archive-date=13 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313103758/https://cherbourgss.eq.edu.au/|url-status=live}} In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 130 students with 17 teachers and 40 non-teaching staff (25 full-time equivalent).{{cite web|title=ACARA School Profile 2018|url=https://www.acara.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/school-profile-2018.xlsx|access-date=28 January 2020|publisher=Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority|archive-date=27 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200827085246/https://www.acara.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/school-profile-2018.xlsx|url-status=live}} It includes a special education program.{{cite web|title=Cherbourg SS - Special Education Program|url=https://www.cherbourgss.eq.edu.au|access-date=21 November 2018|archive-date=13 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313103758/https://cherbourgss.eq.edu.au/|url-status=live}}

In 2023 the position of Head of Special Education Services was removed by non-Indigenous Principal Mr Boyd McLean and the full-time position of Guidance Officer was reduced to a part-time position.

Cherbourg is home to the Nurunderi (meaning taught by Great Spirit) campus of TAFE Queensland South West ({{coord|-26.2951|151.9565|type:landmark_region:AU-QLD|name=Nurunderi technical college}}).{{Cite web|date=18 November 2020|title=Landmark Areas - Queensland|url=https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/built-features-queensland-series/resource/db9c913b-b7e2-4d88-9a5e-32cbb1470f12|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121195536/https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/built-features-queensland-series/resource/db9c913b-b7e2-4d88-9a5e-32cbb1470f12|archive-date=21 November 2020|access-date=21 October 2020|website=Queensland Open Data|publisher=Queensland Government}} It offers general courses of study as well as ones specific to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. All people are welcome to study at this campus.{{cite web|title=Nurunderi|url=http://tafesouthwest.edu.au/about-us/locations/nurunderi/#.VWZuddKeDGc|publisher=TAFE Queensland South West|access-date=28 May 2015|archive-date=30 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530232839/http://tafesouthwest.edu.au/about-us/locations/nurunderi/#.VWZuddKeDGc|url-status=live}}

There is no secondary school in Cherbourg. The nearest government secondary school is Murgon State High School in neighbouring Murgon to the north and Silver Lining Independent School (Secondary) at Ficks Crossing, which adjoins the Cherbourg National Park.{{Queensland Globe|access-date=25 May 2022}}

File:Cherbourg QLD (Mapillary 319654733020856).jpg

The Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council operates the Winifred Fisher Indigenous Knowledge Centre in the Old Youth Respite Centre, Barambah Road.{{Cite web|url=http://plconnect.slq.qld.gov.au/networking/directory-of-public-libraries/branches/cherbourg/winifred_fisher_library|title=Cherbourg (Winifred Fisher Knowledge Centre)|date=8 June 2017|website=Public Libraries Connect|publisher=State Library of Queensland|access-date=24 January 2018|archive-date=24 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124135735/http://plconnect.slq.qld.gov.au/networking/directory-of-public-libraries/branches/cherbourg/winifred_fisher_library|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |date=2016-07-12 |title=Official Launch of Winifred Fisher Indigenous Knowledge Centre (IKC), Cherbourg |url=https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/official-launch-winifred-fisher-indigenous-knowledge-centre-ikc-cherbourg |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230825030730/https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/official-launch-winifred-fisher-indigenous-knowledge-centre-ikc-cherbourg |archive-date=25 August 2023 |access-date=2023-08-25 |website=State Library Of Queensland |language=en}}

Other facilities include:

• Cherbourg Police Station ({{coord|-26.2902|151.9562|type:landmark_region:AU-QLD|name=Cherbourg Police Station}}){{Cite web|date=18 November 2020|title=Emergency services facilities - Queensland|url=https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/built-features-queensland-series/resource/923a4139-4a79-4744-8955-d73230796bd6|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124224500/https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/built-features-queensland-series/resource/923a4139-4a79-4744-8955-d73230796bd6|archive-date=24 November 2020|access-date=24 November 2020|website=Queensland Open Data|publisher=Queensland Government}}
• Cherbourg Fire Station ({{coord|-26.2891|151.9567|type:landmark_region:AU-QLD|name=Cherbourg Fire Station}})
• Cherbourg SES Facility ({{coord|-26.2878|151.9566|type:landmark_region:AU-QLD|name=Cherbourg SES Facility}})
• Cherbourg Hospital & Community Health Centre ({{coord|-26.2916|151.9569|type:landmark_region:AU-QLD|name=Cherbourg public hospital}}) with heliport ({{coord|-26.2912|151.9574|type:airport_region:AU-QLD|name=Cherbourg Hospital heliport|display=}}){{Cite web|date=22 October 2020|title=Heliports and landing grounds - Queensland|url=https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/transport-features-queensland-series/resource/1646c12e-0c31-42d3-a156-9891b01e938a|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116140611/https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/transport-features-queensland-series/resource/1646c12e-0c31-42d3-a156-9891b01e938a|archive-date=16 November 2020|access-date=3 November 2020|website=Queensland Open Data|publisher=Queensland Government}}

• Caroline Archer – activist for Aboriginal culture and rights
• Maroochy Barambah – opera singer
• Adrian Blair – Olympic boxer
• Harold Blair – tenor and activist
• Selwyn Cobbo – rugby league player born in Cherbourg{{cite web|date=11 February 2021|title=Cobbo keen for a strong season with the Seagulls|url=https://www.qrl.com.au/news/2021/02/11/cobbo-keen-for-a-strong-season-with-the-seagulls/|publisher=QRL.com.au|access-date=8 June 2021|archive-date=16 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616031007/https://www.qrl.com.au/news/2021/02/11/cobbo-keen-for-a-strong-season-with-the-seagulls/|url-status=live}}
• Marlene Cummins – musician and activist
• Frank Fisher – rugby league player
• Lionel Fogarty – poet and political activist
• Eddie Gilbert – cricket player
• Ruth Hegarty – author
• Albert Henry – cricketer
• Jerry Jerome – boxer
• Chris Sandow – rugby league player
• Chris Sarra – Indigenous educator
• Willie Tonga – Australia and Queensland representative rugby league player
• Daniel Alfred Yock – dancer

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book | last1=Blake|first1=Thomas W.|last2=Serico|first2=V. | date= 2023 | title=A dumping ground : a history of the Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement / Thom Blake. | publisher=Thom Blake Historian Publishing | edition=Second Edition 2023 Thom Blake Historian Publishing | url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3262217859/view}}
• Is That You Ruthie? by Ruth Hegarty{{Cite journal |last=Watson |first=Christine |title=Is That You, Ruthie?, Ruth Hegarty, published by University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, Australia: 1999 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1326011100600595 |journal=The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education |year=1999 |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=55 |doi=10.1017/s1326011100600595 |s2cid=222843360 |issn=1326-0111 |access-date=15 May 2022 |archive-date=16 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616031057/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/australian-journal-of-indigenous-education/article/abs/is-that-you-ruthie-ruth-hegarty-published-by-university-of-queensland-press-st-lucia-australia-1999/314B166BAA6F28BE6E6D577506427284 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}

{{portal|Queensland}}

{{commons category|Cherbourg, Queensland}}

• [http://tourism.southburnett.com.au/towncherbourg.htm South Burnett Tourism - Cherbourg]
• [http://cherbourgmemory.org/ Cherbourg Memory]
• [https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/tqqf2h/alma99183565420102061 Cherbourg Conversations interviews ca 2008]. State Library of Queensland
• [https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/tqqf2h/alma99183594486602061 Cherbourg’s former marching girls digital story]. State Library of Queensland

{{Aboriginal Shire of Cherbourg}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Towns in Queensland

Category:Australian Aboriginal missions

Category:Stolen Generations institutions

Category:Aboriginal communities in Queensland

Category:Wide Bay–Burnett

Category:Populated places established in 1900

Category:1900 establishments in Australia

Category:Aboriginal Shire of Cherbourg

Category:Localities in Queensland

Category:Kabi Kabi