Queanbeyan - City of Champions

01/01/2026

Saddened to hear of the passing of Canberra/Queanbeyan icon, Dawn Waterhouse (Calthorpe) 🥲

Dawn was born on Dec 15, 1923, her dad Harry of Woodgers & Calthorpe fame - 1st agents to market land in the ACT.

After Qbn, the next family home was the historic - and still fully intact - Calthorpes’ House: one of Canberra’s earliest properties, designed by well-known architect Kenneth Oliphant.

I wrote a column for Canberra CityNews noting Dawn’s 100th birthday in 2023 - also the centenary of Queanbeyan’s WWI memorial, unveiled by Acting Prime Minister and leader of the Country Party (later Nationals), Sir Earle Page.

Rest In Peace Dawn 🙏❤️

https://citynews.com.au/2024/towering-memorial-marks-a-century-of-service/

03/10/2025

See anyone you recognise?

Uncertain of the year but would be after 1901 as that’s when the weir was constructed in the Queanbeyan River.

On the rise behind, Byrne’s Flour Mill (1883) - it originally boasted “three pairs of elevators … and a freestanding smokestack 60 feet (18.3 m) high”.

Also the gracious manager’s residence, the Mill House (and some great stories over time from those who have lived within!) ❤️

28/09/2025

187 years on and still the City of Champions ❤️🎉

Post your fave photo of Queanbeyan’s yesteryears (I’ll try to find one of my rarest) 👏

16/07/2025

29/04/2025

The first recorded reference of tennis courts at the Queanbeyan Park was in the Goulburn Evening Penny Post in 1885 📰

We are likely to be one of the oldest clubs in NSW operating from the same site and that means this year marks 140 years of tennis in Queanbeyan 🎾🏆

We will be sharing club history and stories over the coming months to celebrate. We are also planning some activities for later this year. Stay tuned!

Photo: Queanbeyan Park Tennis Club archives, circa mid-1950s

Tennis Australia Tennis ACT Tennis NSW Queanbeyan Museum Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council Nichole Overall MLC Queanbeyan-Palerang Libraries The Canberra Page Region Canberra Q News Visit Queanbeyan Palerang Queanbeyan stories Queanbeyan Pickleball The Fold - Queanbeyan

28/04/2025

April 28, 140 years ago: the very first Queanbeyan Council sat for the first time.

30 years before Australia’s “baptism of fire” on a Turkish beach called Gallipoli, Queanbeyan, with a population of 1,100, held an election on April 25, 1885.

9 of the 14 candidates were elected aldermen. John James Wright was the 1st mayor.

Having arrived in town penniless (and legend has it, “shoeless”), Wright had become one of the wealthiest residents in the district through astute business pursuits. He had also served as the Member for Qbn in the Parliament of NSW.

As described by historian Errol Lea Scarlett:
“That the council would be a townsman’s affair was a foregone conclusion. Those nine had the pe*******on to see the real problems, imagination enough to anticipate many future demands, and boldness enough to hope to finance expenditure out of a meagre tax on capital value.”

Many other well known local names have served as alderman/councillors over 140 years, with many significant mayors - do you have a story to share?

[*This photo shows the Council of 1888 when John Bull was elected as the 2nd mayor]

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/270926272?searchTerm=Queanbeyan%20borough%20council%20elected%201885

21/10/2024

Bit of fuss with the King in Canberra - what about time he visited Queanbeyan?

In 1979, as the Prince of Wales, opening the Googong Dam, its 124,000 million litre capacity providing water for our region and Canberra 👏

02/08/2024

Queanbeyan is indeed a City of Champions (historically accurate, not just bias!). Our first Olympian, Basil Dickinson in 1936. Our latest, Monique Suraci.

With a proud home crowd cheering her on, Monique is an incredible addition to both Qbn and our nation's sporting annals ❤️

05/07/2024

Congratulations “the Face of Maternity” in Queanbeyan, Sue Ahearn ❤️👏

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8684904/sue-ahearn-wins-care-and-kindness-award-at-queanbeyan-hospital/?

12/06/2024

Just presented with this 100yr old photographic panorama:
Queanbeyan from the South, 1924.

(Found at the back of someone’s cupboard 😱)

Can you pick from where it was taken?