Queanbeyan’s Time Line is a work in progress. Your input and feedback is most welcome!

pre-1788 – Ngambri people lived in this area.

1820 – 19 Aug 1820. Joseph Wild, servant of Dr Charles Throsby, explored the east side of Lake George (Weewara).

1820 – 8 Dec 1820. Charles Throsby, nephew of Dr Charles Throsby, when exploring with Joseph Wild, a servant, and  James Vaughan, a constable, discover the junction of the Queanbeyan (Jullergang) and Molonglo (Ngambri) Rivers.

1825 – Robert Campbell was given a grant of land. His overseer, James Ainslie established Pialligo, later renamed Duntroon after the ancestral Campbell seat.

1825 – 3 May 1825. Date of first application to purchase land. ‘Deed of grant’ for 100 acres was dated 12 October 1838. this was the first stock station in the area. It was located at Acton, named ‘Canberry’ and owned by Joshua John Moore.

1828 – John Palmer, Robert Campbell’s brother-in-law, settled at Jerrabomberra.

1828 – Ex-convict and innkeeper Timothy Beard had a squattage called Quinbeane station on the banks of the Molonglo River in the area now known as Oaks Estate.

1829 – Robert Dixon surveyed the area; the County of Murray was proclaimed in October 1829.

1832 – John Palmer added 640 acres to his Jerrabomberra holdings at a place called Quinbeane.

1834 – Earliest  schools established : Christ Church; a private school.

1836 – 1 Jan 1836. Post office established in Queanbeyan with mails arriving weekly. A second weekly service began in 1837.

1837 – 28 November 1837. Colonial Secretary announced the appointment of Captain Alured Tasker Faunce as resident Police Magistrate at Queanbeyan. His homestead, called Dodsworth, was situated on the banks of the Queanbeyan River (now the location of the golf course). It was first occupied in 1839 and remained in use for 120 years.

1838 – April 1838. James Larmer, surveyor in setting out Queanbeyan’s square mile of land,  arranged the streets in a grid pattern and adopted the name ‘Moneroo’ for the street at the crossing of the Queanbeyan River from Bungendore to Moneroo.

1838 – 30 May 1838. Queanbeyan was gazetted as a Church of England Parish.

1838 – 3 July 1838. Hotel licence granted to William Hunt and Joseph Kaye, Oaks Estate, for ‘The Elmsall’, Trinculo Place East . It was one of the first granted by the newly established Queanbeyan Court.

1838 – 28 September 1838. Queanbeyan was officially proclaimed a township with a population of 50.

1840s – First wave of bushrangers in the area.

1841 – 20 Apr 1841. Queanbeyan’s second public house, the “Dog and Stile Inn”, Macquoid Street, opened.

1843 – 3 Apr 1843. Dedication of the original stone Christ Church (replaced by current Church 1859-60). There was also a stone school house and stone stables.

1843 – 18 Apr 1843. The Doncaster Inn opened.

1843 – The first elected representative of the United Counties (Murray; King; Georgiana) to the Legislative Council: Terrence Aubrey Murray of Yarralumla.

1843 – The first District Council (local government) established in Queanbeyan.

1844 – 28 February 1844. J J Wright appointed Postmaster.

1844 – Christmas Day 1844. Christ Church Queanbeyan held its first service. Christ Church was consecrated 8 Mar 1845.

1845 – First brewery in Queanbeyan established.

1847 – First hospital, the Queanbeyan Benevolent Asylum, opened.

1849/50 – Kent Hotel (Ye Olde Kent House) was originally built for William Hunt as an hotel. It was also used as the court house.

1850 – St Gregory’s Roman Catholic Church (dedicated 31 December 1844) opened.

1850 – The ‘Harp of Erin Inn’, Macquoid Street opened (site of the Leagues Motel).

1850 – Building and licensing of ‘Byrne’s Hotel’ (now ‘Royal Hotel’).

c.1850 – The 2-storey house at 15 Morisset Street was originally constructed for William Hunt in the 1850s. In the 1930s, the house was named ‘Furlong’ when it became the home of John Esmond, a mayor of Queanbeyan who married a Hibberson and whose family had a property of that name at Booligal, New South Wales.

1851 – Gold, lead, copper and silver mines briefly flourished. Bushranger activity in the area included the Clarke brothers, Jackey Jackey, Ben Hall and Frank Gardiner.

1852 – 1 January 1852. St Gregory’s Roman Catholic School opened.

1852 – 23 June 1852. Significant flood.

1855 – ‘Severne Mill’ commenced operations.

1856 – First illuminations displayed on buildings to celebrate the news of the end of the Crimean War.

1857 – First annual (horse) race meeting.

1858 – 19 August 1858. Opening of the first Queen’s Bridge . It was opened by Terrence Aubrey Murray (elected to State Parliament in 1843) and owner of Yarralumla Station. The bridge was named by Miss Charlotte Faunce, daughter of Queanbeyan’s Police Magistrate.

1859 – July 1859. Opening of the first District Court in Queanbeyan.

1859 – 19 September 1859. Commercial Banking Company of Sydney opened. (now National Bank).

1859-1860 – Christ Church built and opened 7 October 1860 on the site of the original church.

1860 – 13 May 1860. Original Wesleyan Chapel opened.

1860 – 14 September 1860. ‘Golden Age’ (changed to the ‘Queanbeyan Age’ on 19 May 1864), Queanbeyan’s first newspaper, was produced by John Gale.

1860 – Public sundial installed in Macquoid Street opposite the Union Club Hotel (now Ye Olde Kent House) by Nathan Moses Lazarus (1823 -1901). It is now located in the grounds of the Visitor Information Centre.

1860s – Second wave of bushrangers in the area.

1861 – 2 January 1861. Queanbeyan Court moved into the new Court House.

1861 – 19 Jan 1861. Significant flood

1862 – Queanbeyan District Hospital built of stone in Collett Street.

1863 – 2 January 1863. Queanbeyan Cricket Club established.

1864 – 19 August 1864. First Queanbeyan telegraph service commenced operation.

1864 – Gold strike at Brindabella.

1864 – Isabella St Public School established when public education began in Queanbeyan. Completed structure opened in December 1877.

1865 – Hibernia  Lodge built to a design by the Rev. A D Soares.

1865 – Christchurch brick schoolhouse additions built.

1867 – 10 September 1867. License granted for T & E Walsh’s Railway Stores; renamed Victoria Hotel.

1870 – 25 April 1870; mid May 1870. Significant floods.

1870 – First combined Post and Telegraph Office.

1870s – Old School of Arts building constructed of hand-made bricks.

c.1872 –  Oldest part of  Christ Church Rectory  (facing Rutledge St)

1872-1874 – Construction of St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, opened 8 March 1874.

1874 – J J Wright elected to the seat of Queanbeyan in the New South Wales Parliament.

1874 – 7 September 1874. Re-opening of re-constructed Queen’s Bridge by the Hon. Leopold Fane de Salis, MP.

1875 –Construction of Edinburgh House millinery and drapery store (now Walsh’s Hotel).

1876 – Police Sergeant’s Residence built (now the Queanbeyan Museum).

1876-1877 – Queanbeyan Public School built.

1877 – The Temperance Hall was built and opened in 1878.

1877 – Woolwashing works and fellmongery established by John Bull on the Oaks Estate.

1878 – Bank of NSW began business in Queanbeyan

1879 – March 1879. St Benedict’s Convent, ‘Higher School for Young Ladies’ started classes.

1879-1880 – Queanbeyan Post and Telegraph Office was built and opened on the corner of Monaro and Lowe Streets.

1880 – The residence of John James Wright, the first Mayor of Queanbeyan was built on the Queanbeyan River. The building is now an Art Gallery run by the Queanbeyan Arts Society.

1880 -1882 – Building of St Benedict’s Convent completed.

1882 – Discovery of copper at Captain’s Flat.

1883 – December 1883. Martin Byrne established and commenced production in the district’s 5th flour mill, which was steam driven and located on the corner of Morisset and Collett Streets.

1884 – The Salvation Army started work in Queanbeyan.

1885 – February. Queanbeyan was proclaimed a Municipality incorporating 5,700 acres .

1885 – 1888 – J J Wright elected Queanbeyan’s first Mayor.

1887 – 8 September 1887. First train into Queanbeyan Railway Station.

1887 – First Queanbeyan coach (horse bus) service – John O’Neill.

1888 – First use of electric lights in Queanbeyan, in the Oaks Estate.

See the comprehensive list and vignettes of all Queanbeyan’s Mayors from JJ Wright onward in the QPRC Mayoral Gallery put together by the late Judy Becker while she was the QCC Local History Librarian: https://library.qprc.nsw.gov.au/Discover-Queanbeyan/Mayoral-Gallery

1888 – 1889 – John Bull Queanbeyan Mayor

1889 -1890 – George Tompsitt Queanbyean Mayor

1890 – Fire brigade formed (after several attempts).

1890 – 1891 – Edwin Henry Land Queanbeyan Mayor

1891 – 27 June 1891. Significant flood

1891 – Founding of Queanbeyan School of Arts (after several attempts).

1890 -1892 – Nathan Moses Lazarus Queanbeyan Mayor

1892 – 1897 – Edwin Henry Land Queanbeyan Mayor

1890s – Economic depression.

1893 – Queanbeyan Park dedicated as a reserve for Public Recreation

1897 -1899 – William Pike Queanbeyan Mayor

1899 – Queanbeyan Federal Capital City Committee was formed to present the case for the proposed National Capital being built in this area

1900 – Drought

1900 – 24 March 1900. New ‘Queen’s Bridge’ built by Messrs T W Hungerford and Sons and designed by Ernest Macartney De Burgh. M. Inst. C.E..

1900 – James Pike Queanbeyan Mayor (February – July)

1900 – October 1900. Queanbeyan Rifle Club established.

1900 – 1903 – Patrick Blackall Queanbeyan Mayor

1901 – 26-7 May 1901. First suspension bridge completed (destroyed in  the flood of 1925, and replaced in 1938).

1901 – September 1901. Appearance of first motor car in Queanbeyan when the  Woods & Winton Automobile Company of America,  while on a road trial, drove one of their cars into Queanbeyan .

1901 – Weir was built across the Queanbeyan River between Dodsworth and the rocks below the bridge.

1903 – Boer War Memorial erected at the intersection of Monaro and Crawford Streets (now in  Lowe Street near the Courthouse)

1904 – 1905 – Henry John Hungerford Queanbeyan Mayor

1906 – 9 November 1906. Opening of the Queanbeyan Telephone Exchange. Walsh’s Hotel was the first subscriber with telephone number 1.

1906 – 1907 – Edwin Atkinson Queanbeyan Mayor

1907 – 1909 – Ernest Creamore Hincksman Queanbeyan Mayor

1909 – 1910 – Richard Moore Queanbeyan Mayor

1910 – 22 Jan 1910. Significant flood

1910 – 1912 – Arthur Henry Collett Queanbeyan Mayor

1911 – 1 January 1911. Queanbeyan citizens rejected the idea of inclusion in the Federal Capital Territory; formal separation of the Territory.

1913 – 12 March 1913. The naming of Canberra

1913 – Freebody’s Triumph Hall opened. It was a building designed specifically as a cinema.

1913 – First electric street lights in Queanbeyan.

1913 – Frederick Percy Woodward Queanbeyan Mayor (March-May)

1913 – 1914 – Richard Moore Queanbeyan Mayor

1914 – May 1914. Queanbeyan-Canberra extension opened

1914 – 1 June 1914. Queanbeyan business, ‘Universal Providers’, known as J B Young Pty. Ltd., first opened its doors.

1915 – 1917 – Frederick Percy Woodward Queanbeyan Mayor

1917 – Queanbeyan’s firs woman driver received licence.

1917 – 1920 – Arthur Henry Collett Queanbeyan Mayor

1920 – 1921 – Frederick Percy Woodward, Solicitor, Queanbeyan Mayor

1920 – August 1920. Commencement of full electricity supply in Queanbeyan.

1920s – Calthorpe’s Cottage (cnr Lowe and Rutledge St)

1920s – Queanbeyan Golf Club established at Dodsworth.

1921 – August 1921. Queanbeyan-Canberra and District Chamber of Commerce formed

1921 – Appearance of first motor tractor in Bungendore

1921 – Landing of first aeroplane in Queanbeyan

1921 – Establishment of Rural Bank

1922 – July 1922. Significant flood

1922 -1924 – James George Harris Queanbeyan Mayor

1923 – World War I memorial erected

1924 – First heard radio broadcasts

1925 – New Queanbeyan Council Chambers erected corner Lowe and Monaro Streets (now the Queanbeyan Visitors Centre)

1925 – 26-27 May 1925. Significant flood

1925 – 28 February 1925. Star Pictures opened in Gregory’s Hall, Monaro Street.

1925 -1926 – William Byrne Freebody Queanbeyan Mayor

1926 – Water supply obtained for Queanbeyan

1926-1927 – St Gregory’s Roman Catholic School built in Lowe Street

1927 – 9 May 1927. Official opening of the first Parliament in Canberra

1927 – 21 June 1927. Royal Hotel opened on the site of the Byrne’s old ‘Royal Hotel’

1927 – School of Arts built new library and recreation rooms in Crawford Street.

1927 – 1929 – Henry Thomas Land Queanbeyan Mayor

1929 – 1932 – Willian Byrne Freebody Queanbeyan Mayor

1932 – Tourist Hotel

1933 – Legacy Club formed.

1933 – Conversion of Queanbeyan Public School to an Intermediate High School

1932 – 1935 – Henry Charles Taylor Queanbeyan Mayor

1935 – 1939 – John Esmond Queanbeyan Mayor

1937 – Lake George Mines Pty Ltd commenced work at Captain’s Flat

1938 – 6 October 1238. Farrer memorial unveiled.

1938 – Second suspension bridge built

1939 – 1951 – Henry Charles Taylor Queanbeyan Mayor

1951 – November 1951. Founding of Queanbeyan pre-school kindergarten

1951 – 1954 – Ralph Archibald Spendlove Queanbeyan Mayor

1952 – Queanbeyan Rotary Club founded

1953 – December 1953. The Star, after renovation, reopened as ‘the first picture show in Southern New South Wales’, and has ‘cinemascope’.  It closed for renovations in February 1972.

1954 – First Queanbeyan Floral Festival

1954 – 1963 – Arthur Lambert M.B.E. Queanbeyan Mayor

1955 – Commencement of construction of RSL building

1956 – Significant flood

1958 –  Queanbeyan High School received official classification and the building was officially opened in June 1960.

1960 – Street numbers in Monaro Street changed

1961 – 11 November 1961. Opening of Queanbeyan Olympic Pool

1961 – Queanbeyan Leagues Club founded

1963 -1980 – Frederick Edwin Land M.B.E. Queanbeyan Mayor

1967 – 16 October 1967. Inaugural meeting of Queanbeyan Arts Society.

1969 – Queanbeyan and District Historical Museum Society established

1970 – 5 December 1970. Queanbeyan Museum officially opened. It moved from the cottage in Queanbeyan Park to the old Police Sergeant’s Residence and re-opened in January 1987.

1972 – 5 July 1972. Proclamation of Queanbeyan as a City

1974 – 27 August 1974. Significant flood

1974 – Queanbeyan Players established

1975 – 21 July 1975. Third Queen’s Bridge opened.

1976 – 16 October 1976. Significant flood

1980 – 1991 – David Michael Madew A.M. Queanbeyan Mayor

1982 – 1989 – Canberra Raiders played their games at Seiffert Oval

1987 – Jerrabomberra Estates starts developing its first blocks for release

1988 – February 1988. First Jerrabomberra blocks released

1988 – Significant flood

1989 – Significant flood

1991 – Significant flood

1991 -2008 – Frank John Pangallo M.B.E. Queanbeyan Mayor

1995 – Significant flood

1998 – Significant flood

2001 – 10 March John Gale Memorial unveiled (cnr  Lowe and Monaro St)

2007 – Yarrowlumla Shire Council Chambers demolished

2008 – present – Tim Overall Queanbeyan Mayor

2008 – The Q Performing Arts Centre opened

2010 – Significant flood

2012 – Significant flood

2013 – 26 September 2013. Queanbeyan celebrates the 175th anniversary of its proclamation in 1838

2014 – Queanbeyan and District Historical Museum Society celebrates 45 years preserving and promoting Queanbeyan’s history and heritage