The Toowoomba–Karara Road (State Route 48) passes through the locality from north-east to south, running immediately to the east of the town. Tourist Drive 12 (the Sprint Route) follows Leyburn Cunningham Road to the outskirts of Warwick.[5]
Leyburn State Forest is a protected area in the east of the locality (28°01′54″S151°38′04″E / 28.0316°S 151.6344°E / -28.0316; 151.6344 (Leyburn State Forest)).[6]
Historyedit
Leyburn was named in the 1840s by William Gray, Snr., who came to the area by bullock dray from Pitt Town on the Hawkesbury River in New South Wales.[7] The first name for the locality was Canal Creek; the name was changed to Leyburn by Henry and Jane Kirby, Gray's son-in-law and daughter, and derives from the market town of Leyburn in the English county of Yorkshire.[7]
The site for the town was surveyed in November 1852. Henry Kirby and another man named Collins applied in 1854 for the licence of the Travellers' Home Inn at Leyburn.[7]
In 1858 James Murray erected his Coffee Room Inn and Boarding House (now the Granall Residence).[8]
A police force was established in 1861. At that time the town had a permanent population 65 but many transients.[10]
Leyburn State School opened on 13 January 1862.[11][12][13]
In 1863 James Murray built The Royal Hotel at 71 MacIntyre Street (28°00′41″S151°34′59″E / 28.0113°S 151.5831°E / -28.0113; 151.5831 (Royal Hotel)), opposite his Coffee Inn.[14]
A court house was built in 1866. It was used until 1929.[10]
The Rosenthal Division was established in 1889 and became the Shire of Rosenthal in 1903. Although Leyburn was the largest town within this local government area, it was not chosen as the administrative centre as Leyburn did not have a railway connection in 1889. Instead, offices were established in Warwick outside of the district.[18]
On Sunday 8 December 1901 Fathers Horan and O'Brien officially opened St Matthew's Catholic Church.[19][20] Fund raising for the church had commenced in 1871.[21] It has been suggested that the church was completed (but not officially opened) in 1897 with a wedding held there in September 1898.[22][23]
The Leyburn branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association was formed in 1924. They built their hall in 1928.[24]
Leyburn State School is a government primary (Prep to Year 6) school for boys and girls at 34 Peter Street (28°00′48″S151°34′42″E / 28.0132°S 151.5783°E / -28.0132; 151.5783 (Leyburn State School)).[31][32] In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 39 students with 3 teachers (2 full-time equivalent) and 9 non-teaching staff (4 full-time equivalent).[33]
There are no secondary schools in Leyburn. The nearest government secondary schools are Pittsworth State High School (to Year 12) in Pittsworth to the north, Clifton State High School (to Year 12) in Clifton to the north-east, Allora State School (to Year 10) in Allora to the east, Warwick State High School (to Year 12) in Warwick to the south-east, and Millmerran State School (to Year 10) in Millmerran to the north-west.[34]
The Leyburn branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at its hall at 89 MacIntyre Street (28°00′35″S151°35′00″E / 28.0097°S 151.5834°E / -28.0097; 151.5834 (Leyburn Hall)).[36]
St Augustine's Anglican Church is at 5795 Toowoomba Karara Road (also known as Dove Street, 28°00′32″S151°35′12″E / 28.0088°S 151.5866°E / -28.0088; 151.5866 (St Augustine's Anglican Church)).[37]
St Matthew's Catholic Church is at 5818 Toowoomba Karara Road (also known as Dove Street, 28°00′39″S151°35′07″E / 28.0108°S 151.5854°E / -28.0108; 151.5854 (St Matthew's Catholic Church)).[38]
Eventsedit
In 1996 the Leyburn Sprints was established. Celebrating the 1949 Australian Grand Prix, historic racing cars and cars of special interest compete in numerous classes to compete in a short 1.0 kilometre (0.62 mi) course through the town. The event has become the town's biggest attraction.[39]
Notable residentsedit
Australian rugby league player Shane Webcke grew up in Leyburn.
^"Leyburn – town in Southern Downs Region (entry 19259)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
^"Leyburn – locality in Southern Downs Region (entry 45947)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
^"Leyburn – locality in Toowoomba Region (entry 47990)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
^Google (29 July 2019). "Leyburn, Queensland" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
^"Leyburn State Forest – state forest in Southern Downs Regional (entry 19262)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
^ abcFrom series of articles published under the title Queensland place names and obelisks by Sydney May (formerly Honorary Secretary of the Queensland Place Names Committee) in Local Government, June 1957 – November 1964
^Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN 978-1-921171-26-0
^"Opening and closing dates of Queensland Schools". Queensland Government. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
^"Leyburn SS". Archived from the original on 4 February 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
^"LEYBURN". The Darling Downs Gazette And General Advertiser. Vol. XIV, no. 1091. Queensland, Australia. 13 September 1871. p. 3. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^Tassell, Dominique (11 December 2021). "St Augustine's celebrates 150 years". Warwick Today & Stanthorpe Today. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
^"Rosenthal Shire". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
^"Religious Notes". Warwick Examiner And Times. Vol. 35, no. 4595. Queensland, Australia. 14 December 1901. p. 7. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"LEYBURN". Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs General Advertiser. No. 6217. Queensland, Australia. 12 December 1901. p. 3. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Advertising". The Darling Downs Gazette And General Advertiser. Vol. XIV, no. 1090. Queensland, Australia. 9 September 1871. p. 2. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"St Matthew's Catholic Church". Churches Australia. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
^"Orange blossoms". Warwick Argus. Vol. XXXIV, no. 2756. Queensland, Australia. 3 September 1898. p. 7. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^ abcDunn, Peter. "LEYBURN AIRFIELD, LEYBURN, QLD, AUSTRALIA ALSO KNOWN AS STRATHANE INITIALLY DURING WW2". ozatwar.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
^Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Leyburn (Warwick Shire) (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
^"St Augustine's Anglican Church". Churches Australia. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
^"St Matthew's Church, Leyburn". Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba. 26 July 2017. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
^"Historic Leyburn Sprints". Leyburn Motor Sprints Committee Inc. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.