Morinish | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Alliance Mine in operation at Morinish, circa 1890 | |||||||||||||
  Morinish | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates:23°12′18″S150°03′09″E / 23.205°S 150.0525°E /-23.205; 150.0525 (Morinish (centre of locality)) | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Queensland | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
| Location |
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| Government | |||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 756.3 km2 (292.0 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 62 (2021 census)[2] | ||||||||||||
| • Density | 0.0820/km2 (0.2123/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+10:00 (AEST) | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 4702 | ||||||||||||
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Morinish is a rurallocality in theRockhampton Region,Queensland, Australia.[3] In the2021 census, Morinish had a population of 62 people.[2]
The locality is bounded by theFitzroy River to the north and west.[4]
Ten Mile Creek rises in the south-west of the locality (23°17′11″S150°02′16″E / 23.2864°S 150.0377°E /-23.2864; 150.0377 (Ten Mile Creek (source))) and flows northward through the locality where it becomes a tributary of the Fitzroy River (23°05′10″S150°00′04″E / 23.0861°S 150.0010°E /-23.0861; 150.0010 (Ten Mile Creek (mouth))).[4][5]
The former town of Morinish is south of centre of the locality (approx23°15′09″S150°08′18″E / 23.2524°S 150.1382°E /-23.2524; 150.1382 (Morinish (former town))).[6][7][8]
Gold was found at Morinish in 1866 with miners working in the area by December 1866,[9] and a "new rush" being described in the newspapers in February 1867 with the population being estimated on the field as 600.[10][11]
The Morinish Post Office opened on 1 July 1867 and closed on 4 November 1872.[12]
There were at least three major mines in the period of 1880s to 1900s: Welcome Reef, Alliance Mine and Mount Morinish Mine.[13]
Perhaps reflecting the changing fortunes on the goldfields, schooling in Morinish was available intermittently.
Morinish Provisional School opened circa 1882 and closed circa 1890.[14] A second Morinish Provisional School opened circa 1894 and closed circa 1897, but it is not known if this was first school re-opening or a different school.[14]
In 1902, two new provisional schools opened called Morinish No 1 Provisional School and Morinish No 2 Provisional School. They were half-time schools (meaning they shared a single teacher between them). In 1915, the No 2 school was closed and the No 1 school became the full-time Morinish State School. It closed in 1928 due to "insufficient pupils".[14][15] In 1930, the school building was relocated to establish the State School atGarnant.[16][17][18] Morinish State School was on Morinish Road (approx23°15′04″S150°09′24″E / 23.2512°S 150.1566°E /-23.2512; 150.1566 (Morinish State School (former))).[19][4]
Ten Mile Creek Provisional School opened in 1916 but closed circa 1917.[14]
Morinish was within theShire of Fitzroy until 2008 when amalgamation of local government areas resulted in it becoming part of the newly createdRockhampton Region.
In the2016 census, Morinish had a population of 89 people.[20]
In the2021 census, Morinish had a population of 62 people.[2]
There are no school in Morinish. The nearest government primary school isRidgelands State School in neighbouringRidgelands to the west. The nearest government secondary school isRockhampton State High School inWandal, a suburb ofRockhampton; however, it is sufficiently distant that other options would bedistance education and boarding school.[4]
