page_title: Dalby, Queensland
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Dalby, Queensland / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Children marching in the main street of Dalby, ca. 1915 Possibly at the time of a visiting recruiting team for recruitment for troops to go overseas during WWI.
context_page_description: Dalby is a town and locality in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. Dalby is within and is the administrative centre of the Western Downs Region. At the 2016 census, Dalby had a population of 12,719.
context_section_description: Baranggum (also known as Barrunggam, Barunggam Parrungoom, Murrumgama) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Baranggum people. The Baranggum language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Western Downs Regional Council, particularly Dalby, Tara, Jandowae and west towards Chinchilla.
  Dalby was founded in the early 1840s at a place known locally as "The Crossing" on Myall Creek, a tributary of the Condamine River. The first settler was Henry Dennis, who explored the region and chose land for himself and others in the locality. Today an obelisk in Edward Street denotes the location where Dennis camped.
  A small settlement was founded to assist travellers heading north to nearby Jimbour Station. The explorer Ludwig Leichhardt visited the area in 1844, on his way to Port Essington.
  In February 1853, the New South Wales government sent the Deputy Surveyor General Captain Samuel Perry to the area to survey a township. In August of the following year, Mr Charles Douglas Eastaughffe arrived with a document under the Seal of the NSW Government officially proclaiming 'Dalby' a township. Mr Eastaughffe was later appointed Chief Constable and remained in Dalby until his retirement.
  The name of the town is believed to come from the village of Dalby on the Isle of Man and reflects immigration from the Isle of Man in the mid-19th century. The name was apparently chosen by Captain Samuel Perry when he surveyed the settlement in 1853.
  Myall Creek Post Office also opened in 1854 in Roche's store, with Mr Simpson as the first postmaster. It was renamed Dalby in 1855.
  In 1859, Dalby became part of the new state of Queensland.
  Dalby State School opened on 1 June 1861. In 1869 the school split into Dalby Boys State School Dalby Girls State School. In 1885 the girls' school became Dalby Girls & Infants State School. In 1893 the two schools were combined as  Dalby State School. In 1914 the school expanded to include a secondary school, which closed in 1954, due to the establishment of a separate secondary school, Dalby State High School.
  In August 1863 Dalby was officially proclaimed a municipality, the Borough of Dalby, in the Queensland Government Gazette.
  Dalby Non-Vested School opened as a Roman Catholic girls school in 1864 and in 1866 became a non-vested school (the teachers' salaries were paid by the Queensland Government but the government did not operate the school). Circa 1880, the school either closed or continued without  government funding.
  On Sunday 5 August 1866 Bishop James Quinn dedicated St Joseph's Catholic Church.
  Dalby was linked by the Western railway line to Ipswich on 16 April 1868.
  On Sunday 20 June 1869 the first Presbyterian church was opened in Dalby. Reverend George Grimm had conducting regular services since 1865.
  St Columba's School was a Catholic primary school which was opened in 1877 by the Sisters of Mercy. In 2008, it  merged with St Mary's College to create Our Lady of the Southern Cross College.
  From 1873 to 1949 the electoral district of Dalby was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland.
  Dalby was believed to have a healthy climate and in 1900 the Queensland Government built the Jubilee Sanitorium for consumptive patients. In 1904 the Dalby Town Council erected therapeutic thermal baths using artesian water from a local bore for those wishing to improve their health by "taking the waters". In 1938, the council closed the artesian baths as interest in "taking the waters" was declining. Medical opinion became increasingly doubtful of the benefits of bathing in mineral waters, favouring drugs and physiotherapy as better treatments.
  The Dalby War Memorial was unveiled by the Queensland Governor, Matthew Nathan, on 26 July 1922.
  The Paragon Cafe was purchased in 1935 by Milton (Miltiadis) Dimitrios Samios part of the cultural phenomenon of Greek cafes in Queensland. Paragon Cafe employed three men and six women with taking increasing from 90 pounds to 200 pounds within the first year of trading.
  Dalby State High School opened on 2 February
caption: Children marching in the main street, ca. 1915
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