Establishing the Queensland - New South Wales border
Two southern boundary proposals for a new colony - 26ºS and 30ºS 
New South Wales border proclaimed
The bend in the Queensland border
Qld - NSW border: watershed survey
Qld - NSW border: Gregory's and Greaves' survey
Qld - NSW border: official determination survey
Queensland - South Australian border
Queensland - Northern Territory border 
Diagram of the named border corners

Formation of the borders

The animated diagram depicts the borders of the separate colonies and eventual States from early settlement of the latter part of the 1770s to the present day.

The initial colony of New South Wales included all territories west to the 135th meridian.

South Australia was first to separate from New South Wales in 1834. Victoria and Queensland separated as new colonies in 1851 and 1859 respectively. 

Queensland's western boundary at this point in time was thought to traverse the 141st meridian. It wasn't until 1862 that Queensland was extended further west to incorporate the 138th meridian as its boundary.  

Pioneer border surveyors
One hundred and forty years ago, surveyors painstakingly undertook the task of marking the border on the ground. This was in accordance with the Letters Patent of Queen Victoria.

They endured the hardships imposed by subtropical rainforest, waterless deserts, rugged mountain terrain and vast featureless plains. This was while working at extreme distances from civilisation, family and the comforts of home.

It was through their efforts that they left a valuable legacy for today's generations.

1822 to 1859: Establishing Queensland - New South Wales border

Establishment of a new settlement
In 1822, Commissioner Bigge made recommendations that penal settlements be established at various locations around the Australian coast. Three of these included Moreton Bay, Port Curtis and Port Bowen.

The Moreton Bay District was proclaimed under the 1839 Squatting Act. The description of the boundary was reported in terms of natural features, as:

Bounded on the south by the ranges which separate the sources of the rivers Brisbane and Logan from those of the Richmond and Clarence;  on the west... ^{New South Wales Government Gazette 1842}

Although a broad description, this eventually became the southern boundary of the new colony of Queensland.

Two proposals for a new colony

Gladstone colony -

In 1845 Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby and Colonial Secretary for the Colonies, reignited the idea of a North Australia colony as a destination for pardoned convicts in Van Diemen's Land.

William Ewart Gladstone replaced Stanley as Colonial Secretary in 1846 and went about the formation of North Australia.

In a letter dated 6 October 1846, Deputy Surveyor-General to the Colonial Secretary, S.A. Perry, wrote that he had directed Mr Warner in the Northern District:

'to proceed to trace the watershed of the Brisbane and Boyne Rivers, a certain distance on each side, and having ascertained the principal sources of the latter river, to trace it down to the 26th parallel of latitude, then to run that latitude to the coast...'

In a further letter dated 12 October 1846, Perry assigned 26ºS as 'being the parallel assigned for the northern boundary of this Colony [New South Wales]'.

Colonel Barney was appointed Lieutenant Governor for the new Colony of North Australia. He set out from Sydney on the Cornubia to find the best site for the settlement of the new colony. Port Curtis was chosen and the official party landed there in January 1847.

The first Government Gazette of North Australia was issued that year. It proclaimed that all land lying north of 26ºS should be known as North Australia. 

Also in the year of 1847 there was a change in the Imperial government in England and a consequent abandonment to the renewal of convict transportation. Therefore the colony was abandoned and all officials returned to Sydney. No convicts had ever arrived.

J.D Lang's colony - 

In the 1840s and 50s the Presbyterian clergyman, John Dunmore Lang, promoted Protestant immigration from England. He advocated that a separate colony be formed containing all territories that lay northward of 30ºS latitude.

This would have positioned the Queensland-New South Wales border just south of Grafton. During the 1850s, numerous petitions both for and against a new colony north of latitude 30ºS were presented to the Imperial government. 

The Queensland - New South Wales border proclaimed

Sir William Denison became governor of New South Wales in 1855 and was initially not in favour of a new colony north of 30ºS. This opinion would later change.

In November 1856, Denison reported on resolutions of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales regarding separation of the Moreton Bay district. They recommended a boundary:

Starting from Cape Danger and following the range of hills which now separate the district of Clarence River from that of Moreton Bay, it should continue along the ridge forming the boundary of the basins of the Richmond and the Clarence until it reaches the Parallel of 29º of south latitude, along which it should continue westward till it reaches the meridian of 141º East...^{Denison W 1856}

The debate as to the location of the boundary continued for many years. However, in 1859, Denison was influenced by squatters from the New England area of New South Wales. He played a part in forming the new colony of Queensland which was proclaimed by Letters Patent on 6 June 1859. It was issued to Sir George Ferguson Bowen, the first Governor of the Colony of Queensland.

The boundary starting at Cape Danger, as described above, was adopted.

Defining the border
The Queensland-New South Wales border was to be made up of three components: the watershed from Point Danger to the Dumaresq River; the Dumaresq to the Macintyre and Barwon Rivers; and the 29th parallel of south latitude.

The parallel of latitude and the watershed had to be surveyed. However, the river section did not require survey as it is a natural feature and readily identifiable.

1860 to 1880: The bend in the Queensland border

The western boundary of the Colony of Queensland was not clearly described in the Letters Patent of 1859:

...downward to the 29th parallel of south latitude and following that parallel westerly to the 141st meridian of east longitude which is the easterly boundary of South Australia...^{'letter' 1859, QGG 1859-60 p1, Qld State Library}

Legal opinion given at the time stated that the 141st meridian was, in fact, the western boundary of the colony.

In a memorandum to the Governor of Queensland dated 28th September 1860, the Surveyor General of Queensland, A.C. Gregory, described his views on the division of Northern Australia. This was with reference to the adjustment of the political boundaries. On Queensland's western boundary, he said:

The western boundary of Queensland, as at present defined, appears to be the 141st meridian, but it is probable that it was not described in the Letters Patent erecting the Colony, with greater distinctness, expressly with a view to a future adjustment, when more certain information should have been collected as to the natural features of the country.

He went on to say:

It is now submitted that the 141st meridian passes through the tract of country known as the 'Plains of Promise', and that the eastern shore possesses no harbours. It would therefore be desirable to adopt the 138th meridian as the boundary; as that line would pass through a barren tract of country, and bring 'Investigator Road' [harbour] within the limits of Queensland.^{Gregory AC 1861}

In 1861, the South Australian, Victorian and Queensland Governments funded expeditions to rescue Robert O'Hara Burke and his party. They had failed to return from their journey to the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1860. 
The Queensland Government realised that these expeditions would increase the knowledge of the country in the vicinity of the Gulf.

On September 5 1861, Queensland Governor Bowen informed the Secretary of State for the Colonies that Queensland legislature would protect any settlers who moved into the area. This was on the provision that the western boundary of Queensland was extended to include the Gulf of Carpentaria. 

This proposal was accepted by the English Government, provided that the Queensland Government understood that the additional territory west of the 138th meridian could be taken back at a later date. This was with a view for the formation of another separate colony in that area.

On the 12 April 1862, a supplementary commission altering the boundary of Queensland was issued by the English Government. These Letters Patent described the additional territory annexed to the Colony of Queensland as:

So much of our Colony of New South Wales as there to the northward of the twenty-sixth parallel of south latitude and between the one hundred and forty first and one hundred and thirty-eighth meridians of east longitude, together with all and every, the adjacent islands, their members and appurtenances in the Gulf of Carpentaria.^{Letters Patent 1862, 'Queensland Government Gazette', p295, Qld State Library}

It was at this stage that the bend in the western boundary of Queensland came into existence.

1860 to 1881: Surveying the New South Wales border

The Watershed survey from Point Danger to the Dumaresq River

In 1863 surveyors Francis Edward Roberts ^{State Library of Queensland neg no. 49229} (pictured left) from Queensland and Isaiah Rowland (pictured below^{Courtesy Mrs V Robison}) from New South Wales were chosen to survey the boundary line. This was between the two colonies from Point Danger to the Dumaresq River. 

Starting from Point Danger in June 1863, the surveyors marked a rock with their initials. The mark included a colony abbreviation and the last two digits of the year. However, the rock mark was lost at the turn of the century, probably due to quarrying.

For measuring distances, both Roberts and Rowland used a Gunter’s chain. Comparisons between Robert's distances and later adjoining cadastral surveys revealed excess in Robert's distances.

Initially, both men used a circumferentor for measuring direction. However Roberts was later instructed by Surveyor-General Gregory to use a theodolite to read angles for the total length of his traverse.

Although two separate surveys were carried out, in many instances both surveyors used the same tree to mark the corners. 

As a result of the two different surveys, Rowland and Roberts defined the border in different positions. It appears that Roberts deviated from the definable position of the watershed in order to maintain longer traverse lines. This was in order to increase the accuracy of the survey as directed by the Queensland Surveyor-General, AC Gregory. 

The New South Wales and Queensland governments have since essentially adopted the survey of Roberts in preference to that by Rowland.

Rowland finished his survey in 1865 while Roberts finished in 1866.

Parts of latitude 29ºS surveyed for the first time.
Gregory's and Greaves' survey

The initial survey of latitude 29ºS was fixed in 1865 by the Queensland Surveyor-General, A.C. Gregory ^{Courtesy Warwick Masonic Lodge}(left) and W.A.B. Greaves (lower), District Surveyor from Armidale, New South Wales.

The purpose of the survey was to give landholders in the vicinity of the border an indication of the extent of their leases and rent payable in each colony.

W.D. Campbell reported in The Surveyor in 1895:

In 1865, an arrangement was made between New South Wales and Queensland for the fixing of the positionof the intercolonial boundary line, the 29th parallel of latitude, at the intersections of the Rivers Barwon, Mooni, Bokhara, Narran, Biri and Culgoa, to enable the Governments of the respective colonies to adjust the rents of leases of the several pastoral runs affected, some of which were partly in both colonies ... Two representatives were appointed, viz., Messrs A.C. Gregory, Surveyor-General of Queensland, and W.A.B. Greaves of Armidale ... and in October 1865, these gentlemen met by appointment at Mungindi, on the Barwon. Each had a complete party and equipment ... The position of the Observatory was selected for its local suitability and the difference of latitude to the 29th parallel was determined and measured off. The marking of the border was done with steel [iron] pins (pictured) one inch in diameter and two feet long, driven a few inches below the surface ... This process was repeated at each of the abovenamed rivers, and the work was completed in five or six weeks.

The official determination survey

The official survey of the 29ºS parallel was conducted by J.B. Cameron (NSW)^{Courtesy Mr N Haughton}, shown at left, and G.C. Watson (Qld) between 1879 and 1881.

Astronomical observations were taken at the Barringun telegraph station to determine the latitude and longitude. Following these observations, the zero obelisk was erected on the banks of the Warrego River, just north of the town.

From this mark, the first five mile chord was produced westerly and the mile posts offset from this chord to the arc. This continued until the survey intersected longitude 141º (now Cameron Corner, see diag), a distance of 285 miles 24.96 chains.

Watson withdrew from the survey and Cameron then returned to the zero obelisk at Barringun and marked the line to the east in a similar fashion. He then erected a one-ton post on the west bank of the Barwon River to mark the end of the survey.

Zero Obelisk near the town of Barringun

 

One ton post near the Barwon River

The original post at Cameron Corner was replaced by a comemmorative concrete pillar on 6 June 1969.

B reference tree on the west bank of the Barwon River

 

A complete and detailed history, legal framework, boundary definitions and copies of original survey instructions and surveyor reports can be accessed in the free departmental publication 'Redefining the Queensland - New South Wales Border: Guidelines for Surveyors'.

1879 to 1900: Queensland - South Australian border

The survey of the Queensland - South Australian border was first carried out by South Australian surveyor, William Barron (Queensland having no surveyor available at the time). He carried the marking of the 141st meridian up to its intersection with the 29th parallel of south latitude (Cameron Corner, see diag), and then on to Cooper Creek (90 miles north of that intersection). It was here that his health broke down. 

In late 1879 he returned to Adelaide and later passed away on the 16th August 1884, aged 31.

South Australian surveyors, Augustus Poeppel and assistant Lawrence Wells, took over the survey in January of 1880. The line to the 26th parallel was continued, a distance of 552¼ miles from the river Murray. 

Here he met up with Queensland surveyor, A.H. Salmond. Together they took star observations for latitude using both a transit theodolite and sextant to fix the position of that parallel. They marked the corner with a willow post twelve feet long which was sunk over an iron bar.

Poeppel also possessed a five inch Y theodolite, a six inch transit and two sextants. He also used a seven inch observing theodolite manufactured by Troughton and Simms. 

7" Y-theodolite manufactured by Troughton and Simms of London

The line was marked by mile posts mounded and trenched. A zinc plate was attached to the posts declaring the distance from the centre of the Murray River.

A zinc plate was attached to the mile posts.^{Courtesy Mr A Virag}

Poeppel then continued to mark the 26th parallel to the west. He reached the 138th meridian by the end of 1880 and returned to Adelaide in March 1881. This was due to the prevailing drought conditions. 

Many hardships were encountered on this survey as the line passed through vast stony, waterless plains, salt lakes and large sandhills. It was thought to be the most inhospitable country in Australia. 

While Poeppel was recuperating in Adelaide, the South Australian triangulation survey had reached beyond the border. It was found that when checking the mile posts, they were in error due to the fact that Poeppel's chain was one inch too long as a result of wear.

1881 to 1900: Queensland - Northern Territory border

In 1883 South Australian surveyor, Lawrence Wells returned to rechain the line west of Carlowattie Hill and to correct the original mile post at the corner (Poeppel Corner, see diag). This was done before the survey north along the Queensland-Northern Territory border was undertaken.

On reaching Poeppel's original corner, Wells found that it had to be repositioned 15 chains 75 links to the east.

The work of running the line true north along the 138th meridian from the intersection of the 26th parallel (Poeppel Corner) to the Gulf of Carpentaria, was carried out in early 1884 by Poeppel. He was again assisted by Lawrence Wells, along with six assistants and two cameleers.

 Poeppel's 80 mile post, 80 miles west of Haddon Corner

At the 154 mile post, Poeppel was troubled with eye problems (blight), so bad that he was unable to carry out his star observations:

My eyes were very bad during the whole of the time from station 142 miles 32 chains 75 links and I could not conduct the observations.^{Poeppel A 1884-5}

Poeppel encountered problems with his theodolite, which eventually proved to be faulty. It was discovered that he was running a line at about 359°58'30" instead of true north 360°. This resulted in a discrepancy of about 600 metres into the Northern Territory at the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

At the 250 mile post, the survey ceased for the 1884 Christmas break. This allowed the survey party to have a well earned rest. 

Up until this time, drought conditions had prevailed. However, in January 1885 the rains came and local stations recorded as much as seventeen inches in a few days. Poeppel, who had been returning from Sandringham Station, was caught in the floods and lost many of his camels and equipment. 

After the rains the survey recommenced. The conditions had improved and progress was rapid until they reached the ranges north of the Nicholson River. Due to the rocky nature of this area, horses were used on the line, while the remaining camels brought up supplies to the camps. 

The team experienced all sorts of difficulties.  These included a fire that destroyed their camp and their camps were raided by Aboriginals.

At the 324 mile post, Poeppel had to return to Adelaide due to severe eye problems. This later worsened and caused him to go blind in one eye. Augustus Poeppel died in Melbourne on 4th July 1891, aged 52.  

John Carruthers took his place as leader of the survey and L.A. Wells continued as second in command. The country improved as the survey continued northwards and the pastoral stations became more frequent and closer to the boundary. 

Once they had reached the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria in September 1886, they erected a large terminal survey post, 50 links above high water mark.  

On the post was carved:

 

south side	"from Lat 26° 651m 57C"
west side	"Northern Territory"
east side	"Queensland Lat 16° 32'26", and the variation of the needle"
north side	"Carruthers and Wells-Date 29 September 1886

Thus marked the end of a most difficult survey.

The total cost of the survey of longitude 138° was £9 300.00, half of which was borne by the Queensland Government.

Checking longitude 138 degrees 
While Queensland did not provide a team for the survey, they did check the position of the mile post on the border line west of Boulia. Staff surveyor Cecil Twisden Bedford ^{courtesy of Mr D Fraser}(shown left) was chosen by the Queensland Surveyor General, W. Alcock Tully to carry out this check survey. 

Arriving in Boulia in August 1885, Bedford established his starting point in the post and telegraph reserve. This was the location where the longitude reading determined by electric telegraph was recorded.

He then traversed westward to the border, connecting on to the border between the 255 mile and 255 mile 77 chain posts in February 1886. 

Bedford's traverse was marked with wooden mile posts for the 147 miles to the border. A bottle containing concrete and an empty brass cartridge case was sunk 2½ feet below every fifth wooden post. The image depicts the remains of one such bottle recovered from the traverse.

Bedford's second in command, William Davidson, in later years wrote:

As white ants were very bad out there, it is quite possible that very few traces remain of our work above ground, but perhaps the bottles of cement we placed at every five miles along our line may prove interesting to scientists of some future generation, should they ever be unearthed.^{Davidson WH 1885-6}

Bedford's theodolite

Fixing the longitude

In 1887, Queensland staff surveyors Robert Hoggan and Robert Grant McDowall carried out observations at the post and telegraph station in Boulia. This fixed the longitude of Bedford's initial starting point. 

The method used was the exchange of time signals via the electric telegraph. This was between the Brisbane Observatory of known longitude, and Bedford's starting point beside the telegraph office in Boulia.  

By using a traverse they were able to obtain a longitude value for the mile post out on the border west of Boulia.

Bedford's observation revealed that the mile posts placed on the border by the South Australian surveyors were accurate. This convinced the Queensland Government to agree to pay half the cost of the survey.

In 1988 as a special project for the Bicentennial year, the Queensland Division of the Institute of Engineering and Mining Surveyors of Australia retraced Bedford's survey and found his bottles.