Kedron (4031)
About 7 km to Brisbane’s north, Kedron (4031) was settled by missionaries in 1838 who camped adjacent to Kedron brook. Land was first sold in 1857 when the Barron brothers set up as blacksmiths. Queensland’s first judge acquired land in 1862 and established his residence which continues to this day as a heritage listed landmark. About the same time, another settler Henry Craig planted the suburbs landmark bunya pines on his property which is now the Cemetery. In 1866, Kedron’s first church was constructed.with the discovery of gold to the north in Gympie, major arterial roads were constructed through Kedron to link Brisbane with the coast. Several hotels were built along its course for travellers; a number persist to this day e.g. The Edinburgh Castle, having been demolished and restored.
Similarly, several large tanneries were also established in Kedron in the late 1880s as was a general store and post office. In the 1920s churches of several denominations were established. In 1914 a tram service was introduced into the suburb. In 1889 a racecourse was established alongside the brook and next to the hotel. Despite being sold several times, due to its lack of use, the racecourse was closed in 1931 and repurposed as a Teacher’s College in 1955, then as a campus of Queensland University of Technology and now as the site for Queensland Emergency Services. Kedron’s cemetery has a significant war memorial to mark the large number of its men who died fighting in both world wars.
In 2011, the population was 8500 with an average age of 34 years. About 83% were born in Australia, New Zealand or England, although a small minority of 2.5% were born in India or Italy such that Hindi and Italian were spoken in a minority of homes alongside English.