Timeline: Jondaryan Shearers' Feast

The first recorded Shearer's Feast on Jondaryan occurred at the completion of shearing in 1861.

The occasion was to celebrate two significant events, the successful completion of the first shearing in the new woolshed on Jondaryan and a farewell to the manager James Charles White, who designed and built the new woolshed.

That Shearer's feast was a two-day affair and was intended as a one-off event. All the shearers and station hands were invited, as well as a large number of the Downs leading citizens.

The days were spent with horse racing, foot races, novelty events and competitions.

On the first evening, a huge feast was turned on and the local talent entertained the guests. On the second evening, the wool bales were moved and a ball was held on the floor of the woolroom, where station owners and notorieties dressed in their finery, mixed it with the working people and shearers dressed in their rough working clothes.

An eye-witness account of that first Shearer's feast is given by a younger son of JC White, William Thomas White, who was only a child at the time. Writing about the event years later, he records

"The last year we were on Jondaryan was a most memorable one, it was the year that the first shearing was held in the new shearing shed.

"That was a most unusual shearing, for it was carried out in the shed before the roof was put on it, with huge tarpaulins being suspended above it to protect the men and sheep from the sun. Father said the iron for the roof was being sent from England and did not arrive in time.

"At the completion of shearing, father decided to celebrate the event with a feast and entertainment for everyone; it would also be a chance for him to say good-bye to the station's employees and all his friends, as that was our last year on Jondaryan.

"Everyone was invited and the festivities went on for two days and two nights. All the visitors arrived on the morning of the first day and in the afternoon there was horse racing on a properly marked out course in the horse paddock.

"Tables were set out on trestles in the garden, on which a great feast of delicacies was laid out. In the evening, everyone sat down to this generous spread, after which we were entertained by singing and music from the local talent.

"On the following day, there were foot races, with fun and games for everyone. That night, a ball was held in the woolroom of the shearing shed and dancing was kept up until the early hours of the morning."

That first shearers' feast proved to be such a resounding success in every way that the new manager of Jondaryan, William Graham, decided to make it an annual event. It quickly grew into the main social gathering in the district for the year and was expanded to a three-day event, with people coming from far and wide to participate in its activities.

In those early times, the only entertainment available to the people on Jondaryan and indeed to all those on the Darling Downs was the entertainment they made for themselves.

Most families had family members who could play a musical instrument of one kind or another, so there was always plenty of music and singing.

When an event was held, people would come from all the surrounding stations for the feasting and merriment, which would sometimes go on for two or three day, with horse racing, all kinds of sporting events and entertainment taking place, as well as the feasting and dancing.