Canning Downs was the first residential establishment built by a white person on the Darling Downs in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It is located a short drive from the town of Warwick

Warwick, Queensland

Warwick is a town in Queensland, Australia, lying south-west of Brisbane. It is the administrative centre of the Southern Downs Local Government Area. In 2006 the town of Warwick had a population of 12,562....

 and originally extended south east to Killarney

Killarney, Queensland

Killarney is a small town located 35 km south-east of Warwick, on the Condamine River in Queensland, Australia. The town forms part of the Southern Downs local government area. Killarney is located about 8 km from the Queensland/New South Wales border. It is close to Queen Mary Falls, in the Main...

 and the McPherson Range

McPherson Range

The McPherson Range is an extensive mountain range, a spur of the Great Dividing Range, heading in an easterly direction from near Wallangarra to the Pacific Ocean coastline. It forms part of the Scenic Rim on the border between the states of New South Wales and Queensland. Further west of the...

. The area was first was named after the British statesmen, George Canning

George Canning

George Canning PC, FRS was a British statesman and politician who served as Foreign Secretary and briefly Prime Minister.-Early life: 1770–1793:...

 and Sir Robert Peel

Robert Peel

Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 December 1834 to 8 April 1835, and again from 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846...

, by Allan Cunningham

Allan Cunningham (botanist)

Allan Cunningham was an English botanist and explorer, primarily known for his travels in New South Wales to collect plants.- Early life :...

.

The fertile lands around the upper reaches of the Condamine River

Condamine River

The Condamine River, part of the Murray-Darling Basin, drains the northern portion of the Darling Downs, an area of sub-coastal southern Queensland, Australia...

 provided an excellent site for the home of early settler, Patrick Leslie

Patrick Leslie

Patrick Leslie was a Scottish Settler in Australia. Leslie and his two brothers were the first to settle on the Darling Downs, and he was the first person to buy land in Warwick.-Early life:...

. The station was first declared in the name of Walter Leslie on the 7 July 1840.

History

The official licensee of Canning Downs was Dalrymple (Ernest Eiphinstone). In 1844 he died and left the property to the Leslies.

In 1846, Walter and George Leslie built a new cottage on the prosperous head station

Station (Australian agriculture)

Station is the term for a large Australian landholding used for livestock production. It corresponds to the North American term ranch or South American estancia...

.

At the request of the New South Wales Governor, Patrick Leslie selected a part of the property to divide into smaller allotments for the town of Warwick.

By 1854, the station was sold to George Leslie's cousin, Gilbert Davidson.

Sixty years later the property was purchased by J. H. S. Barnes, who was a well-known horse-breeder.