Duchess

Duchess is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia.

Duchess is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Duchess had a population of 23 people.

Kalkatunga (also known as Kalkadoon, Kalkadunga, Kalkatungu) is an Australian Aboriginal language. The Kalkatunga language region is North-West Queensland including the local government areas of the City of Mount Isa.The town's name was derived from the name of the mine, which was named by pastoralist Alexander Kennedy when his son John Peter Kennedy discovered a deposit of copper there in 1897 and led to the founding of the town. (Alexander Kennedy would later be the first passenger on a Qantas plane from Cloncurry.) Duchess was the name or nickname of the Aboriginal consort of pastoralist St John de Satge (who was nicknamed "The Duke", who had run away and sought refuge at Kennedy's Calton Downs station. A 1987 map indicates that Duchess was previously named Mairindi.Duchess railway station opened on 21 October 1912 when the Great Northern railway line reached Duchess from Malbon.The Butru railway station was named the Queensland Railways Department on 26 July 1915; it is an Aboriginal word referring to the waterhole where the railway line crosses the Wills River. The Dajarra railway line from the town of Duchess reached Butru on 18 December 1915.The Woobera railway station was named by the Queensland Railways Department on 19 October 1917; it is an Aboriginal word meaning shelter for sleeping.The Juenburra railway station was named by the Queensland Railways Department on 17 October 1918; it is an Aboriginal word meaning bush fly.In the 1911 census, the town had a population of 397. By 1915 the population boomed to over 1000. By the 1920s, the town's population dropped. At its peak and for a while afterwards, Duchess was home to four pubs, a school, a post office, a train station, and four automobile garages.

In the 2016 census, Duchess had a population of 23 people.