Walloon

Walloon is a town and rural residential locality in the City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia.

Walloon is atown and rural residential locality in the City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census the locality of Walloon had a population of 1,588 people.

The origin of the suburb name is thought to refer to the French-speaking area of southern Belgium known as Wallonia.Guilfoyles Creek Non Vested School was opened in 1865 by the Catholic Church. It may have closed and reopened but is believed to have closed permanently when Walloon State School opened in 1877.A German Lutheran Church opened in Walloon on Wednesday 9 July 1873.In July 1873 the Queensland Government reserved 10 acres (4.0 ha) at Walloon for a "national school" (the former name for "state school"). In October 1876 the government called for tenders to construct a primary school at Walloon. The foundations for the school building were in place by February 1877. Walloon State School opened on 9 July 1877.On Saturday 21 April 1891, sisters Bridget Kate and Mary Jane Broderick (aged 9 and 6 respectively) were drowned in a waterhole near their home in Walloon. Poet Henry Lawson wrote a poem called The Babies of Walloon based on their deaths. In 2006, a sculpture depicting the Broderick sisters playing was unveiled in the Henry Lawson Bicentennial Park in Walloon. In 2015, a new headstone was erected of the children's grave in Ipswich General Cemetery.In the 2011 census, Walloon had a population of 1,548 people.In the 2016 census the locality of Walloon had a population of 1,588 people.