Oaks Estate, Australian Capital Territory

Oaks Estate is an urban village situated immediately on the northern side of the NSW-ACT border abutting the township of Queanbeyan in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. The estate covers an area of approximately 40 hectares and is bound by the Molonglo River to the north, 'The Oaks' to the east and the Queanbeyan-Cooma railway to the south. The village is located 12 kilometres from the centre of Canberra. The village is also noteworthy as the nucleus of Queanbeyan's industrial development during the second half of the 19th century. Oaks Estate takes its name from 'The Oaks', which was part of Duntroon, Robert Campbell's farming estate. This makes Oaks Estate one of only a few place names in the ACT with significant connections to early colonial times.

History

Colonial

Timothy Beard, a pardoned convict and former innkeeper from Campbelltown in New South Wales was the first European to occupy the area. In the mid-1820s he drove cattle from Liverpool to graze near the junction of the Molonglo and Queanbeyan Rivers. His station huts which he named ‘Queenbeeann’were located two kilometres downstream from the Molonglo/Queanbeyan River junction in what is today the abattoir paddock. The township of Queanbeyan was established in 1838 about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south east of Oaks Estate.