Beaudesert

Beaudesert is a town located on the Mount Lindesay Highway, some 64 km south of Brisbane. It is possibly named after Beau Desert Park, the property of Charles Henry Alexander Paget, 6th Marquess of Anglesey in Staffordshire, England. Yet it is certain that Queensland's Beaudesert was named in about 1841/42 by 'Ned Hawkins', or Edward Brace Hawkins (1821–1849), who was claiming the area as a sheep station on behalf of his employer Mr. Suttor at Bathurst. It is not known why Hawkins picked the name Beaudesert. He was himself born in Newark Upon Trent in Nottinghamshire, the son of Thomas Fitzherbert Hawkins and wife Elizabeth of Bathurst fame, and it does not seem that he or his family had any personal connections to Beaudesert in...