Petford
suburb of Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia
Petford is a rural locality in the Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Petford had a population of 22 people.
Geography
Emu Creek flows through from east to north, where it joins the Walsh River as it forms part of the northern boundary. California Creek, a tributary of the Tate River, forms much of the southern boundary. Two other tributaries of the Tate River, Oaky Creek and Martin Creek, rise in the locality.
The former mining town of Lappa is within the locality.
The Burke Developmental Road enters the locality from the north-east (Dimbulah) and exits to the west (Chillagoe).
The Tablelands railway line enters the locality from the north-east (Dimbulah) and exits to the west (Chillagoe) loosely following the same route as the Burke Developmental Road. The locality is served by the following railway stations (from north to south):
Cape Horn railway station, now abandoned (17.3050°S 144.9425°E / -17.3050; 144.9425 (Cape Horn railway station))
Petford railway station (17.3430°S 144.9302°E / -17.3430; 144.9302 (Petford railway station))
Lappa railway station (17.3591°S 144.8861°E / -17.3591; 144.8861 (Lappa railway station))
Koorboora railway station (17.3802°S 144.8042°E / -17.3802; 144.8042 (Koorboora railway station))
History
The locality takes its name from the railway station which was named after John Joseph Petford, an official of Queensland Railways Department for many years. The railway station was on the Chillagoe Railway & Mining Co.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Petford” is suburb of Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Petford, suburb and Shire, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “suburb of Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q48813681. Authority coordinates are -17.367, 144.912. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2021.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Petford”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Petford primary sources, Petford archive and Petford research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Petford” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.