Woodend is an inner suburb of Ipswich in the City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Woodend had a population of 1,483 people.
The origin of the suburb name is from the house Woodend, the residence of Arthur Macalister, a Scottish migrant who became the second Premier of Queensland.
In 1848, Woodend Pocket was the first coal-bearing crown land in the Ipswich area to be subdivided into small 'coal allotments.
In 1854, Englishman John Ferrett opened the first successful Ipswich coal mine in the Woodend area (The Radstock Pit).
In 1862, John Panton grew the first cotton in Ipswich in the Woodend area.
One of Ipswich's first schools was opened by Daniel McGrath, 1847 in the Woodend area.
Following its early days as coal lots, the Woodend area was mostly cleared of bush by the 1860s. Woodend became a middle class suburb with a residential heritage.
St Mary's Primary School was established in May 1863 by the Sisters of Mercy under the leadership of Mother Vincent Whitty. On the first day more than 100 students were enrolled.
Ipswich Grammar School opened on 25 September 1863. It was the first school to open as a result of the Grammar Schools Act of 1860.
In 1892, the Christian Brothers arrived in Ipswich and established St Mary's Christian Brothers College as a separate boys' school on the corner of Mary and Elizabeth Streets. In the early 1960s, the demand for secondary education was increasing so entire new school was proposed. On 21 February 1965, the first building was blessed by Archbishop Duhig Archbishop of Brisbane. The school was renamed St Edmund's College at that time.
On Sunday 6 October 1946, Archbishop James Duhig laid the foundation stone for St Mary's College, a Catholic secondary school for girls. The ceremony was attended by over 1,000 people. On Sunday 16 January 1948, Duhig returned to officially open St Mary's College in a ceremony attended by over 5,000 people.
In 1991, the primary school of St Edmund's College was incorporated into St Mary's Primary School to create a co-educational school.
In the 2016 census, Woodend had a population of 1,302 people.
In the 2021 census, Woodend had a population of 1,483 people.
History info courtesy of Wikipedia
