Southern Downs

Distinguished and Famous people from Southern Downs

✂️ Jackie Howe

Jackie Howe was born at Killarney near Warwick, probably in 1861, before becoming a shearing legend in western Queensland. At Alice Downs near Blackall in October 1892, he shore 321 sheep with hand blades in one working day. The feat made his name familiar across the country, and the sleeveless shirt associated with shearers became known as a Jackie Howe. His talents were not confined to the shed: he also won Irish dancing prizes, including at Warwick. The Southern Downs connection belongs to his origins and documented activities there; the famous shearing record was set at Blackall, several hundred kilometres away.

🎬 Charles Chauvel

Charles Chauvel was born at Warwick in 1897 into a family with pastoral and military connections. His parents moved to the Fassifern Valley when he was very young, and he later helped run the family property before choosing film over the expected agricultural career. As a director, his work included In the Wake of the Bounty, which gave Errol Flynn an early screen role, and films drawing on Australian military and rural stories. Warwick is his documented birthplace, while his upbringing and filmmaking ranged beyond the Southern Downs.

🐎 Colin and May Thompson

Colin and May Thompson made the Warwick rodeo a recurring stage for exceptional horsemanship. Colin, born at Killarney in 1906 and educated for a year at Scots College, Warwick, won the rodeo’s Gold Cup three times in the 1950s. May, who continued competing as May Wood, repeatedly won the ladies’ campdraft and all-round honours. In 1953 both were recognised as Warwick’s top campdrafters. Their achievements grew from working with horses as well as competing on them. The Southern Downs connection combines Colin’s birthplace and schooling with repeated performances by both riders, rather than treating show-ring appearances as proof of a local home.