Dawson River Irrigation Scheme

Theodore Queensland
The Boulevard, looking towards the water tower
Theodore
Coordinates	24°57′S 150°05′E / 24.950°S 150.083°E / -24.950; 150.083Coordinates: 24°57′S 150°05′E / 24.950°S 150.083°E / -24.950; 150.083
Population	452 (2011 census)
Postcode(s)	4719
Elevation	142 m (466 ft)
Location	564 km (350 mi) NW of Brisbane 222 km (138 mi) S of Rockhampton 106 km (66 mi) SW of Biloela 226 km (140 mi) N of Miles
LGA(s)	Shire of Banana
State electorate(s)	Callide
Federal Division(s)	Flynn
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 28.4 °C 83 °F 13.9 °C 57 °F 731.4 mm 28.8 in
Localities around Theodore: Lonesome Creek Lonesome Creek Lonesome Creek Isla Theodore Lonesome Creek Isla Isla Lonesome Creek

Theodore is a town and a locality in the Shire of Banana, Queensland, Australia. It was established as part of Queensland Premier Ted Theodore's ambitious Dawson River Irrigation Scheme. At the 2011 census, Theodore had a population of 452.

Theodore is situated on the Dawson River just off the Leichhardt Highway 565 kilometres (351 mi) north-west of the state capital, Brisbane. Castle Creek flows through the town and into the Dawson River immediately south of the town centre.

The Aboriginal inhabitants of the area were the Wulli Wulli people.

The first European settler in the district was Joseph Thompson who amassed a number of pastoral leases from 1850 to his death in 1857, including Oxtrack Creek, Okangal, Coteeda, Delusion Creek, Macoom, Hope, Thalba and Woolthorpe. He entered a partnership James Reid who acquired the Boam run and acquired Thompson's runs after his death and then acquired further runs, before beginning to sell out to new settlers.

In 1864 a town called Woolthorpe was surveyed and town lots offered for sale, but few were sold and no town developed at that time.

In 1893, William Woolrych acquired 13,000 acres (53 km²) of land alongside the Dawson River and gradually built it up through further land acquisitions into the very large Woolthorpe Station.

In 1905, the Queensland Minister for Lands Joshua Thomas Bell and fellow Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Robert Herbertson conducted a tour of the district. Herbertson reported that Woolthorpe was "a splendid property, consisting of downs and black soil flats" used for sheep grazing. Herbertson also reported favourably on an experiment to raise lucerne by irrigating 70–80 acres (28–32 ha) of cleared land beside the Dawson River. His opinion was that there was plenty of water available in the Dawson River for irrigation and the land could grow almost any crop. Herbertson believed that, with irrigation, the district would be capable of supporting a large population, provided there was cheap, easy and quick transport to the coast. This comment about transport followed Minister Bell's earlier criticism of the condition of the roads west of Gladstone which were the responsibility of the Banana Shire and the Taroom Shire.