Rudd Memorial

‘In bleak Toowoomba gardens, swept of flowers, By cold west winds and withering with drought, The wattles’ grey-green leaves show burnishing Of buds a-burgeoning to radiant bloom; And in a few brief days the largesse of gold For every hand to gather, will be thrown Into the chilly lap of winter days. ‘Wattle Blossom’ Margaret Curran

The Rudd Memorial marks the site of the slab hut in which Arthur Hoey Davis, 'Steele Rudd', was born on November 14, 1868. The memorial was organised by members of the Toowoomba Ladies Literary Society and funds were raised by a national wide appeal.

It was opened in 1950 by the then President of the society Mrs Margaret Curran who said that the Society began the memorial movement because it "'did not choose that the land from which he sprung, should be shamed' by utter forgetfulness".

An annual pilgrimage to the site was conducted by the Ladies Literary Society until late in the twentieth century.

The site can be found fronting the Drayton State School on the Drayton road south west of Toowoomba. 


Submissions and suggestions for places not yet included can be sent to leec@usq.edu.au