The late Martin Hennessy outside the Marlborough Museum

Marlborough
Tiny town on the main road north of Rockhampton.
Located 102 km north of Rockhampton and 740 km north of Brisbane, Marlborough is a tiny settlement which has outlived its original purpose and is now little more than a small service centre for the surrounding cattle-raising area where Brahmin, Hereford, Brahford (a Brahmin-Hereford cross), Santa Gertrudis and Simmetal are all grazed.

Marlborough came into existence in 1856 when a pub was built to provide accommodation, food and drink for the pastoralists who moved into the area to claim land and open up the cattle runs. The original pub was positioned at the junction of the coach road going west to the Peak Downs goldfields and another road running north along the coast.

Over the years Malborough has had little luck with transport. In 1917 the town was relocated as the railway bypassed the original site. More recently it has been bypassed by the Bruce Highway.

Today the town's appeals are somewhat limited. The Marlborough Hotel is a classic Central Queensland pub with loads of rustic charm. It is not the original 1856 pub which was located about 5 km south of the present hotel.

The town's major attraction, until recently, was Martin Hennessy who declared: 'I am the history of Marlborough'. With his own money this delightful old timer built and filled the Marlborough Historical Museum. Hennessy could regale visitors with wonderful stories of the area. He also claimed to have trained his cow to be a dog - a rather novel notion which is rich with comic possibilities and which sounds more like a story from Henry Lawson or Steele Rudd than an actual event.

Things to see:  

The Marlborough Museum
In this modern building is memorabilia collected from the local area by Martin Hennessy. It ranges from an 80-year-old kerosene driven tractor, a bull's head and a complete blacksmith's shop, to old letters and diaries. The museum is open from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. daily.

	Motels
	Marlborough Motel Bruce Hwy Marlborough QLD 4705 Telephone: (07) 4935 6112 Rating: ***
	Hotels
	Malborough Hotel Railway Pde Marlborough QLD 4705 Telephone: (07) 4935 6103
	Caravan Parks
	Marlborough Caravan Park Bruce Hway Marlborough QLD 4705 Telephone: (07) 4935 6112
	Restaurants
	Malborough Hotel Restaurant Railway Pde Marlborough QLD 4705 Telephone: (07) 4935 6103
	Marlborough Motel Restaurant Bruce Hway Marlborough QLD 4705 Telephone: (07) 4935 6112