Marlborough

Marlborough is a small town and locality in the Shire of Livingstone, Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Marlborough and the surrounding area had a population of 355.GeographyThe town lies on the Bruce Highway, 106km north west of the city of Rockhampton. It is within the local government area of Shire of Livingstone, but, between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Rockhampton Region. The town is a small service centre for the surrounding area, and one of a number of fuelling points on an otherwise isolated stretch of highway.To the south lies the Kunwarara Magnesite mine, which works one of the world's largest supplies of the mineral. Marlborough is famous for producing the world's finest chrysoprase, a semi-precious gem once coveted by Alexander the Great and Cleopatra. The small but high-grade deposit is located about 20km south-south-west of the township and is universally regarded as the most valuable find in the world.HistoryThe town was first established in 1856.The post office at Marlborough opened on 1 January 1861.In 1993, the Principality of Marlborough was established as a short-lived micronation located at near Marlborough. The principality came into being when farmer George Muirhead, facing the possibility of the repossession of his properties - Kierawonga & Indicus - by the Commonwealth Bank, challenged the legality of their bills of exchange in the Queensland Supreme Court. When he lost the case, Muirhead returned to his property under the grounds that he had been denied natural justice, and, along with his wife and approximately 30 other supporters, declared it to be an independent principality where the bank and Queensland Government had no legal authority.