In 1827, the explorer Alan Cunningham was the first European to traverse the Darling Downs.

It was not until thirteen years later, however, that the pastoralists of New South Wales showed any interest in the report of Cunningham's discovery of vast expanses of rich downs country.

After that, individuals in need of fresh areas for their rapidly accumulating stock ventured forth to this area, which was then part of New South Wales. 

Richard Todd Scougall

The first pioneer owner of Jimbour was Richard Todd Scougall, who was a native of Scotland, where his father was a prominent shipowner. Scougall came to Australia in 1832 in his own ship. He was the first person to bring "free" white employees to this country. He first took up land on the Liverpool Plains in New South Wales, but between 1838 and 1840 he applied for, and obtained from the Administration, a license to take up land beyond the areas that were settled at that time.

Scougall, being somewhat overstocked on his property, "Elderslie," had sent Henry Dennis to seek out new land on his behalf. Dennis, coming from the South, crossed the Darling Downs, and eventually took up Jimbour for his employer. Henry Stuart Russell, when writing in 1841 of the events that occurred on the Darling Downs in the year 1840, said: "Henry Dennis was creeping under the western fringe of the Range, searching for the heads of any watercourses further north, and ultimately marked that of Jimbour, on behalf of Henry Scougall." The total area was about 300,000 acres.

By 1842 Scougall had established at Jimbour a flock of 11,000 sheep and some 700 head of mixed cattle- making it the first fully-stocked sttion on the Darling Downs. These were mostly brought from the Hunter River Valley in New South Wales.

Scougall did little to develop Jimbour after 1842. He apparently fell into financial difficulties about that time, and in 1843 negotiations were commenced for the sale of the property to Thomas Bell of Sydney. Scougall soon afterwards became bankrupt due to a series of misfortunes, culminating in the crash of the Bank of Australasia, in which he was a shareholder. He later died in Maryborough.