Evelyn Grieg wrote Queanbeyan in 1938, the sesquicentenary of European settlement. Grieg signed the song over to the Mayor of Queanbeyan, John Esmond, and the Committee organising secretary, E. Colin Davis, for ten guineas. Grieg was a well known musician who wrote a number of similar songs such as 'The Song of Sydney', 'Our Land Australia' and 'Australian Battle Cry' (NLA MusicAustralia). She had been a vocal coach in New York and was a musical advisor at the ABC in Sydney.

This recording is sung by Jack Lumsdaine. Lumsdaine was a prolific songwriter and performer on both the vaudeville circuit and on radio and is also remembered for Every Day is a Rainbow for Me, which featured Don Bradman accompanying him on piano.