History of Brisbane's Wynnum

Wynnum and Wynnum North's history has been compiled by local historian, Kay Harbison, as a part of the BRISbites community history project.

Aboriginal history

The Wynnum area was occupied by the Winnam (meaning ‘pandanus') people. They lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle with several campsites within their area and adjacent islands. Elanora Park was an aboriginal campsite and was known as ‘Blacks Camp' until 1976.

The coast and river provided abundant seafood. Pandanus, bangwall (fern root) and other plants were eaten and small mammals and birds were hunted, particularly the flying foxes on St Helena Island, where inter-tribal feasts and corroborees appear to have taken place.

As settlement grew the aborigines were confined to the coastal fringes. While agriculture was not possible, the good fishing and hunting meant they could survive. By the 1870s closer settlement around Brisbane was making this outskirts living impossible.

The main destroyers of the Moreton Bay Aborigines were new diseases brought about though contact with the white population. Diseases such as smallpox and tuberculous decimated the indigenous population.

Urban development

Three cedar cutters were blown off course from Sydney in 1823. They were wrecked on Moreton Island and, with the help of local aborigines, explored the coast and inland until they met up with John Oxley’s party. It appears likely that they crossed to the mainland at Emu Point and travelled north along a native path, much of which is now Tingal Road, to the top of Lytton Hill where they became the first white people to see the Brisbane River.

From 1824 to 1839, Moreton Bay was a penal colony and no free settlement was allowed, but in 1842 this restriction was lifted. The area was surveyed by James Warner in 1859 and the first land auction took place in 1860. Among the earliest purchasers were Shepherd Smith, general Manager of the Bank of New South Wales, and John Balfour, who selected four blocks, comprising 87 acres in all, which stretched from Wynnum creek to Wynnum North State School and down to the bay. Most of the initial settlement was concentrated in the Wynnum North region. Grazing, viticulture, farming and fishing were the primary occupations for these early settlers.

In 1882, the first subdivision in the area took place, at Manly Beach Estate, but the first subdivision in Wynnum was the East Wynnum estate in 1884. In 1888, the estimated population of the Lytton to Lota district was 200 with 50 households. The arrival of the railway in 1889 ensured that the area continued to boom. It was a popular holiday spot, with many guesthouses and camping sites, and at one stage around half the houses in the area were solely used as holiday homes. Farming and fishing were the primary occupation, with it being for a time the second largest fishing catch in Queensland.

In 1902, the Wynnum Shire Council was created and in 1913 it became the Town of Wynnum, before being amalgamated into Greater Brisbane in 1925.

Notable residents

The Green family had a timber yard where G and B Motors now stands. John Greene was a builder and sawmiller. His sons were building contractors in Wynnum and built most of the early buildings, including the Misses Greene School for Girls in Bay Terrace (later Moreton Bay Girls College), established by their five sisters. They also built and operated the Star Theatre, which burned down in 1959, and Sam Greene published the Waterloo Bay Leader. Sam Greene was elected Alderman in 1913 and his son John was the last mayor of Wynnum and the second Lord Mayor of Brisbane.

Englishman Edward Kelk and his brothers bought land near Hemmant and named their property Lindum-mere after the Roman name for Lincoln (after their home Lincolnshire). In 1869, Edward built a house not far from Pleasantville. The Kelks built Kianawah sugar mill in the 1860s and pioneered the growing of sugar in the area.

Joe Sands came to Wynnum as the Shire Clerk in 1907. He and his family lived in the Shire Clerk’s Cottage, where they kept milking cows, poultry and a vegetable garden. In 1913, when Wynnum Shire became a township, Joe Sands became the Town Clerk. His duties were varied, including overseeing town works, processing rates and fines, and, temporarily, administering the town. In 1917, the Court of Queensland dismissed the current Town Council (following great disagreements and even violence amongst the councillors) and Mr Sands was the town’s highest official until an election four months later.

Landmarks

The Shire Clerk’s Cottage on Tingal Road was built in 1890 as a residence for the clerk of the Kianawah Divisional Board. The State Government donated two and a half acres of land along the creek and tenders were called for the construction of a hall, offices and residence. Mr J.G. Gross tendered 820 pounds, of which 255 were for the cottage. This was accepted and he started building immediately. Sixteen weeks later a ball was held to celebrate the completion of the building work. It later became the Shire Clerk’s cottage and, was for many years the home of Joe Sands, the Shire Clerk. In 1984 the building was extensively renovated and restored.

St Helena Island was used as Queensland’s state prison from 1867-1932. For many years it operated as a prison farm, with its own cane fields and mill, dairy cattle, farmyards, workshops, and tram. After the prison closed, various families leased it, but it is now a National Park and a popular tourist spot.

Wynnum Central State School was opened in 1894 with an enrolment of eighty. By 1901, another room was required and a third was built six years later. Further annexes were built in 1917 and 1919, which for three years catered for a secondary school.

Wynnum Wading pool was a depression era project and opened in 1933. The parkland was reclaimed from the sea, a revetment wall was built and backfilled, with an area left empty to create the tidal pool. The pool is around 200 m by 65 m with automatic valves to maintain the water depth from the tide.

The Waterloo Bay Hotel was built by George Gibb and opened in 1889. He was born in Cornwall and migrated with his wife and child, but they returned to Cornwall after the baby’s death. In 1875, he returned to Australia with his second wife and four children. They settled in Kelvin Grove, but after the Cleveland rail line was opened, he was granted a hotel licence and built the Waterloo Bay Hotel. Due to ill health he sold the hotel and moved to Gibbs Street, where he died in 1906. He was a well-known stone mason in the district.

Reference: K. Harbison, BRISbites, 2000

History of Brisbane's Tingalpa

Tingalpa's history has been compiled as a part of the BRISbites community history project.

Aboriginal history

Tingalpa's name comes from the Aboriginal words 'tingal' (fat) and 'pa' (place).

Bulimba Creek was a popular camping ground for the local Aborigines who also camped on the flats near town.

In 1846 there were reports of Aborigines raiding produce along Bulimba Creek. Near Tingalpa, Bertha Pears met a group of men decorating themselves for a fight. A large group lived on the flats and some members worked on the Stanton farm for food or tobacco. Corroborees held there would often last all night. Mrs J Porter recalled that when the noise became annoying, white settlers would fire their guns into the air and it would cease. In 1872 a major corroboree of 300 Moreton Bay and Brisbane Aborigines was held at Tingalpa.

Urban development

A small but scattered farming community grew in the Tingalpa area throughout the 1860s. Sugar was grown and milled throughout out the 1860s and 1870s. In 1871 James Johnston built a sugar mill on the site of Kelly's brickyard, and later moved it to Bulimba. As sugar production moved north, Tingalpa farmers turned to small crops, dairying, and some grape growing and winemaking. Tingalpa was on the main road.

The mail coach ran through Tingalpa on the way to Wynnum or Cleveland and changed horses at the Royal Mail Hotel, which still exists today. By the 1880s, Bulimba and Wynnum were much more closely settled, while Tingalpa remained mainly rural.

During World War II Kianawah Park was an American troop base, covered in tents and trenches, and lit by searchlights. After the war much of Tingalpa's farming land was divided for industrial or suburban use and this development continues today.

Notable residents

Alexander Kelly arrived in Brisbane from Scotland in 1860. He had originally trained as a farrier and blacksmith, as well as working as a vet and surveyor, but the shortage of work in these fields led him to further diversify. The Bulimba Divisional Board held its first meeting at the Kelly home. When the Board obtained premises at Morningside, Kelly was appointed supervisor and lived there for several years. During that time he was granted leave of absence to survey the Surat and St George districts for the government, before returning to his duties as supervisor.

He was involved in sugar mills at Hemmant and Tingalpa and a slaughter yard at Murarrie. The collapse of the sugar industry led him to exploit the fine clay on his property, and he built a significant brick works, which supplied bricks for the construction of Fort Lytton. A financial crisis meant Kelly had to buy up all the interest in the company and he operated it till his death. He was Chairman of the Balmoral Divisional Board in 1892.

Around 1900 George Cooling sailed into Manly in an old boat in which he lived until it fell apart. He then lived near Manly State School until he bought a block of land at Whites Road. He made his living out of taking photographs of people from Manly to Cannon Hill. He built his own motorbike and sidecar and navigated through the often-perilous roads on these. His name, 'Dirty George' came from his aversion to washing. He travelled around taking photographs, often in exchange for a meal, and he reportedly built an aeroplane out of scrap, which he flew into the top of a large tree.

Emmanuel Stanton and his parents arrived in Australia on the Schachmaxer in 1857, when he was five years old. In 1873 the Stanton family took up land in the Tingalpa district and began a dairy farm that supplied milk to the district until 1963. Emmanuel operated a butcher shop and later took over the family's land holdings. He was a member of the Kianawah and Bulimba Divisional Board and of both the Balmoral and Belmont Shire councils. He was Chairman of the Balmoral Divisional Board for four terms. The Stantons purchased other sections of land in the area for general farming, growing sugar and other crops. He and his wife, Mary, reared sixteen children. Stanton was an active member of Christ Church, which he helped to rebuild after it was blown down. He was buried there in 1914 after a sudden attack of peritonitis.

Emmanuel and Mary Stanton's daughter Ethel married James Porter in 1911, and after Emmanuel's death they took over running the property. Their second child, Stan Porter, grew up loving planes. As a boy he rode to Eagle Farm for a joyride with Kingsford Smith in the Southern Cross. At the age of thirty-two he took flying lessons and in 1947 he bought his own plane and made an airstrip on their land. In 1954 Stan Porter crashed into Bulimba Creek with his two sons on board, while they were scattering the ashes of Tom Kelly over the Kelly quarry. Stan and one of the boys, Keith, were killed, while Des was rescued from the tail of the plane.

Landmarks

Christ Church Tingalpa and burial ground were established in 1868. This is one of the oldest Anglican churches in Queensland. Volunteers cleared the ground and the construction was paid for by donation. The original church, designed by R. G. Suter, opened in 1868 with 400 guests, including the Governor. The church was demolished by a cyclone in 1885. Material was salvaged from the site to rebuild it and the new church was reconsecrated in 1886. As Bulimba and Wynnum parishes grew and separated, Christ Church lost significance. In the mid-1930s it was proposed to demolish the church, until an enthusiastic priest, E. J. V. Cavey led its revival in 1939. Christ Church blossomed in Tingalpa's post-war population growth. Later, as churchgoing declined, so did this parish. Again demolition was suggested, until public movement in the 1990s stopped the Church from disposing of the building.

The cemetery predates all the general cemeteries in Brisbane. The earliest grave, Susannah Weedon's of Cannon Hill, dates from 1868. Members of many families significant in the area: Weedons, Coxens, Whites, and Stantons are buried there.

On 1 August 1870, Mr W. R. Wood wrote to the Board of Education regarding the need for a school in Tingalpa, and subsequently a meeting was on this topic. In January 1872, another meeting was held, at the Royal Mail Hotel, to further the task of raising money to build a school. The school building and teacher's house were built for 290 pounds, and opened in 1873 with fifty pupils under Mr Bernard McGauren. A kitchen was added in 1874 and a play shed the following year. By 1894, when the new stable and buggy shed were opened, there were ninety-nine pupils, but this number had fallen to twenty by 1900.

In 1923 an entirely new school was built for a school population that grew to 115 children by 1929. As new estates were developed Tingalpa's growth was reflected in the increasing size of the school.

Bulimba Creek forms most of the eastern boundary of the Parish of Bulimba. Bulimba means 'magpie-lark' and was the Aboriginal name for Whites Hill. Originally the creek was called Moreill Creek. Although first referred to as Bulimba Creek in 1888, by 1940 it was known as Doughboy Creek.

The mouth of the creek was originally at Bridge Point, but since construction of the Doboy River wall, it flows out to the east of Gibson Island. The creek is tidal for one-third of its length. The catchment includes numerous smaller creeks and covers about 122 square kilometres. One branch of Bulimba Creek rises in the Kuraby Hills, while the other (Mimosa Creek) begins in the Mount Gravatt foothills. Downstream from where they meet at Rochedale are a series of waterholes and the creek flows through some remnant bush between Pine Mountain and Mount Petrie, and into the wide flat floodplain area of Tingalpa and Murarrie. The main channel and surrounding lands have been greatly modified, particularly near the mouth of the creek.

Aborigines relied on the creek and its surrounding vegetation for food. Campsites occur along its length and bora rings were located at Murarrie and Belmont. After settlement timber getters got licences to fell timber in the forests along the creek. Settlement along the creek was mainly agricultural and light industrial until after the Second World War. Belmont and Tingalpa residents remember swimming in Bulimba Creek in the 1950s when it was pure. In 1967, the Brisbane City Council announced the Bulimba Creek Park scheme and began buying and restoring land along the creek.

Reference: BRISbites, 2000

History of Brisbane's Grange

Grange's history has been compiled by local historian, Lesley Jenkins, as a part of the BRISbites community history project.

Aboriginal history

The Turrbal clan occupied the northern side of the Brisbane River. White people often referred to this clan as the 'Duke of York's clan'. There were camping grounds around the Breakfast Creek area and the explorers Oxley and Cunningham met members of the clan at the mouth of the creek in 1824.

The main encampment of the Turrbal clan was in 'Yorks Hollow'. This gully passes through Victoria Park and the Royal National Association Showgrounds at Bowen Hills. In 1858 two Aborigines, Dalinkua and Dalpie, from the Breakfast Creek area, wrote letters to the Moreton Bay Courier protesting about the treatment their people received at the hands of the white settlers.

Urban development

Grange is eight kilometres from the General Post Office and adjoins the suburbs of Stafford to the north, Gordon Park and Windsor to the east, Wilston and Newmarket to the south, and Alderley to the west.

It was named after The Grange Tannery and Fellmongery Company, which was established on Kedron Brook in the 1860's. The property was subdivided in 1903 and mainly sold as small, sixteen-perch [404.8 square metres] allotments in The Grange Estate.

In 1887 Windsor was incorporated as a shire and Grange fell within its boundaries. The Enoggera railway line opened in 1899, providing a further link from the area to the city. The tram service extended to Grange in 1928, boosting businesses in Days Road.

Notable residents

Janette Turner Hospital, a well-known fiction writer for adults, was born in 1942 in Melbourne and moved to Brisbane in 1950. She went to Wilston State School at the Grange from 1950 until 1956. She continued her education in Brisbane and travelled and lived overseas from 1967. Her books include The Ivory Swing (1982), Charade (1988), The Last Magician (1992), and Oyster (1996).

Other high achievers at the school included Aija Ekis who received the Lilley Medal in 1957 for the highest marks in Queensland in the scholarship exam, and John Fenwick who became Queensland's 1966 Rhodes scholar.

Mal Anderson, a winner of the US Tennis Championships in 1957, operated a squash and tennis centre for many years between Days and Kedron Brook roads.

Landmarks

Kedron Brook is a natural landmark which crosses the suburb of Grange and forms one of its boundaries. German missionaries to the area named the stream in 1838. The name is derived from biblical references to the crossing of Kidron Valley to enter the Garden of Gethsemane. Grange Forest Park extends for more than one kilometre along Kedron Brook.

After years of agitation by parents to develop a school in the area, the Minister for Education, John Huxham, finally opened Wilston State School in 1920. The timber building catered for an initial enrollment of 365 students, which increased to its highest number of 806 in 1930.

Days Road is named after an early settler at the Grange, William Henry Day who lived in what is now Days Road in the 1890s. His property was later subdivided to create Day Park Estate consisting of 250 blocks.

Reference: Lesley Jenkins, BRISbites, 2000

History of Brisbane's Karawatha

Karawatha's history has been compiled as a part of the BRISbites community history project.

Aboriginal history

The original inhabitants of the area south of the Brisbane River were the Jagera people. The Chepara Clan lived in the Eight Mile Plains area, probably including Karawatha.

The diverse fauna was an important food supply, while the creeks provided turtles and fish. The lagoons in Karawatha provided fish and wading birds – as well as edible reeds and roots.

Urban development

Karawatha provides an important space buffer in an area that is closely settled. There was some clearing of sites prior to the 1991 Vegetation Protection Orders and in 1993 a large section of Oakbrake land was cleared for a housing estate. However, development has been minimal. Apart from two reservoirs, there are almost no permanent structures in the area, although off road vehicles and bikes have damaged the parkland.

In 1996, the population of Karawatha and adjoining Berrinba was only 296. In 1991 the population of Berrinba was 292 and Karawatha had 214. Many scientific, recreational and environmental groups make use of the area.

Notable residents

Karawatha Forest Protection Society was formed to protect and extend the Karawatha Forest. It was formed by Bernice Volz, Beryl Roberts and others. They conduct bush regeneration, educational displays, and bushwalks. They also occupy an important role in campaigning for the area, and are involved in community consultation and planning for the maintenance of the forest.

Landmarks

Trinder Park station was proposed in 1967 as a stop in a rapidly growing area. By January 1968, the 133 metre platform was built and a month later it was ready for traffic and named Trinder Park. In 1985, two electric trains collided at Trinder Park and two people were killed.

Karawatha Forest Reserve consists of 900 hectares of land, administered by Brisbane City Council and in private hands. The BCC land was largely bought with funds from the bushland levy.
The forest consists mainly of lowland dry open woodland and forest and some areas of sub-coastal wet heathland. It has a varied geology (mainly quartzose sandstone) and a great diversity of plants and animals, including a nationally significant population of Koalas. Sandstone outcrops form the headwaters for three creeks, but most of the area is flatter and lower. Illaweena Lagoons are a rare example of the lagoon systems that spread across the whole region before white settlement.

Generally the vegetation is one of nine types of dry eucalypt forest, but there is melaleuca woodland along the ridges, an area of wallum heath, and paperbark forest along the creeks and lagoons. There are 324 species of plants in the forest, including rare stringybarks (E. Planchoniana , E. Curtisii and E. Baileyana) and Plunkett Mallee.

Wildlife is abundant in the area – Koalas, Grey Kangaroos and Red Necked Wallabies, Swamp Rats , Marsupial Mice (Common Dunnart and Common Planigale), and eleven species of insectivorous bats. There is the only known group of Squirrel Gliders near Brisbane. Platypus have been seen in Scrubby Creek and Illaweena Lagoons. Over a hundred species of birds use the forest and eighteen species of frog live in the area, including the rare Green-thighed Frog and Wallum Froglet.

Reference: L. Jenkins, BRISbites, 2002

History of Brisbane's Wacol

Wacol's history has been compiled by local historian, Mary Howells, as a part of the BRISbites community history project.

Aboriginal history

This region was the home of the Yerongpan clan of Oxley Creek who spoke the Yaggera dialect of the Turrbal language. Lost cedar cutters, Pamphlet, Finnegan and Parsons were the first white men to make observations these people in 1823. They found two aboriginal canoes tied at the mouth of Oxley Creek (which they named Canoe Creek) for use by those wishing to cross the creek when travelling along the south bank of the Brisbane River.

In 1828 Cunningham and Fraser noted huts in the vicinity of Oxley or Inala. The only evidence of a bora ring is at the end of Kertes Road Camira on the banks of Sandy Creek, which is just outside this study area.

By 1839 it was noted that an aboriginal living near Oxley Creek dying of chronic pulmonary consumption. Tuberculosis and other diseases were rapidly reducing the Aboriginal population of the region. Smallpox had also taken its toll from as early as 1831.

The establishment of the penal colony’s cattle station at Cowper’s (Coopers) Plains from 1824 probably led to the local aboriginals either moving away or tolerating the intrusion. It was reported in 1840, that there had been no animals lost to aboriginal destruction since the time of the establishment of grazing for the penal settlement in the areas from Limestone (Ipswich) Redbank and Coopers Plains.

Dr Stephen Simpson, who was Commissioner for Crown Lands from 1842 –1855, was responsible for ensuring that the Aboriginals were treated on an equal basis as the white population. He established a base at Woogaroo where he later built Wolston House. After about 1842 more evidence of Aboriginal resistance to the white invaders was evident.

By 1843, Dr Simpson reported that there were only about 40 Aboriginals living in the vicinity of Woogaroo, although the population in the Moreton Bay region was estimated to be about 5000.

Interestingly, an escaped convict Bracefield, who had lived with the aboriginals in the Wide Bay area, was assigned to Dr Simpson after his return to Moreton Bay in 1842. Other convicts assisted in the construction of a police post, house, stables and outbuildings. Bracefield later died on the Woogaroo property.

Aboriginal population declined over the next century due to diseases, relocation and other factors. Many were moved to mission stations well away from the city and children continued to be removed from their families until the 1960s. However many aboriginal people moved back into the city after WWII, and lived in the old Negro servicemen’s area of South Brisbane.

By the early 1960s many had moved to the new housing areas of Acacia Ridge and Inala. 160 families were interviewed in 1961 in this region, and many were found to be living in poor conditions. From 1963 the OPAL hostel was established which assisted with short-term accommodation, meals and welfare issues generally. By 1971 the census revealed that there were 3,200 Aboriginals in the Brisbane region; much less than in the 1840s.

Urban development

Land sales in the area in 1851 saw Stephen Simpson acquire the first property, which was then known as Woogaroo. However, Simpson had run cattle and horses in the area long before this time. His legacy is Wolston House, which is now a National Trust property.

The township was surveyed and sold in 1864. An early inn on the roadside was called Wolston Inn. The name was changed to Wacol in 1927 because of the confusion with the Brisbane suburb of Wilston. The origins of the name Wacol have links with the weighbridge, which weighed all the coal from the West Moreton field from 1914. The chief railway business at this station was to weigh coal – hence the name Wacol.

Notable residents

Dr Stephen Simpson originally established a police outpost on the site in 1842, when he was commissioner for Crown Lands and protector of Aboriginals. By March 1842 his staff included four convict Border Police, whose job it was to check that squatters were not grazing stock beyond the new county boundaries. This was resulting in greater conflict with the Aboriginals.

In the late 1840s, Simpson was Acting Colonial Secretary and Acting Police Magistrate and was involved in the establishment of the Brisbane General Hospital. After he retired from public life in 1855, he returned to Wolston. He invited his niece's son, who was his heir to visit on 13 August 1856. His name was John Ommaney and he was killed the following evening in a riding accident. The neighbouring suburb of Mt Ommaney bears his name. Dr Simpson remained at Wolston for about seven years and during that time he was Magistrate for Ipswich.

One of the early industrialists was Mr W Brittain who discovered clay deposits in the area, which were suitable for brick and pipe manufacture. He established his brickworks in Harcourt Road in 1889.

Landmarks

The Wacol Army barracks straddle the boundary with Darra. Its origins lie in the American Camp Columbia, which was built in 1942. In 1949 the site was acquired by the Department of Immigration and the buildings were used to house migrants from Europe. The camp was then known as the Wacol East Dependant Holding Camp for Displaced Persons. A Serbian chapel built by post war migrants remains on the site.

The other major landmarks are the various correctional services centres in the area, including the John Oxley Youth Centre, Sir David Longland Centre and the remand and reception centre.

A Buddhist meeting place was established in Wacol in 1977 at the home of Klaus de Jong. It was named Dhammadinna House in 1978 in memory of a Buddhist nun who came to Australia in 1951.

Wacol is an important industrial area for the Brisbane–Ipswich corridor and was set up in the late 1960s by the Department of Industrial Development. The initial estate comprised 380 acres (153.9 hectares) and was extended to 436 acres (176.6 hectares) in the late 1970s. A further 1,100 acres (445.5 hectares) have been earmarked for further heavy industrial development.

Reference: Mary Howells, BRISbites, 2000

History of Brisbane's Kenmore

Kenmore's history has been compiled by local historian, Lesley Jenkins, as part of the BRISbites community history project.

Aboriginal history

The Jagera and Turrbal groups occupied land in the Brisbane and Ipswich areas. The exact boundaries are not known, however the Turrbal generally occupied the area north of the Brisbane River. Both groups had closely related languages, which are classified as belonging to the larger Yaggera language group.

The Brisbane River and Moggill Creek provided a home rich in resources. Evidence of Indigenous occupation includes bora grounds near the Moggill Pony Club and O'Brien Road. The name of the creek and the locality is derived from 'Magil', an Aboriginal word meaning water dragon.

Urban development

In 1849 Moggill Road was built through Kenmore. In the 1860s the area was logged. With clearing came closer settlement, the cultivation of crops and the introduction of dairying.

In the 1880s Andrew Todd bought 100 acres of land in the centre of present day Kenmore. He named his property 'Kenmore Park' after his hometown in Scotland. In 1900 Kenmore School opened, remaining as a one-teacher school until 1959.

In 1925 the Moggill Shire was disbanded when the suburbs of Chapel Hill, Upper Brookfield, Gold Creek, Pullenvale, Moggill, Fig Tree Pocket, Kenmore and Brookfield became part of the Greater Brisbane Council.

Notable residents

Samuel Heathwood came from Portadown in Northern Ireland. In the 1870s he offered his barn for use as a schoolroom, which was run privately by Mr Story.

Keen to see religious services introduced into the area, Heathwood also made his barn available as a meeting place for the local Presbyterian congregation.

The Presbyterian congregation built a church in Kenmore in 1885. To celebrate the commencement of services and meetings in Kenmore, they constructed a cairn of stones from Moggill Creek on the former site of Samuel Heathwood's barn. The stones were removed when the Heathwood's paddock was subdivided for housing.

Landmarks

The Kenmore Repatriation Hospital was a World War II hospital. It was converted into a repatriation hospital for ex-service men and women after the war. The hospital was closed and demolished in the 1990s. The Fairview War Veterans' Home, which opened in 1998, is built on the site.

Kenmore State High School services many of the newer, rural residential western suburbs. It was established in 1972 and it is located on 10 hectares on Moggill Creek, Kenmore.

Reference: Lesley Jenkins, BRISbites, 2000

History of Brisbane's Teneriffe

A new suburb

Until 2010, Teneriffe was in fact a place or location and was not recognised as a Brisbane suburb.

The Brisbane neighbourhood of Teneriffe will officially be granted suburb status in February 2010 following extensive public consultation by the State Government, Natural Resources, Mines and Energy Minister Stephen Robertson said today.

Since 1975, the southern area of the suburb of Newstead has been known as Teneriffe.

Aboriginal history

The Aborigines of north Brisbane were Turrbal people. They were often referred to as the 'Duke of York's clan' and their leader was called the 'Duke of York'. The creek was called 'Yawagar' (or 'yowoggera') meaning 'corroboree place', and Newstead Point was called 'Garran-binbilla'. It was a popular camping and corroboree spot, and a significant fishing area was located near the outlet for the creek.

Breakfast Creek and the river were rich in fish. The Aborigines cultivated a type of marine worm, kan-yi, in tree trunks that were left to soak in the creek.

In 1823 John Oxley travelled up the Brisbane River and saw a large group of Aborigines on the shore at Breakfast Creek. Oxley described them as possessing 'a most friendly disposition'. The clan camped along Breakfast Creek, where Oxley met them again in 1824 and Alan Cunningham noted 'numerous were the beaten paths of the wild Aborigine'. One of these men took Oxley's hat and was shot several days later by Lieutenant Butler at Toowong.

James Backhouse saw evidence of a corroboree ground and a burial ground at Yowoggera in 1836 and Charles Fraser saw hollow logs filled with bones there. Breakfast Creek and the river were rich in fish and the Aborigines cultivated a type of marine worm, kan-yi, in tree trunks that were left to soak in the creek. In 1836, the Commandant of the Penal Settlement, Foster Fyans, met the Duke of York, visited the 'rush made huts' on the river at Breakfast Creek, and watched members of the clan fishing with nets.

After white settlement, Aborigines were excluded from the city area during the night and many camped in the Breakfast Creek area, usually on the Hamilton side of the creek. As the settlement spread in the 1840s, there were attacks on white farmers in this area. These were followed by reprisal shootings, including one particularly vicious attack on three camps in the Breakfast Creek region in 1860. Ladies travelling to Newstead House were accompanied by soldiers for their protection.

Gradually the original inhabitants succumbed to white pressure and disease. By the 1860s the local population was virtually extinct.

Urban development

In 1824 John Oxley proposed that the initial settlement at Moreton Bay should be 'on the West side of the river, at the termination of Sea Reach', at what we now call Newstead. However, when the colony moved from Redcliffe in 1825, it settled at Gardens Point.

In 1828, when James Warner, the Government Surveyor, mapped the Newstead area it was used as a government farm. In 1845 New Farm was still a farming area and Fortitude Valley consisted of a few shacks. Patrick Leslie, one of the first squatters on the Darling Downs, erected Newstead House. He described the land as partially cleared. The house had some livestock, a garden, and an orchard, planted with pineapples and grapes.

In 1850 James Gibbon, a property speculator known as 'Street Corner Jimmy', bought two blocks of 119 acres [48.2 hectares] on Teneriffe Hill. He named his property 'Teneriffe' after one of the Canary Islands and the mountain on it. He later divided the property into smaller allotments and sold them.

Other developments in the area gave their names to the particular regions until Kingsholme, Waterloo, Stratton, and Teneriffe all occupied the area between Newstead Park and New Farm. In the 1920s the region became known as part of Bulimba, which was the suburb across the river.

When the early land holders began to subdivide their estates in the 1880s, smaller homes and industry moved into the area. The mainly residential nature of the suburb began to change in the late nineteenth century when deepwater frontage, the growth of the pastoral industry, and the railway led to the development of the Teneriffe–Newstead area as industrial or commercial properties.

River-based industries predominated in the area. Boats were built just south of Newstead House and wharves grew up after the dredging of the river allowed large ships to come upstream. In 1887 the gas works opened at Newstead. In 1908 Dalgety's Wool Store opened and flourished until 1973. Newstead became increasingly industrialised.

A railway line was built to service the wharves at Newstead, Teneriffe, and New Farm. In 1886 the first tram ran through Newstead to the Bulimba Ferry.

The area around the Teneriffe wool stores was zoned as commercial until 1987, when it was changed to high-density residential, reflecting a shift back to the originally residential nature of Newstead.

Landmarks

Newstead House is one of Brisbane's oldest residences. Patrick Leslie, the first squatter on the Darling Downs, bought the land in 1845. Andrew Petrie erected the house in the design of the homestead at Leslie's property, Canning Downs. In 1847 he sold it to his brother-in-law, Captain John Clements Wickham, the Police Magistrate and later the Government Resident. Wickham altered what had been a plain two-storey cottage with stone foundations, plastered brick walls, and a slate roof, to become an unofficial government house, suitable for the lavish parties he hosted, and the business he conducted there. After Wickham's departure in 1859 the house was owned by George Harris, a Brisbane merchant and politician, then by various other owners until 1918 when the Brisbane City Council used it for the Superintendent of Parks. Since 1932 the Royal Historical Society has made use of Newstead House and has restored it as a museum.

Teneriffe House was built for James Gibbon, a property speculator and later a Member of the Legislative Council. In 1850 Gibbon bought two blocks of 119 acres [48.2 hectares] on Teneriffe Hill and named his property 'Teneriffe' after one of the Canary Islands and the mountain on it. The house, designed by W. H. Ellerker, had separate wings for bedrooms, servants' rooms, and billiards room, linked by verandahs. It was constructed of rendered brick and timber, including a sprung-timber floor for dancing, and was built for the enormous sum of 1650 pounds.

James Cowlishaw designed 'Roseville', at 56 Chester Street, for George Myers, a Queen Street businessman. It was built in the 1880s of brick and sandstone. A later owner, James Mortimer, who was a pastoralist, gave the house its name. It has also been used as a hostel and a restaurant.

The Newstead area was dominated by river-based industry for many years. A railway line was constructed into Macquarie Street to cater for these industries. Wool was railed to the wool stores to be inspected, sold, and hoisted onto ships for export.

The first wool store, Dalgety's, opened in 1911, finished operating in 1979, and burned down in 1984. Several other wool stores were later erected, all of unadorned brick construction, with large warehouse-like interiors. The Teneriffe wool store area was zoned as commercial until 1987 when it was changed to high-density residential. Many if the stores have since been converted for commercial or residential use.

Reference: BRISbites, 2000

History of Brisbane's Anstead

Aboriginal history

The Jagera and Turrbal groups occupied land in the Brisbane and Ipswich areas. The exact clan boundaries are not known, however the Turrbal generally occupied the area north of the Brisbane River. Both groups had closely related languages, which are classified as belonging to the larger Yaggera language group.

The rich plant and aquatic life in the creeks and rivers in and around Anstead provided the Aboriginal people with abundant resources.

Evidence of Aboriginal occupation includes the bora ground at nearby Bellbowrie. The main bora ring is 22 metres in diameter and the site is still visible. Unfortunately, the smaller ring and the track joining the two rings have been replaced by housing developments.

Urban development

Prior to being surveyed, land in the Anstead area was settled by the squatter, William Sheehan, who established a cattle station.

Another early settler, Darby McGrath, squatted at the mouth of Moggill Creek near the junction of Moggill and Rafting Ground Roads.

Originally an area of 18.2 hectares at Mt Crosby Road, near Kangaroo Gully Road, belonged to John Anstead. This area was surveyed in 1866. The suburb of Anstead is located at what was the centre of John Anstead's land.

The new suburb was created in the 1970s. The name of Anstead was announced in the Government Gazette on 16 August 1975.

Notable residents

John Anstead was born in Devon in England in 1826. He arrived in Brisbane in 1858 and settled in the area near Mt Crosby Road. John worked as a timbergetter. He died in 1893.

His son John continued to live in the area working as a farmer and later as the manager of Sugars Basalt Quarry. Stone from the quarry was used in the construction of the Treasury Building in Brisbane. Joseph, John's brother, also settled in the local area. He worked for the Brisbane City Council waterworks at Mt Crosby.

Landmarks

The Brisbane City Council acquired the Anstead Bushland in 1950 and 1957. Up until that time it had been used for many purposes, including quarrying, farming and a minor waste dump and materials storage area. Nevertheless significant portions of the area were still bush.

In 2002 the Brisbane City Council put in place a management plan to protect the Anstead Bushland.

Reference: L. Jenkins, BRISbites, 2002

History of Brisbane's Bellbowrie

Bellbowrie's history has been compiled by Lesley Jenkins as a part of the BRISbites community history project.

Aboriginal history

The Jagera and Turrbal groups occupied land in the Brisbane and Ipswich areas. The exact boundaries are not known, however, the Turrbal generally occupied the area north of the Brisbane River. Both groups had closely related languages which are classified as belonging to the larger Yaggera language group.

Aboriginal people inhabited areas in Bellbowrie and the rich plant and aquatic life in the nearby creeks and rivers provided them with abundant resources. Evidence of their occupation includes the bora ground at the end of Riversleigh Road, Bellbowrie. The main bora ring is 22 metres in diameter and the site is still visible. Unfortunately the smaller ring and track joining the two rings have been replaced by housing development.

Urban development

Bellbowrie was originally a part of Moggill and as such it was subject to occupation by timbergetters, miners and farmers. In 1849 the area of the William’s mine was subdivided into 40 hectare Country Lots and John Williams selected one lot in 1850 and one lot in 1851.

Booker Industries Pty Ltd created modern Bellbowrie on 265.5 hectares with 2000 home sites. They named it Bellbowrie and it is an Aboriginal word meaning, ‘place of flowering gums’. It was planned as a village with a rural atmosphere. The suburb was officially opened by the Lord Mayor Alderman Jones at the Bellbowrie Shopping Centre on the 15 November 1973.

Notable residents

John Williams worked a coal seam, known as the Fryer Seam, at Bellbowrie. He came from Somerset in England where he had gained experience in coal mining. After mining at Redbank he moved to the Moggill side of the river. Mining ceased in the early 1860s.

William Fryer, who had worked the William's mine and given the seam its name, went on to become a surveyor with the Lands Department. He surveyed many of the original portions in Pullenvale and Moggill (which at that time included Bellbowrie).

Landmarks

The area of Bellbowrie was in the middle of Moggill and the new boundaries include the Moggill Cemetery which is the burial place of the first recorded settler in the area. Other landmarks include the Moggill State School, Pullen Pullen Creek and the Brisbane River. The Moggill Country Club is located in Bellbowrie and extensive lengths of the Bellbowrie Creek flow through the Club grounds to the open space areas around Bellbowrie Shopping Centre.

A number of streets in Bellbowrie carry the names of pioneers. These include Gibson Crescent, named after T. Gibson, Hallett Close, named after Joseph and Ann Hallett, and Twine Place, which is named after Job and Ann Twine.

Reference: L. Jenkins, BRISbites, 2002

History of Brisbane's Stretton

Stretton's history has been compiled as a part of the BRISbites community history project.

Aboriginal history

The Jagara people occupied most of the land south of the Brisbane River and Stretton would have been the territory of the Chepara clan of Eight Mile Plains.

Many years ago a collection of skulls was found in the Runcorn/Sunnybank region and it was presumed at the time that they came from an Aboriginal burial ground. There was a Bora ring at Camira and another on Tooheys Mountain. It was rumoured that the fig tree in the grounds of Magnolia Cottage, Sunnybank, was the site of a dancing or bora ring.

Urban development

Stretton was originally part of the wide area known as Coopers Plains. A convict outpost existed at Coopers Plans site from 1828. They cleared a track between Brisbane and Ipswich and grazed stock for the Brisbane convict settlement. In 1861, Governor Bowen proclaimed the Brisbane (later the Eight Mile Plains) Agricultural Reserve and this included the area of Stretton. The area was originally used for timber getting, but rapidly developed as a farming region, particularly for small crops, fruit and poultry. A 1922 military map shows about four houses in the suburb.

The Stretton area remained as a farming region, with some minor extractive industries (quarries) until after the Second World War, when the suburb was first established. Most development however took place in the 1980s. In 1989 there was controversy regarding the sale of land to Asian investors. In 1986 the population of Stretton was just 203. By 1991 it was 1251 ?an increase of 616%! By 1996 it had risen a further 65.3% to 2068! From 1986 to 1996 the population of Stretton grew by 924.1 % - the fourth highest growth in South East Queensland. The southern section of the suburb, however, is still largely undeveloped or rural.

Notable residents

George Stretton was born near Derby in England in 1827. He migrated to Australia and settled south of Brisbane. He took up duty as the first postmaster at Browns Plains in 1872 and also worked as a publican and mail contractor. In 1876 the Strettons ran the hotel at Browns Plains. Stretton was officially named after George Stretton in 1971.

Landmarks

The Gateway Bridge was opened in 1986 to provide a river crossing without entering the city. It is a 1.6-km long, pre-stressed concrete box girder bridge. The Gateway Motorway was designed to connect the Bruce Highway, which goes north to the Sunshine Coast, with the M1 south to the Gold Coast. It bypasses the city but accesses the airport.

Compton Road was named after one of the pioneering families in the region. Compton Road now runs from Beaudesert Road to Logan Road - joining nine suburbs! It was a rough track until the 1930s, running only between Gowan and Beaudesert Roads.

The Paratz land section of Karawatha Forest consists of 80 hectares, which is bordered by Kameruka Street, the powerlines easement, and Gowan and Compton Roads. The geology is low hills on sandstone with shale and conglomerate. The vegetation consists mainly of mixed eucalypt woodland with grass tree or wattle understorey and open-woodland. There are also some small areas of paperbark, including a patch of black she-oak and some creek vegetation (tall sawsedge and bluetongue). 193 plant species have been identified. Swamp Wallabies and Red-necked Wallabies have been observed, along with Glossy Black Cockatoos and Koalas.

Bulimba Creek - Bulimba means ‘magpie-lark’ and was the aboriginal name for White’s Hill. Originally the creek was called Moreill Creek but by 1840 it was known as Doughboy Creek. In 1888 it was first referred to as Bulimba Creek. The creek is tidal for one third of its length. The catchment includes numerous smaller creeks and covers about 122 square kilometres. One branch of Bulimba Creek rises in the Kuraby Hills, while the other (Mimosa Creek) begins in the Mt Gravatt foothills. Downstream from where they meet at Rochedale are a series of waterholes and the creek flows through some remnant bush, between Pine Mountain and Mt Petrie and into the wide flat floodplain area of Tingalpa and Murarrie. The main channel and surrounding lands have been greatly modified, particularly near the mouth. Aborigines relied on the creek and its surrounding vegetation for food. Campsites occur along its length and bora rings were located at Murarrie and Belmont. After settlement timber-getters were licensed to fell timber in the forests along the creek. Settlement along the creek was mainly agricultural and light industrial until after the Second World War. Belmont and Tingalpa residents remember swimming in it in the 1950s when it was pure. In 1967, Brisbane City Council announced the Bulimba Creek Park Scheme and began buying and restoring land along the creek.

Bottletree Place combines a wetland habitat with play equipment and a park.

Reference: Mary Howells, BRISbites, 2000