Your Brisbane: Past and Present

One of these days I'm going to count the number of churches on Ann St. It's quite a long street and it has more than its share of churches, ranging from a century-old Anglican cathedral to a shared space in a modern building used by the International City Church. It was also planned to be the site of a huge Catholic cathedral envisaged by Archbishop Duhig, but the funds for that venture were never realised.

One of the older church buildings in the street is the Church of Christ, situated near the Queen St intersection and pictured below.

(Photo: © 2012 the foto fanatic)

The building was originally erected around 1881 for the United Methodist Free Church. Tiny though it seems today, wedged in between office towers, it has been extended three times since construction.

I don't know the reasons, but it appears that the United Methodists were replaced by the Church of Christ. The Church of Christ had formed at another location in 1893, and in 1898 they bought this church building for £1,100.

The building is a Gothic structure with rendered walls and an iron roof. It is quite similar in appearance to another Ann St church, the Ann St Presbyterian, that is about thirty years older. I don't have an older image of the building, but Wikipedia has a photo of the Ann St Church of Christ's women's sewing group from 1901.

(Photo: wikipedia.org)

These days the church has a Korean language service in addition to its normal English services each Sunday and welcomes all overseas visitors with a Make Friends in Brisbane meeting on Wednesdays that helps newcomers learn to speak English.

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This man was one of Australia's foremost forestry and timber experts. His name is Edward Harold Fulcher Swain - here is his photograph, and below that is a picture of the house he built in suburban Chelmer in the 1920s.

(Photos: HQPlantations Pty Ltd; http://www.hqplantations.com.au/history.html)

Edward Swain was born in Sydney in 1883, and at the age of 17 he became the first cadet ever appointed to the Forestry Branch of the Department of Lands. He attended technical college and university in Sydney before undertaking several bush postings, many of them in the Northern Rivers district. Swain was largely self-taught about forestry - indeed it is reported that he had a disdain for the type of academic forestry practiced in Europe. He made self-funded trips to New Zealand and the United States to gain further knowledge about trees, and he also started to publish books and papers on the subject. In 1916 he moved to Queensland as a district forest inspector, in 1918 he succeeded Norman Jolly as director of forests, then in 1924 became chairman of the Provisional Forestry Board.

Swain had a powerful persona and was never shy about broadcasting his views on forestry even when they clashed with the views of his employers and developers. This conflict led to a Royal Commission into forestry in 1931, where Swain read his views on forest protection over a couple of days. The Commission did not like his approach, his tone or his message - in fact he was accused of making false statements under oath and some members of the Commission called for him to be jailed. A private review by the Auditor General found that Swain's statements were factually accurate, but the Royal Commission did not publish that result. This led to his employment being terminated in 1932.

Swain operated as a consultant for a few years until employed by the NSW government as their commissioner for forestry in 1935. Here he was to manage the state's timber resources through a depression and then WWII. He established a wood products investigation to manage forests to the mutual benefit of foresters, sawmillers and timber merchants. He had oversight of timber production and supply during the war when timber was not able to be imported due to shipping blockades.

He continued to publish widely, but was frequently in disagreement with academics and the government. As a result he retired in 1948, although he later had a stint with the United Nations as a forestry adviser to Ethiopia.

Edward Swain returned to his Chelmer home late in his life and passed away there in 1970, some say while tending his garden. He had planted an arboretum around his property that contained a variety of species and many of the mature trees can be seen in the following photographs of the house.

(Photo: © DERM; 2009)

(Photo: © 2012 the foto fanatic)

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The Teneriffe area was a vital cog in the Australian-American naval forces during WWII. The former Capricorn Wharf was a US submarine base, and just south of that was the Australian Navy's base HMAS Moreton.

The Capricorn Wharf returned to civilian duty as a commercial wharf following the war, and then was demolished as the Teneriffe precinct began its urban renewal.

HMAS Moreton continued as a naval base through until it was decommissioned in 1994 and then demolished soon after. This allowed the construction of Freshwater Apartments (below) on the site.

(Photo: Brisbane City Council on flickr)

Here are a couple of photographs of HMAS Moreton shortly before it was demolished.

(Photo: Brisbane City Council; BCC-S35-9866)

(Photo: Brisbane City Council; BCC-C35-942044.15)

The next photo shows two WRANS standing next to a Navy Oldsmobile at the base during WWII. I assume that they would have driven navy brass around at the time.

(Photo: Australian War Memorial; P00294.001_1943)

Next we have a photograph from the early 1970s of HMAS Yarra berthed at the HMAS Moreton wharf. The suburb of New Farm and the Story Bridge are visible behind the base.

(Photo: RAN Historical, Heritage Collection image ID NO. 04289)

A memorial plaque remembering the WRANS who served at HMAS Moreton has been fixed to a stone at the former site.

(Photo: http://www.flickr.com; © The Tanny Kid)

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This little cul-de-sac in New Farm has an interesting history. Scottish immigrant James Campbell, who founded quite a large building company after his arrival in Brisbane, bought land here and around 1880 he constructed a couple of lime kilns and a little wharf at the river end of the street. Later he established a timber business on the property too. It appears that the terrible 1893 flood put paid to these enterprises although other Campbell businesses survived and prospered. There are remnants of the lime kilns still visible from the river and they are under heritage protection. I have glimpsed them from the CityCat but have not had the opportunity to photograph them. Here is an image from the DERM website.

(Photo: © DERM)

The area lay unattended for about twenty years after the Campbell joinery works and lime kilns were destroyed. In 1914 another timber merchant, James Green commenced operations here, and then in 1921 a Julius Rosenfeld set up his timber yard here. He bought the land in 1924, but he also had bad luck - fire destroyed his business in 1931.

In 1933, Rosenfeld had the land subdivided into housing allotments, and I presume that Julius St was named in his honour. The little street became a place where blocks of flats were constructed during the inter-war period. There are no fewer than seven multiple dwellings, each having its own design and character, in the street. They are Ardrossan, Green Gables, Julius Lodge, Syncarpia, Ainslie, Pine Lodge and Evelyn Court. The New Farm area at this time was largely inhabited by the well-off, and these flats were designed to be leased to wealthy tenants.

Below is a photograph of Ardrossan, sporting a for sale sign. The photograph was taken some months ago, and a recent check found that it is no longer on the market. I cannot say whether or not it was sold.

(Photo: © 2012 the foto fanatic)

It is welcome news that this street has been recognised as having heritage value. Although dating only from the 1930s the area is significant in its representation of early medium density living in Brisbane.

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In the last post we were looking at medium density rental properties in New Farm. Today I am showing you another purpose-built rental property in the same suburb. This one is a house that was built in the year 1900, and it was designed by iconic Brisbane architect RS (Robin) Dods as an investment property for his mother. Robin Dods' built his own house was next door to this one, although unfortunately it no longer exists. It has been replaced by a block of flats.

Here are a couple of views of the house.

(Photo: DERM)

Robin Dods was born in 1868 at Dunedin in New Zealand of Scottish parents. The family moved back to Scotland, but when Robin's father died they emigrated again - this time to Brisbane. On the sea journey to Australia Robin's mother met the ship's surgeon, Dr Charles Marks, whom she later married.

Robin attended Brisbane Grammar School and then in 1886 he went back to Scotland to study architecture. He moved to London in 1890 to work in a few architectural firms. Early evidence of his talent can be gleaned from several awards that he won in the years after being admitted to the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1891. When he returned to Brisbane briefly in 1894 to visit his mother, he entered a competition to design a nurses' home for the Brisbane Hospital and won that too. This success urged him to come back to Brisbane to live in 1896. He joined fellow architect Francis Hall to develop the firm Hall & Dods.

There is no doubt that Robin Dods was a talented designer. He was successful through a tough economic cycle in Brisbane after the terrible 1893 floods, and this was also due to his impeccable connections. His stepfather, Dr Marks was a well-known doctor and member of parliament and his uncle was also a politician. Dods, like them, was a member of the influential Queensland Club. He obtained commissions from several of the best corporate clients, such as AMP, Bank of NSW, the Anglican and Catholic churches.

Unfortunately some of Dods' work perished through the "development" era in Queensland, the Bjelke-Petersen dominated 1970s. But there are still some fine examples left, many of which we have already looked at: St Brigid's at Red Hill, the Bishopsbourne chapel and Dods' House for example. Here is a photograph of another of his works, All Saints at Tamrookum, west of Brisbane.

(Photo: JIGGS IMAGES @flickr.com)

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Some say this house is Brisbane's best example of a Spanish Mission-style residence. It was also one of the most expensive houses of its time - Santa Barbara was built in 1930 for a cost of £4,000.

The house was constructed for Mrs Sarah Balls, the widow of Brisbane builder turned publican John Balls who had died in 1895. Mrs Balls continued the hotel business after her husband's death, and she must have made a good fist of it too - at one time she owned the Stock Exchange Hotel in the city, which still stands and is still one of the favoured watering holes of the CBD.

Santa Barbara was built by DF Roberts to a design by EP (Percy) Trewern who became an extremely successful residential architect during the inter-war period. He also worked on commercial buildings - Inchcolm on Wickham Terrace is one of his designs. Here is a photograph of Santa Barbara from around 1936.

(Photo: R Dunstan; State Library of Victoria, #b26607)

And here is a recent photograph.

(Photo: © 2012 the foto fanatic)

The land on which this house stands was formerly part of the grounds of Merthyr, a grand home owned by former Queensland premier and the first Chief Justice of the High Court, Sir Samuel Griffith. Griffith died at Merthyr in 1920 and the land was subdivided in 1929. The house was retained at that time, with some of Sir Samuel's children residing there. Mrs Balls obtained a portion of the severed land and Santa Barbara was built there. This is what Griffith's house Merthyr looked like prior to later being demolished (in 1963) because no funds were available to maintain it.

(Photo: SCQ Library)

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #204664)

Merthyr (named after the town in Wales where Griffith was born) was a large brick home designed by James Cowlishaw and built during the 1870s. It had a slate roof and cedar interior, with the main feature being the lavish ballroom in the centre of the house. It's a shame the house has been lost, but its name lives on in nearby Merthyr Park and Merthyr Rd, one of New Farm's major roads.

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Here is a photograph of Charles Le Broq - he was a building contractor who built and operated the Metropolitan swimming baths at Petrie Bight in Brisbane's early days.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #)

The baths were a wooden enclosure moored to the river-bank, allowing them to move with the tides. That feature also allowed the baths to be towed to a new position near the Botanical Gardens when their original site was earmarked to be developed into wharves. The next photograph shows the baths at that new site - you can just make out the word "BATHS" on the roof behind the ship. The large building in the centre of the picture is the Smellie & Co building on the corner of Edward and Alice Streets.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #35312)

The Le Broq family lived in the Metropolitan Baths Cottage at North Brisbane, but like other investors, Charles Le Broq decided to build a house to let to well-off tenants in the near-city suburb of New Farm. It was designed by Richard Gailey and Le Broq completed construction in 1889. The first tenant there was Albert Drury, who happened to have been the private secretary of Governor William Cairns. Cairns had passed away in 1888, and Drury named the house Cairnsville in memory of the former governor.

There are a couple of photographs of the Le Broq family at Cairnsville. I love this first one - it shows a girl on a rather up-market kiddie car that looks like it is propelled by a push-pull action of the handle, much like a railway hand cart. The information with this picture says that the two women at the back are Mable(sic) and Alice Le Broq.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #21980)

The next image shows Uncle Milton from Fiji in the white coat at the front, with baby Phil (aged 3 1/2) on the verandah. It took me a while to discover that there are actually six people in the photograph.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #21979)

It looks like the Le Broq family has a bit of fun, doesn't it?I can't tell you how long they owned the house, only that Drury was resident there until 1897 when he moved to Doon in Moreton St. The house has since had many owners and many tenants, and at one time was a boarding house. I believe that it is now privately owned.

(Photo: © 2012 the foto fanatic)

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Recently we discussed various aspects of immigration to this country. Today we are looking at the development of Brisbane's vibrant Greek community, in particular their churches. Greece itself is having severe economic issues as this post goes to air, and it may result in that country departing the European Union. I've been to Greece a couple of times and marvelled at the antiquities and the fact that it is the basis of our concept of democracy. It would be a shame if the country imploded now. But as my Greek barber says, "All the hard-working Greeks are in Australia making fortunes. Those left want a welfare state but aren't willing to pay taxes". I'm sure the problem isn't that simple, but it is interesting that a Greek man interprets things in that way.

Greece, wedged between Europe and Asia, had been invaded from one direction or another for centuries, and the population was used to fleeing to new homes. Greeks started to arrive in Queensland as far back as the 1860s, mostly to rural towns. During the twentieth century, some Greekmigrants in Queensland worked in the mining and sugar industries, and many established small shops and cafes. Most Queensland outback towns had at least one Greek cafe or milk bar.

A Greek community centre was established in Charlotte St Brisbane in 1913, and in 1922 the first Greek Orthodox priest arrived in Brisbane. He conducted services in St Luke's Anglican Church in Charlotte St until the completion of the first Greek Orthodox church, also in Charlotte St, in 1929. Here is a photo of the laying of the foundation stone and dedication in late 1928.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #50666)

And here is a later picture of that church from around 1955. It no longer exists.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #202766)

Although immigration ceased during WWII, it started again soon afterwards, and there was a large intake of Greek migrants during the 1950s. During the war Greece had been invaded by the Italians, who were initially repulsed, and then the Germans. The Greek mainland was occupied by Axis powers from 1941 to 1944, so it was no wonder that many Greek citizens were prepared to travel overseas to a new life.

Most Greek migrants were Greek Orthodox Christians, and the church in the centre of Brisbane became too small for the swelling congregation. In 1956 land was purchased in South Brisbane to allow the construction of a new church. Plans were drawn up by RM Wilson, the foundation stone was laid on 4 May 1958 and the church was consecrated on 24 April 1960. Here is a recent photograph of the church.

(Photo: © 2012 the foto fanatic)

It seems to me that the Greeks are very strong on family and their cultural traditions. There is a large Greek Club next to the church that enables these traditions to continue amongst newer generations. Of course, Greeks know how to have fun and the annual Paniyiri festival that has been running since 1976 is held over the road from the church and draws huge crowds each year.

(Photos: couriermail.com & gocstgeorge.com.au)

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Here is a photograph of the Royal Bank of Queensland in Queen St Brisbane, taken around the year 1900. The building was erected in 1891.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #66715)

Some rationlisation of the banking scene in Australia took place in the years following WWI, and the Royal Bank of Queensland became the Bank of Queensland after a merger, and then was taken over by the National Bank in 1922. It was decided to build a new office in place of the original building, and Melbourne architects A & K Henderson designed the seven-storey brick and sandstone building that was erected in 1929/30 and was where I opened my first cheque account in 1968. It was known then as National Bank Central Branch, and here is a photograph of it in that guise.

(Photo: DERM)

The building, situated in the Queen St Mall, no longer operates as a bank. It is now the CBD home of Country Road clothing - here is a recent picture.

(Photo: © 2012 the foto fanatic)

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Like many other cities, Brisbane has a Chinatown. Our Chinatown precinct is in Fortitude Valley, and is surrounded by a myriad of restaurants, with oriental produce, jewellery and health stores to add to the mix. Chinatown Mall was officially opened by then lord mayor, Sallyanne Atkinson on 29 January 1987 - just in time for Chinese New Year celebrations for the year of the Rabbit. Kung hei fat choy! Here is a picture of the hordes of people who turned up on opening day.

(Photo: Courtesy Brisbane City Council; BCC-B35-18.15A) 29/01/1987

The mall has had a varied existence since then. It was very popular for a time, and then business waned. Many Chinese immigrants have chosen to live in the southern suburbs of Sunnybank and Robertson, so the trek to Fortitude Valley is a rather long one. Those suburbs now have their own Asian flavour and attract large numbers of people.

The Fortitude Valley Chinatown had a makeover in early 2010. Some $8 million was spent to reinvigorate it, but the renovations themselves were not popular with the local traders because the noise and dust kept patrons away from the area. Delays in completion added further frustrations.

Once finished though, the area took on a more authentic look, thanks to input from Chinese architects. Here are a few photos.

(Photos: Courtesy Brisbane City Council)

The lions at the entrance to the mall (top picture and close-up in last picture) are reported to weigh 320kg and sit there to prevent evil spirits from entering the area. They were a gift from the People's Republic of China.

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Here are some photos taken down the years of the area that is now the Queen St Mall.

Photo 1: old town hall - now where the Chifley Hotel at Lennons stands; 1885
Photo 2: top of Queen St - town hall lower right and Victoria Bridge at top
Photo 3: looking towards Edward St from Albert St
Photo 4: looking towards Albert St from Edward St at night; 1957
Photo 5: looking towards Albert St from Edward S; 1960s

Enjoy!

(Photo: Courtesy BCC; BCC-B120-25426)

(Photo: Courtesy BCC; BCC-B120-31070)

(unknown)

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Until the advent of the railway line to Ipswich the way you got there was by coach (for passengers) or wagon (for goods). The wagons were usually pulled by bullocks, making for a very slow trip.

A place for the bullocky to stop to wet his whistle just outside the boundary of Brisbane was at One Mile Swamp, a declared water reserve that we now know as Woolloongabba. It must have been a fairly wet area, because the shortcut that the bullock drivers took to the Ipswich road became known as Boggo Rd (now Annerley Rd). In 1863 a hotel called the Clarence opened there. Where roads go, people are sure to follow and housing allotments began to be sectioned off in the area. The increase in local population required the Clarence Hotel to be replaced by a new building in 1889. It was called the Clarence Corner Hotel, and this is a photograph of the area taken around 1906. The building on the right edge of the photograph is the Clarence Corner Hotel.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #4048)

Woolloongabba and South Brisbane became quite commercial areas. Leading up to the massive 1893 floods, there were many businesses on Stanley St, which at one stage had no fewer than 17 hotels dotted along its length! Further east along Stanley St the Brisbane Cricket Ground held its first match in 1896, and since then has grown to be known simply as "The Gabba" and is recognised as one of the major world cricket venues. Just across Annerley Rd from the Clarence Corner Hotel, the Mater Hospital was completed in 1910 on land that had been purchased by the Sisters of Mercy in 1893. Patients were transferred from the previous venue, a house at North Quay. Here is a more recent picture of the Clarence Corner Hotel.

(Photo: Courtesy Brisbane City Council; P4280045)

Regrettably, South Brisbane and Woolloongabba are no longer the commercial centres they once were. In the case of South Brisbane, the 1893 flood caused so much damage that many businesses either closed down or moved across the river to Brisbane Town. As far as Woolloongabba goes, it was still a vital transport hub through to the 1960s, when the arrival of the suburban shopping centres heralded the doom of major precincts such as Fortitude Valley and Woolloongabba. Then the construction of the South-East freeway severed the Wooloongabba strip into two parts and the area is now a ghost of its previous incarnation. But the construction of medium density apartments has recently added some life to the area. A large shopping and residential complex has been built opposite the Gabba, and the Clarence Corner Hotel has also just had a makeover. It is now known as the Brisbane Brewhouse - here is a current photograph.

(Photo: © 2012 the foto fanatic)

And here is a link to a newspaper article that outlines the changes in store for this landmark hotel.

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Following the last post, we are staying in Woolloongabba and looking at some of the nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings that remain in the area.

This one stands in Stanley St next to the Clarence Corner Hotel. It is thought that the building was constructed around 1903 for the then owners of the hotel, John Brett Charlton, a successful Brisbane stockbroker, and his wife Winnifred Mary.

(Photo: © 2012 the foto fanatic)

Known as Shop Row, the group of five attached shops was erected a little later than its neighbours, which are of 1860s vintage. Apparently there were earlier small businesses operating here, but this was the first building constructed after the land subdivision that allowed such structures.

As with other buildings in this location, Shop Row's fortunes have fluctuated since its construction. The area was quite a busy precinct through to the 1960s, after which many of the buildings fell into disrepair, but recent activity has brought back a little life.

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On 29 December 1881, 78-year old Irish immigrant George Hillyard died at his residence at Stanley St, South Brisbane. The death notice in The Queenslander shortly afterwards indicated that he had passed away after a long and painful illness. This is the house where George and his family had lived for close on twenty years - it is situated next to the property we saw in the last post, Shop Row.

(Photo: © 2012 the foto fanatic)

The residence was upstairs, and downstairs George ran a watchmaker's business with a shopfront to Stanley St. The building was completed around 1865, and after George's business opened the building was topped with a clock to advertise his wares. Unfortunately the clock is no longer present. George and his family may not have been in Australia for all that long at this time - I found a reference to a George Hillyard, watchmaker, resident of Dublin in 1862.

Following George's death, his son continued the business until 1885 when the property was sold. A succession of businesses have subsequently operated here as the suburb has waxed and waned over decades. Fortunately it is still with us, and with heritage listing, it should survive for much longer.

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This building is a couple of doors down Stanley St from the Clarence Corner Hotel that featured in a recent post here. It is known as Pollock's Shop House, and it was built in the mid-1860s from bricks that were probably made locally. The brick core remains, supplemented by timber extensions on either side.

(Photo: © 2012 the foto fanatic)

Alexander Pollock was a butcher who operated from a shop in this building for a few years after its construction. He lived on the premises, and cannot have been there for too long when a fire occurred in Harvey's Store, the next-door building, on 23 March 1865. At the inquest into the fire, Pollock testified that he was awoken by a "peculiar noise" and that when he investigated he found the next-door property on fire. It appears that the fire was contained to that building although they were only about 10 feet (3 metres) apart.

Apparently business didn't go all that well for Pollock. In a civil court case in November 1866 he was sued for £433 as restitution for a cattle deal that had gone sour. Pollock lost the case and was bankrupted in 1866/67. He lost this building to the mortgagee in 1868. By this time Alexander Pollock was searching for gold at Gympie and it is reported that he had some success at that endeavour. Pollock St in Gympie is the site of his claim for the "Lady Mary" reef that he registered in late 1867.

Since Pollock's time there have been numerous businesses and tenants of this building. I hope the businesses there today have more success than Alexander Pollock did.

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We have encountered William Davies in these pages before - he built the fabulous Drysslwyn, now known as Raymont Lodge, at Auchenflower. Davies had made his fortune in mining, but was evidently a canny investor too. One of his earlier real estate ventures was to engage renowned architect Richard Gailey to design a series of attached shops to be built at Clarence Corner, now Woolloongabba. The resultant building was completed in 1890 and is comprised of six two-storey brick shops that were advertised for rent in July of that year. Here is what has been described as a photograph of the eastern part of the building from 1952 - there are similarities to its present appearance, but there must have been some alterations since this picture was taken. I'm actually wondering whether this was a building on the other side of Stanley St.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #13281)

In 1920 the building was bought by Lebanese immigrant Calile Malouf, and I understand that the Malouf family, now one of Brisbane's major property players, still owns it. Calile Malouf and his sons operated a store in the building through to the late 1980s - I can recall going to their annual menswear sales to buy business shirts at unbelievably low prices. The shop was invariably full of items from floor to ceiling and I always wondered how they could find anything.

A more recent tenant was a golf store, and I was a regular customer there until around 2002 when I had to give up playing golf because of recurrent vertigo. There is still a golf store in the building today. Here is a current photograph.

The Woolloongabba Fiveways has long been an easily recognised Brisbane landmark. It gets its name from the confluence of Main St, Stanley St, Logan Rd and Ipswich Rd, all major arterials that fan out like the spokes of a wheel. It was also a significant shopping precinct through to the 1960s, based on the easy access to it by bus, tram or train.

The area is significantly different now to when I remember it from when I lived at Annerley in the fifties. But today we are looking at something that has remained fairly constant over 120 years. It is the Taylor-Heaslop Building, erected in 1889-90 and photographed below in 1900.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #16343)

This three-storey structure was built as three attached shops for chemist Walter Taylor who wanted two shops as an investment, and businessmen James and Thomas Heaslop who were to use the third shop as a grocery store. The building was designed by JB Nicholson who also designed the nearby Princess Theatre and Norman Hotel. Because the building was wedged between Stanley St and Logan Rd the shops consequently had frontages to both. In 1893, title to the two Taylor-owned stores was transferred to James Heaslop who maintained them as an investment. The Heaslop brothers dissolved their partnership in 1901 with James Heaslop now owning all three shops and Thomas running the store. In 1920 when the following picture was taken, the building housed Logan's Drapery (operated by George Logan) and the People's Cash Store (operated by Thomas Heaslop alone, but leased from his brother James).

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #60030)

Following the death of James in 1922, his wife Mrs Clara Heaslop inherited the building and continued to hold the shops as an investment. Various traders operated from the different shops until the depression, when the building was unoccupied at times. In 1936 the tyre retailer Moreton Rubber Works leased one of the shops, and their signage has been visible since. Every time I went to a cricket match at the Gabba, just across Stanley St from this building, the signs were a visible checkpoint as I approached the ground. Here is a photo from 1955.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #161196)

Traffic issues forced the closure of the Logan Rd entry point at the Fiveways, and the top end of the street is now a cul-de-sac. It has been transformed into a lifestyle precinct, replete with cafes, restaurants and antique stores. The Taylor-Heaslop building remains, housing one of Brisbane's better restaurants on the ground floor. This is a current photograph.

The Roman Catholic order, the Sisters of Mercy, has had a leading role in developing Brisbane since their arrival here in 1861. They were amongst the earliest providers of education to Queensland children and were also instrumental in health care. The sisters opened the Mater Misericordiae Private Hospital in 1906, situated at North Quay. It was a former residence called Aubigny that had been converted to a 20-bed hospital. Aubigny was built for Sam Davis, a Jew who added a separate building in the grounds that was actually Brisbane's first synagogue. It was then sold to Patrick Perkins, the brewer, and during his time the former synagogue was used as a billiard room. When the hospital was based there, this outbuilding was used as a chapel. Here is a photograph of Aubigny in use as the Mater Misericordiae Private Hospital.

(Photograph: www.mater.org.au)

It did not take long for expansion to be necessary. The sisters built a new 130-bed private hospital at South Brisbane - it was opened on 14 August 1910. Here is a picture of the hospital under construction. This part of it is situated on the corner of Stanley St and Annerley Rd, opposite the Clarence Corner Hotel.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #10189-0002-0069)

Five short months later, in February 1911, the Mater opened a public hospital - a two-storey, 40-bed hospital that was to treat 3000 patients in its first three years of operation.

(Photo: www.mater.org.au)

Since then, the Mater has been at the forefront of health care and the training and education of medical professionals. In fact, the beautiful mrs tff trained there as a radiographer. The hospital now works hand-in-glove with Queensland Health and employs several thousand people. It would be impossible to for me to display all of the achievements of the hospital, but their web pages provide a list of milestones.

Here is a picture of the hospital that was taken in 1924.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #21569)

A growing population has determined that the hospital infrastructure should also grow. It is now a massive campus and will become even larger because a new $1.1 billion Children's Hospital is currently being erected there. Here is an aerial photo of the huge complex - it now has its own location, Mater Hill.

(Photo: © www.cisco.com)

South Brisbane and Woolloongabba are experiencing another growth spurt. The development of Boggo Road Urban Village on the site of the old jail, together with the proposed cross-river rail project and possible residential redevelopment of the state government's GoPrint site near the freeway will ensure the area is rejuvenated.

Click here for a Google Map.

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THAT'S OUR FINAL POST FOR 2012

I WISH ALL READERS A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON

AND A WONDERFUL 2013

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I spent my teenage years growing up in a housing commission estate south-west of Brisbane. One of my fondest memories of that time is of the local playground that was just a stone's throw from my place. It was run by the Playground and Recreation Association of Queensland, an organisation that was founded in 1913 and which had as its champion (Mary) Josephine Bedford.

One of the earlier playgrounds was the Spring Hill playground that opened in 1927, and in 1956 it was officially named the Bedford Playground in memory of Josephine Bedford who had passed away in the previous year.

The following photograph shows children at the playground in 1939.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #106347)

I can remember when my local playground started back in the late fifties. A tall wire fence with lockable gates surrounded a bare and dusty area in which had magically appeared swings, a roundabout, monkey bars, a cement cricket pitch and later, a few bitumen tennis courts. The Association erected a hall in which indoor games of table tennis and badminton could be played, as well as chess, draughts and other board games. It also had a collection of footballs, cricket bats, softball bats, tennis rackets, hockey sticks and the associated paraphernalia for kids' games. The playground was staffed by a wonderful couple called Mr & Mrs Connellan, who did everything posssible to ensure that the place was a safe and happy environment for kids of both sexes and all ages. They were referees, child-minders, advice-givers and even table tennis partners, and I'm sure that many children and parents of the district owe them a debt of gratitude for their splendid and tireless work. Looking back now, I marvel at how different life was for kids. We would turn up at the playground and effortlessly slot into a game of cricket or touch footy and play for hours. Of course computers, Playstations and iPads were the stuff of science fiction movies back then.

(Photo: © 2013 the foto fanatic)

The photograph above shows the Bedford Playground at Spring Hill today. The hot, grassless environment that I recall from my local playground is not evident here - this playground has been softened by the addition of bark chips and shade cloth. The playground equipment, in glorious technicolor, is a far cry from the bare steel swings of my youth. Hooray for that! It looks like a great place for kids to hang out - but on the day I visited (during school holidays), it was deserted.

Click here for a Google Map.

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I've long wanted to write about this property in the western suburb of Indooroopilly. It's name is Tighnabruaich - I'm told that means "house on the hill" in Gaelic. The reason that I haven't done so before has been the difficulty of photographing the house, but recently I came across a couple of images that will assist me in telling its story.

The history of the house starts with two brothers who came to Brisbane from their birthplace of Edinburgh in Scotland. They were born a year apart and were sons of actor/painter Montague Stanley. The older brother, Francis Drummond Greville Stanley had studied and practiced as an architect in Edinburgh prior to emigrating to Brisbane in late 1861 or early 1862 where he joined the Lands Department, becoming chief clerk of works to the Colonial Architect Charles Tiffin in 1863. His younger brother Henry Charles Stanley, an engineer, joined him in Brisbane around this time. Henry was an assistant engineer on the first railway line, became a railway engineer in 1866 and then Chief Engineer for Railways in 1872, by which time older brother Francis had been appointed Colonial Architect on the retirement of Charles Tiffin.

In 1875 the first railway bridge across the river between Indooroopilly and Chelmer was constructed, but it was destroyed in the mammoth 1893 floods. A new bridge was designed by engineer HC Stanley, and it opened in 1895. The bridge that HC Stanley designed had only a central pier rather than the multiple piers of the earlier bridge, thereby reducing the risk of damage from floodwaters and debris.

HC Stanley had purchased a large block of land near the railway line at Indooroopilly around 1891 for the construction of his own residence. He had a suitable architect in the form of brother FDG Stanley who had marvellous buildings such as the National Bank, the Queensland Club and the GPO to his credit. He designed the decorative two-storey Tighnabruaich to take full advantage of its river views, with lots of steeply pitched gables containing multiple windows.

(Photo: DERM)

In 1891, Henry Charles Stanley mortgaged the property to a Solomon Wiseman, and following Wiseman's death in 1901 the Stanley family vacated the house and the property was used as a boarding school until sold to well-known Brisbane solicitor Herbert Hemming in 1904.

The Hemming family owned the house until Herbert's death in 1942; it then was administered by the trustees of his estate. For a good many years in the 1930s it was unoccupied, and rumours spread of it being haunted. During WWII the house was used by joint US-Australian intelligence and translation units and huts, interrogation rooms and cell blocks were constructed for their use. Many American servicemen resided in tents in the grounds of Tighnabruaich, and Japanese POWs were imprisoned and interrogated there.

The trustees of the Hemmings estate sold the property to the Commonwealth government in 1945, and it continued to be occupied by the army after the war ended. It was subsequently used as the residence of Queensland's top soldier, the General of Command, Northern Command. For almost fifty years it was the home of military brass until the grounds were subdivided in 1998 and the house and remaining land was sold to civilian owners. Here is a "before & after" photograph of Tighnabruaich.

(Photo via Lost Brisbane; facebook.com)

Click here for a Google Map.

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