Hello and welcome

Brisbane History West is a collaborative resource set up to provide an internet presence for the history groups in the inner south western suburbs that don’t have their own dedicated website.  Its purpose  is to supplement existing activities and encourage community awareness and participation in the study and recording of local history.

Each of the groups focus on specific geographical areas which jointly cover the present day suburbs of Chelmer, Corinda, Graceville, Indooroopilly, Oxley, St Lucia, Sherwood and Taringa. Arbitrary boundaries aside, with some subtle variations the area shares a common history.

If you are unfamiliar with the blog format this Home page has all the articles uploaded to date in chronological order. Each has been categorised so if you are looking to minimise scrolling click on the relevant Topic (right hand side margin for PC users). The articles are a mix of frequently asked questions, meeting notices, research notes and papers,  and general news items.

Please feel free to contact us if you are working on a project and are wondering how to share your research effort, contributions are welcome. The site is self-funded and supported by the participating groups and societies which rely solely on volunteer resources. The individual groups retain their independence.

The publication Brisbane Spreads West– A local history 1840 to 1901 is the combined work of a number of local groups and societies, drawing on their research of the history of the western and south western suburbs of Brisbane. It is available from the participating groups or from the State Library Book Shop

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Toowong and District Historical Society October Meeting

9.30am Friday  October 25 2019 at the Meeting Room, Toowong Library, Toowong Village Shopping Centre.This month Bruce Sinclair will talk about the site of the
former BCC Works Depot, Campbell Street, Taringa.Today this area features a upmarket high-rise unit block. But in a former time, the area was the former site of the former BCC Works Depot site and was bounded by Campbell Street, Burns Road, Alpha Street and Whitmore Street. Bruce will explain the story of this area and also discuss why Campbell Street possibly attained its name. For further information tdhsoc@gmail.com

Toowong History Group October Meeting

7pm Wednesday 18 October 2018 at the Community Meeting Place, Josling Street, Toowong.  This month Dean Prangley from the Royal Historical Society Queensland, who has some great early cars of his own, will give us a talk about early motoring in Brisbane.  For further details contact marilyn.england@bigpond.com

 

Moggill Historical Society October Meeting

2pm Sunday 20 October 2019 at the Sinnamon Hall, Moggill Uniting Church, corner of Kangaroo Gully Road and Moggill Road (note venue change from Moggill Cemetery). Having learned the lessons from the weather gods, this year our AGM will be held inside in Sinnamon Hall at the Moggill Uniting Church.  Not only will this mean weather protections but includes chairs, a tea kettle for freshly boiled water with real cups for our comfort and enjoyment!  Sinnamon Hall is the historic wooden building located on the corner of Kangaroo Gully and Moggill Roads, with entry to the car park from Kangaroo Gully Road.

After our short AGM and afternoon tea there will be car-pooling available for those who wish to see our newly installed signage at the Bora Ring on Riversleigh Rd and then to our annual tour of the historic Moggill Cemetery.

As in previous years we shall have all three levels of our political representatives in attendance: Julian Simmonds MP, newly elected Federal MP for Ryan,  Dr Christian Rowan MP, State Member for Moggill and Cr Kate Richards, Councillor for Pullenvale. They will each be speaking on local historical and heritage issues

For further details contact Bobby Vollmer secretary@moggillhistorical.org.au

Oxley-Chelmer History Group October Meeting

9.30am Friday 18 October 2019 at the Sherwood-Indooroopilly RSL Sub-Branch, Clewley Street, Corinda. At our next meeting the speaker will be Marianne Taylor, the House Detective. Marianne researches the history of houses, their architecture, who built them and who has lived there. On this occasion she will bring us the story of three houses in the Oxley-Chelmer area, each with quite a different background.

All welcome. For further details please contact Marion on 3379 1967 or ochginc@gmail.com

Richlands, Inala & Suburbs History Group October Meeting

9.30 for 10am Tuesday 8 October 2019 at the Meeting Room, BCC Inala Library, Inala Civic Centre, Inala. For further details contact secretary@rihghistory.org.au

Taringa History Group October Meeting

3pm Saturday 5 October 2019 at the Community Meeting Place, Josling Street, Toowong.  Come along to our October meeting and hear about how Campbell Street got its name and who lived in the area bounded by Campbell Street, Burns Road, Alpha Street and Whitmore Street. All welcome

St Lucia Farm School- ‘The gate of opportunity is wide open to the boy who passes through St Lucia’

1936 aerial photograph of part of St Lucia showing the general arrangement of the Farm School buildings centred on Carmody Road (QImagery)

2017 aerial photograph of the equivalent area, now part of the UQ campus (Google Earth)

1934 view of the farm buildings from the South West (JFF Reid, The Problem of Youth)

2019 view of the area once occupied by the farm buildings

Extract from The Queensland Year Book 1938 (ABS available online)

The St Lucia Farm School was established as one of the state government’s responses to the 1930s economic depression brought about by the world wide slump in trade. Post Federation Australia was still reliant on its major trading partner the UK (60% of trade) and when demand there for Australian goods plummeted thousands were thrown out of work. Up to 27% of the Queensland workforce was out of a job by 1932 and others were on part time.

The rapid rise in unemployment coincided with the election of the first ‘conservative’ government in Queensland for 14 years. The Labor party had held office since 1915 headed successively  by TJ Ryan, Ted Theodore, William Gilles and then William McCormack. They were elected on a platform of improving the lot of the working man and introduced a number of social reforms. Perhaps one of their most significant actions during this period  was the abolition of the Queensland Legislative Council, arising from their refusal to approve legislation assented by the lower house (some sources suggest up to 200 Bills and Regulations returned).

By 1929, however, the Labor governments appear to have run out of steam and AE Moore became Premier when the Country and Progressive National Party (relatively short lived coalition) won the election. Timing is everything