New book Describing Bribie

New book

Describing Bribie Island 1865-1965

: historical first-hand accounts of visiting Bribie Island

Over the century from 1865 to 1965 many different people have written fascinating first-hand accounts recording their personal experience of visiting Bribie Island. Each story provides a special insight into both the writer and the events they experienced during their time here and this insight reveals many different aspects of life and times on Bribie over those 100 years.

Section of the cover of new book
Describing Bribie Island 1865-1965

Following extensive research and document selection the Bribie Island Historical Society has published a book containing a number of these unique first-hand accounts.  





Over the last ten years Donna Holmes, Coordinator of the BIHS Historical Database Project has recorded over 10,000 references to photos, documents and articles mentioning Bribie Island. Donna selected 27 historical accounts in various formats including articles, letters and poems containing descriptive details of what Bribie Island was like when their writer visited.

The earliest stories are two letters written in 1865 on an Easter trip to Bribie by four men in a row boat. What an adventure they had rowing up the Pumicestone Passage! One man was the first premier of Queensland, another was manager of the Bank of NSW in Brisbane. The second letter was originally sent to a niece on the other side of the world and is illustrated with a series of delightful sketches and a wonderful map of Moreton Bay showing the journey stops.

Another narrative tells of an old man and a boy on a week-long trip from Beaudesert to Bribie Island in a horse and cart in 1909.  There are accounts of journeys on excursion steamships from Brisbane while other stories are written by early settlers, soldiers who were posted here and pioneers of families who descendants still live on Bribie today.

The authors include famous people like Thomas Welsby though mainly they are ordinary people who came to Bribie Island to do a job, make a new life or escape from an old one. Many of the documents have been sourced from newspapers of the time, through the John Oxley Library or from items donated to the Historical Society by descendants of the writer.

The selected accounts are all so different and provide insightful understanding of the various eras of Bribie's history. What it was like in the 1890s, during the First World War, the Depression years, the Second World War, the struggles of the 1950s and the boom years after the Bridge. The most recent account is a poem written in 1965 by the Island's Librarian.

This is the first published book by the Bribie Island Historical Society, which will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2018. The book has over 80 pages of well-referenced material with numerous footnotes and several illustrations from the original stories. Copies are available to members of the public for $20 plus postage. For further information please contact BIHS on bribiehistoricalsociety@gmail.com 

Describing Bribie Island 1865-1965

CONTENTS

01. Robert Herbert and three friends visit Bribie Island (1865)
02. Sandy Archer and three friends visit Bribie Island (1865) 
03. A Cruise round Moreton Bay – Bob S., Bill W., Frank O., A.B. (1873)
04. Seeing Bribie Island in 1909 by Ronald Patterson
05. Harry Johns and the Cary family, 53 Toorbul Street (1917-1918) 
06. Reminiscences from 1919-1988 by James Ormiston
07. Bribie Island in the 1920s by Ronald Patterson 
08. Bribie Island by Phoebe Kirwan (1924) 
09. Bribie Passage: a wonderful waterway by Vance Palmer (1926) 
10. The Unnamed Lakes by William Main (1928)
11. The Island Itself by Thomas Welsby (1928)
12. Childhood memories (1930s-1940s) from Alex Barnett 
13. A Trip to Bribie Island by Irene Cuthbert (1930) 
14. Reminiscences from 1930-1988 by Sally and Bernie Brennan 
15. The Passing Show: a visit to Bribie Island by “Verity” (1931) 
16. Historic Island. Attractions of Bribie. (1932) 
17. Riding tour over the Blackall Range to Bribie Island by Helena Cass (1933)
18. The Harrison Family - Reminiscences from 1933-1983 by Wendy McNeill
19. G.A. Beale stationed at Toorbul Point (1942)
20. Lou’s Wartime Bribie (1942-1945) 
21. My Bribie Island Year (1942-1943) by Graham R. Lovegrove 
22. Reminiscences of Bribie (1946-1950) by R.E. Simpson 
23. Reminiscences of Bribie (1940s-1950s) by Ted Clayton
24. History of “Kiama” Bribie Island (1946-1970S) by Mrs. Keith Price 
25. Bribie Island . . . where Flinders lost his hat by Harry Frauca (1962)
26. Bribie Walkabout by Zena Turner (1963) 
27. poem Bribie by Lou Young (1965)  

Squatters Homestead

Squatters Homestead Building

Bribie Island

circa 1970s - 1990s

A unique building existed from the 1970s to the 1990s, on the road that crosses Bribie Island from Bongaree to Woorim.  The road was then known as the Caboolture-Bribie Island Road and today known as First Avenue.  The building had been known as Squatters Craft Homestead, Squatters Homestead and Squatters Restaurant.

Photo from a tourist brochure entitled
  Cross the Bridge to BribieIsland: Queensland's island in the sun.
The brochure was produced by the Bribie Island Chamber
of Commerce in conjunction with Caboolture Shire
Council and Queensland Tourist and Travel Corporation
 around the year 1980.

Squatters Craft Homestead: Home of Creative Arts
Source: Postcard, Murray Views, Gympie, circa 1980.

These photos show the building when it was owned and operated by the Buckley family and one of the attractions were the goats that delighted children with little buggy rides!

By 1989 the building was home to the Squatters Homestead Restaurant and the following advertisement and article were published that year.

Restaurant now a Landmark!

The Bribie Islander March 1989 article

Caption: Squatters Homestead has been a landmark on
Bribie for 14 years [by 1989]
Source: The Bribie Islander v6(3) March 1989, p. 40, 44.

Squatters Homestead has been a landmark on Bribie for 14 years.  It was built by Don Buckley, a man trained in woodwork and coach building in the 1930s.

Don took up crown land in 1972 to build a centre that would inspire and accommodate craftsmen of different trades where they might work and sell their particular products.

The timbers used in construction for this centre were collected over a period of many years and consist of soft and hardwoods cut from the bush.  It took Don and his son-in-law, Russell Curtis, seven months of dawn till dusk work to build the slab homestead.  It was completed in 1975.

It remained as such until 1981 when its conversion to a restaurant was initiated.  Squatters Homestead Restaurant was a full restaurant until 18 months ago [1987] when a section was adapted to house arts and crafts once again.  Current owner [1989] of 3 ½ years, Dave Condie said “The public demand for locally made artifacts was so great, we had to bring them back”.

The extensive range of craftwork on display at the Homestead is definitely something worth seeing.

When you enter Squatters Restaurant, be prepared for a step back in time to the era of colonial Australia. The building itself was built using the same constructive methods as that of the pioneers of our country. The walls are adorned with blacksmiths tools, various saddlery, even a yoke.

In the corner is an organ, in working order, that dates back to the last century and punka fans, also in working order, hang from the ceiling.

The fireplace is actually a 44-gallon drum which was converted to a fireplace by John Gilpin of Montford.  Expect to see this conversation piece well ablaze all through winter.
Squatters Homestead Restaurant is famous for its Pepper Steak, Garlic Prawns and Pumpkin Soup, but has a comprehensive menu to suit all tastes as well as a special menu for children. From Thur – Mon, Squatters dial-a-dinner is the perfect alternative for the stay at home types.

Dave invites you to spend your leisure time browsing around and soak up the environment of yesteryear.
Source: The Bribie Islander v6(3) March 1989, p. 40, 44.

Source: The Bribie Islander July 1989

An 1989 advertisement for the Squatters Restaurant, First Avenue, Bribie Island 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Murray Views, postcards, Gympie.
Restaurant now a landmark. The Bribie Islander v6(3) March 1989, p. 40-44.
Advertisement for Squatters Restaurant. The Bribie Islander v6(7) July 1989, p. 36.

This compilation was prepared by Donna Holmes, Historical Database Project Coordinator, BIHS, June 2017.

Mar 2017 speaker

Early Maps of Moreton Bay

Donna Holmes, past BIHS president

Guest speaker at BIHS meeting March 2017

At our March meeting past BIHS president Donna Holmes, through a PowerPoint presentation, gave us a glimpse of early maps of Moreton Bay, identifying the change of the spelling of Morton to Moreton and the "moving" of Moreton Bay from the western side of Moreton Island to the bay encircled by Moreton and Stradbroke Islands.

Donna presented some rare maps advising she had purchased them (in digital format) from UK and Australian archives. Donna advised that in a lot of cases she buys maps sight unseen only going by the references made – unfortunately some images are not what she has hoped they would be, but luckily some are gems.

Maps shown were from expeditions by Captains Cook, Flinders, Grant and the 1823 Oxley expedition. An interesting map from 1803, by Eber Bunker, a captain of a whaling vessel was shown.

Donna finished the presentation by showing the earliest images of Australia appearing on Dutch and French maps.

These latter maps can be viewed on the website of the Queensland Lands Museum:
1550 - LaTerre Australle (Desceliers) [French]

 1650 - Mardi India (Jansson) [French]

1753 - Terres Australes (Bellin) [French/Dutch]

Acknowledgement:

Early exploration maps – available online Queensland Lands Museum

https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/arts/heritage/museum-of-lands/maps-plans/early-exploration/ 

References:

Blair, David (2009) Moreton Bay – the Bay that moved.

Placenames Australia: newsletter of the Australian National Placenames Survey, June 2009, p. 1, 3, 7. [available online at www.anps.org.au/news.html ]

Steele, J.G. (1972) The Explorers of the Moreton Bay District 1770-1830. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 1972.

Historic Campbellville

Historic Campbellville and Campbellville Cemetery Site

by Donna Holmes, 

Past president, Bribie Island Historical Society

In November 2012 a group of BIHS members visited the Campbellville Cemetery Site. 

Campbellville Cemetery Site sign, November 2012.
Photo: Barry Clark

The visit was arranged by Barry Clark, founding president of BIHS and other sites around the Rocky Creek / Roys Road area were visited.

The sign was located near the historic cemetery site and the following is a transcript of the information on the sign.

The photograph in the sign is of a group of mill workers at Campbellville in the 1880s.

Transcription of the Campbellville Cemetery Site sign

To complement the description of the paddle-steamer Mavis arriving at the wharf at Campbellville is the following account by Mr. W.P.H. Harden published in 1940.

Mr. Harden's Story.
"On the night of Sunday, November 4th, 1888, my mother, my eldest brother Ernest, and myself, walked from Clay Street, New Farm, to board Messrs. James Campbell and Sons' steamer "Mavis," which then conveyed us by way of Bribie Passage to their sawmill at Campbellville on Coochin Creek. We left from Campbell's Wharf, known to-day as the Brisbane Tug Company's wharf. As we passed through Bribie Passage, the sun was rising and, shining on the top of Beerwah Mountain, produced a very beautiful effect. We passed the s.s. "Bribie" near the mouth of Coochin Creek. Further along we met a sailing boat on which was Mr. George Campbell who had come to join his father, Mr. James Campbell, Senior, on the "Mavis." The Coochin Creek wharf was reached about noon, the journey having taken about nine hours. My mother and myself remained at Campbellville for two days, and then after having loaded up our furniture and belongings on a bullock team, arrived duly at what was then known as the Peach Trees. . . . "
Source: Harden, W.P.H. (1940) The history of Peachester and Crohamhurst district. Read at a meeting of the Historical Society of Queensland on November 28th, 1939, by Mr. Inigo Jones. The Historical Society of Queensland Journal v.3(2):123-134, 1940. [Can be viewed on University of Queensland Library UQ eSpace]

CAMPBELLVILLE CEMETERY SITE
In April 1966 while clearing a road and firebreak on the eastern side of Mellum Creek, Forestry employees found some old hardwood posts and discovered they had located the old Campbellville cemetery more than seventy years after the final burial took place there.

The discovery of the site aroused an interest in having the area of the graves neatly bordered with white painted rocks and marked with a sign "CAMPBELLVILLE CEMETERY 1880-1893" which was erected in September 1967 and Forestry employees kept the site clear for many years.

Nuggets of information about the history of Campbellville began to flow when the late local historian Stan Tutt wrote a series of heritage articles for the Sunshine Coast Daily and books published by the Caboolture Historical Society.  An initial history was written by A.C. (Craig) Gubby in 1975 published by the Qld. Dept. of Forestry, which was followed by a comprehensive revision published in 1994 by the Qld. Dept. of Primary Industries entitled Campbellville and Cedar Days: a compiled history of the former south-east Queensland sawmilling township of Campbellville and pioneers of the associated timber industry during the latter part of the 19th century.

CAMPBELLVILLE CEMETERY BURIALS
In Gubby, 1994, p. 40, is noted the names of four people who it is believed were buried in the cemetery:  Mrs. Harry Blake (wife of the saw sharpener and engineer at the mill); Mr. Petersen, probably Mr. W. Petersen; Mr. Frank Lovsey (or Lovesie) and child of Frank Assen, yardman at the mill.

Subsequent research indicates infant child Francis Assen may have been buried on 13 Feb 1867 at Campbellville cemetery.  Newspaper reports indicate Andrew Lovesy died March 1884 at Campbell's sawmill, Coochin Creek "while step-dancing" and infant child George Campbell died 6 March 1886 at Campbellville.

Reference book:
Gubby, Craig (1994) Campbellville and Cedar Days: a compiled history of the former south-east Queensland sawmilling township of Campbellville and pioneers of the associated timber industry during the latter part of the 19th century. Brisbane: Queensland Dept. of Primary Industries, 1994. 42p. ISBN 0 7242 5206 1

Other information on the web:
Backward Glance: Coochin Creek and its history by Sunshine Coast Council's Heritage Library Officers https://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Council/News-Centre/Backward-Glance-Coochin-Creek-17-February-2016

Wikipedia entry for Coochin Creekhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coochin_Creek

Location of Campbellville as per Queensland place names search