events

27th April 2019 FOR our meeting closest to Anzac Day, we have invited Associate Professor Martin Crotty to talk about those returning home from war. We often hear about the battles fought and lives lost in the great wars, but we do not often think about how returnees adjusted to life at home. Come to […]

23rd March 2019 How many ghosts does your house have? What kind of characters owned your property since it was built in 1895? Your house was once divided up into how many flats?! These are some of the many questions which have been asked of Emma and husband Andrew in the years that they’ve been

23rd February 2019 Guest Speaker: Caylie Jeffery You’re renovating your old New Farm Queenslander and after you pull up the lino, you can’t help taking a closer look at the newspaper underneath which is in remarkably good condition.Suddenly, you’re shocked to see a photo of your parents’ wedding from 50 years ago! That’s the kind

24th November 2018 Once upon a time there was a modest learning institution in Moray Street, affectionately dubbed ‘The Little School that Time Forgot’. The New Farm Private School was established around 1893 and in 1900 it came under the charge of 23-year-old Miss Jeanette Stevenson. Just before he died, Jeanette’s father William, a builder

3rd Nov 2018 Both Brisbane and Fremantle saw scores of allied submarines based in these ports during the war years. A large facility was created in New Farm and Teneriffe, with thousands of submarine crews being accommodated in Brisbane. Speaker Roy Stall is one of the volunteer tour guides for the HMAS Ovens on the

13th October 2018 Unlock the history of the Winchcombe Carson Woolstore, the oldest surviving woolstore in Queensland. This attractive Federation era design building contains over one million bricks! Following the demise of the wool industry, parts of the woolstore were used for various commercial and storage uses between 1981 and 2001, and then converted into

September 2018 marks the 120-year anniversary of the opening of McWhirter & Son, the cash drapery that went on to become one of Queensland’s biggest and best-loved department stores. In 1894, my great-great grandfather James McWhirter senior began working for T.C. Beirne in his namesake business, and would stay there for four years – three

13th October 2018 Not that long ago, the narrow spaces around Fortitude Valley were just that — spaces, not vibrant laneways. These days, however, the area boasts not one, not two, but now three jam-packed alleys. Yes, that’s a development that’s worth celebrating. In fact, it’s a change worthy of a day-long festival, which is

27th October 2018 Even those of us with no Italian will hazard a  fair guess as to the meaning of: “Associazione Nazionale Famiglie Emigrati”. ANFE was started in Italy after WWII to assist migrants and their families who were often left back home when the breadwinner migrated overseas. A Brisbane branch was founded in 1962

22nd September 2018 SEPTEMBER’S meeting of the Society will feature Marisa Vecchio AM telling the story of Hanworth House, the grand residence dating from 1864 which stands at 109 Lytton Road,East Brisbane. The house was built for retired naval officer Captain George Poynter Heath who had been appointed marine surveyor of Queensland in 1860, and