past events

17th October ( Thursday) Join Society President, Desley Garnett , for a welcome afternoon tea for all new members. Held monthly, this event is open to anyone, whether new, long-standing, or former members, newcomers to the suburb wanting to know about the history of their home, or anyone interested in finding out about the Society

28th Sept 2024 | presentation by Claire Moore Brisbane’s oldest house has recently re-opened after a $6.6 million renovation. The grand 1846 building was previously home to the fabulously wealthy merchant George Harris, who decorated the house with lurid floral and pineapple wallpaper. Today, the house-turned-museum is run by a Board of Trustees, chaired by

19th Oct 2024 Join this historical tour setting out along Oxlade Drive to walk a half-circle of the peninsula.. MEET US at the bus stop adjacent to the New Farm Park Ferry Terminal. This is the starting point for a 90-minute walk along Oxlade Drive as well as Griffith, Maxwell and Moreton Streets in New

14th Sep 2024 Come join us at Teneriffe for a fascinating event exploring the history of woolstores and warships. Discover the rich heritage of these iconic structures and the vessels that have shaped our past. From the bustling wool trade to the mighty warships that once visited here this event promises to be a journey

21st Sep 2024 A walking tour from the flats of Newstead to the vistas offered by Teneriffe Hill. It’s history all the way… MEET US in the Plaza at Newstead Gasworks within the Gasometer. This is the starting point for a 90-minute walk up and over Teneriffe Hill. Our itinerary will offer a glimpse of

24th August 2024 Tucked away at the back of New Farm Park, in the area behind where the kiosk once stood, is the place you can expect to find people using a mallet and balls for a sport that is not as well know as lawn bowls, but was equally popular with the early residents

each Thursday in Sep 2024 Guided by knowledgeable historian Robert Allen who will bring the past to life, sharing intriguing tales and little-known facts about the hotel’s storied past. Commemorating 150 years of The Regatta Hotel with a special heritage tours, available every Thursday in September. Step back in time and explore the rich history

3rd Aug 2024 Come join tour guide – Ben Pritchard-  for an interesting walking tour from Gasworks Plaza to Commercial Road. Explore the rich history of this area with our knowledgeable local guide. Learn about the industrial past and how it has shaped the suburb we know today. Suitable for all ages and abilities. 10:00am

13th-14th July 2024 Brisbane Open House (BOH) returns in July and this year there’s a special focus on New Farm’s heritage. BOH is an annual weekend celebrating notable buildings and places, with dozens of properties across Brisbane opened to the public free of charge. This year’s BOH will be held on 13 and 14 July

27th July 2024 Brisbane City Council’s Brisbane Greeters program connects residents and visitors with enthusiastic locals who lead free walking tours. It’s a fantastic opportunity to discover the city through the eyes of a friendly volunteer. These passionate Brisbane experts can guide you through the city centre, key neighbourhoods like Fortitude Valley and Paddington, or

22nd June 2024 The New Farm and Districts Historical Society will acknowledge 30 years. Gathering information from the past …Preserving it for the future at their monthly public meeting on 22 June. The meeting will include: Remembering our beginnings Reflecting on changes in the area Celebrating together Having a party 2:30 PM | Uniting Church

Sat 29th June 2024 Spend a Saturday afternoon exploring the fascinating history of Fortitude Valley’s oldest hotels. Most of Brisbane’s oldest pubs are long gone, but Fortitude Valley still retains a number that have survived the wrecker’s ball and reinvented themselves for the 21st century. Robert Allen is a professional historian who has researched the

Sat, 6 Jul 2024 Join this historical walking tour over Bowen Hills, for a closer look at where Cloudland was once top spot. MEET US in the Plaza at Newstead Gasworks within the Gasometer. This is the starting point for a 90-minute walk up and over Bowen Hills. For a certain generation, Cloudland ballroom evoked

18th May 2024 MEET US at the bus stop adjacent to the To Be Thai restaurant, 92 Merthyr Rd. This is the starting point for a 90-minute walk which will focus on Moray Street, and also take in Merthyr Rd and Bowen Tce in New Farm. Moray Street was likely named by George Raff, a

25th May 2024 | by Mark (Brizzypix) Coleman Mark Coleman is a freelance photographer specialising in low light and night photography and is founder of Brizzypix. He will showcase his work, focussing on the city’s bridges, as he explains here: Brisbane, colloquially and fondly referred to by visitors and locals as the River City, has

Saturday, 1 June 2024 Join the Princess Theatre’s historian Robert Allen for a behind-the-scenes tour of Brisbane’s oldest performing arts venue. Born as a community hall in 1889, the Princess had numerous identities before its rebirth as a world class performing arts venue in 2021. This tour takes in more than 130 years of the

20th April 2024 MEET US at the bus stop adjacent to the New Farm Park Ferry Terminal. This is the starting point for a 90-minute walk along Oxlade Drive as well as Griffith, Maxwell and Moreton Streets in New Farm. With its beautiful homes and gardens, Oxlade Drive is considered one of New Farm’s most

27th April 2024 | Speaker: Tamsin O’Connor 2024 marks the Bicentennial of Moreton Bay, a notorious penal station established on the northern fringes of the vast territory the British had claimed as New South Wales. By extension it is also the foundational moment for Brisbane Town the future capital of Queensland. My presentation explores how

Saturday, 20th April 2024 Come and explore the social and retail history of one of Fortitude Valley’s main arteries with professional historian Robert Allen. Beginning at Centenary Place Park and finishing at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, the tour will focus on the Valley’s social and retail history, comparing the past with what survives today. Points

24th February 2024 Fortitude Valley’s Centenary Place will be the subject of the society’s first talk for 2024. Located at the city end of Valley, the heritage listed park is home to statues, palm trees, lush gardens and mature fig trees. Society member and local historian Robert Allen will chart the park’s history from its

Sat 9th March 2024 Join the Princess Theatre’s historian Robert Allen for a behind-the-scenes tour of Brisbane’s oldest performing arts venue. Born as a community hall in 1889, the Princess had numerous names and identities before its rebirth as a world class performing arts venue in 2021. This tour takes in more than 130 years

23rd March 2024 Join this historical walking tour through the Heart of popular New Farm, taking a closer look at beautiful homes and landmarks. MEET your guide, Gerard Benjamin, near the entrance to NEW FARM LIBRARY, 135 Sydney Street, for this 90-minute walk to view sites in Brunswick St, Bowen Tce and Merthyr Rd, along

23rd March 2024 TradeCoast Central Heritage Park is at the heart of three heritage sites at the location of Brisbane’s former Eagle Farm Airport. Bob Tucker from the Interpretive Centre there, will tell us about the heritage-listed convict era Women’s Prison and Factory Site, the World War Two Allison Engine Testing Stands and Hangar 7,

25th November 2023 our backyards before sewerage… Laugh along with Denis Stirling Also –  Book signing – “New Farm: 50 Stories” When people heard that there was a new book about New Farm history in the pipeline, there was plenty of encouragement, along the lines of “Good old New Farm! Keep up the good work.”

Sat 18th Nov 2023 Join the Princess Theatre’s historian Robert Allen for a behind-the-scenes tour of Brisbane’s oldest performing arts venue. Born as a community hall in 1889, the Princess had numerous names and identities before its rebirth as a world class performing arts venue in 2021. This tour takes in more than 130 years

7th October 2023 MEET US in front of To Be Thai Restaurant at 92 Merthyr Rd, New Farm, for a 90-minute walk along the less-travelled streets of New Farm and Teneriffe. Bring your GoCard, since we’ll take the 199 bus, so as to begin our walk at the Hastings Street steps. We’ll pause beside two

23rd September 2023 Before multinational soda giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi dominated the market, Brisbane had its own thriving soft drink industry. Hauritz (or Horitz) drinks in Longland St, Newstead, was one of these, delivering to homes and businesses in the area. Lionel Hauritz, an old New Farm State School boy, will tell us about his

Wed 27 Sep 2023 Join the Princess Theatre’s historian Robert Allen for a behind-the-scenes tour of Brisbane’s oldest performing arts venue. Born as a community hall in 1889, the Princess had numerous names and identities before its rebirth as a world class performing arts venue in 2021. This tour takes in more than 130 years

Sat 28th October 2023 Building Brisbane’s new underground has meant digging deep in the city at a variety of locations. During excavation, demolition and removing rubble from worksites, a number of items of archaeological significance have been uncovered that reveal what life was like in Brisbane at the turn of the 20th century at this

12 Aug 2023 | FULLY BOOKED Grab some mates and come spend a Saturday afternoon exploring the fascinating history of Fortitude Valley’s oldest hotels. Many of Brisbane’s oldest pubs are long gone, but Fortitude Valley still retains a number that have survived the wrecker’s ball and reinvented themselves for the 21st century. Robert Allen is

Mon 21st August 2023 Join the Princess Theatre’s historian Robert Allen for a behind-the-scenes tour of Brisbane’s oldest performing arts venue. Born as a community hall in 1889, the Princess had many guises, names and identities before its rebirth as a world class theatre in 2021. The Princess is located at 8 Annerley Road, Woolloongabba,

26th August 2023 (incorporating AGM) Lisa Jones, Curator of the Qld Police Museum, will present Policing in New Farm and Fortitude Valley. Policing in New Farm and Fortitude Valley since 1864 has been interesting to say the least. There has been a police presence in New Farm since 1889, firstly in Heal Street and then

8 Jul 2023 This walking tour will be lead by Ben Pritchard, who has lived and worked in the area for more than 20 years. He has seen the area transform in that time form abandoned industrial wasteland to the busy precinct of today. Gas was originally produced at a gasworks in Petrie Bight, but

15th-16th July 2023 Brisbane Open House is an annual event which allows you to explore heritage, religious and cultural buildings, places and spaces you may not otherwise see. It is free event run by a not-for-profit organisation with assistance from government and corporate sponsorship. Around 80 spaces and places will be open for tours. In

22nd July 2023 Looking ahead to our July Meeting Our Guest Presenter in July will be Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex OAM who is a specialist in language, communication and culture, and health communication. His topic for presentation to our society in July will be Australian English – what it is and where it is going.

29th July 2023 Enjoy this historical walking tour through the Heart of New Farm, taking in landmarks and homes, and lots of stories. MEET US in front of New Farm Library at 135 Sydney St, New Farm, for a 90-minute walk to see sites in Brunswick St, Bowen Tce and Merthyr Rd, along with peeks

click to watch recording of the Event on Vimeo 24th June 2023 Come for a virtual walk with Gerard Benjamin For a certain generation, Cloudland ballroom evoked magic, renowned for its dances, romances, music – and for some, meeting their lifelong love…. Well before Cloudland, the spot was called Mt Pleasant, then O’Reilly’s Hill and

17th June 2023 Join this historical walking tour over Bowen Hills, for a closer look at where Cloudland was once top spot. MEET US in the Plaza at Newstead Gasworks within the Gasometer. This is the starting point for a 90-minute walk up and over Bowen Hills. For a certain generation, Cloudland ballroom evoked magic,

Sat 20th May 2023 The next meeting will be held on Saturday 20th May at 2.30pm at the Uniting Church Centre, 52 Merthyr Rd New Farm. The meeting will feature a presentation on the story of the near-century old local business – Rayner’s Meats in Brunswick St, and the Rayner family’s deep roots in New

22nd April 2023 | Speaker: Brian Martin Brian will talk about the PENSACOLA CONVOY, seven American military transport ships and their escorting warship which were making a routine voyage to the Philippines when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7th 1941. The damage inflicted was so severe that existing plans for the U. S. Navy

15th April 2023 Join this historical tour setting out along Oxlade Drive to walk a half-circle of the peninsula. MEET US at New Farm Park adjacent to the Ferry Terminal. This is the starting point for a two-hour walk along Oxlade Drive as well as Griffith, Maxwell and Moreton Streets in New Farm. With its

30th April 2023 The history and stories of New Farm and Kangaroo Point, viewed from New Farm’s ‘Riverwalk’. Join us for a 1.5 hr leisurely stroll along New Farm’s ‘Riverwalk’. Be transported back to the 1800’s when the first sailing ships navigated the ‘River Highway’ delivering vital supplies for the European settlement. Hear stories of

18th March 2023 International architectural trends transformed colonial New Farm. BOOK TICKETS During the Inter War period (1918-1939) local architects drew inspiration from the Californian bungalow and Mediterranean aesthetic, while other designs evoked British Arts & Craft elements. Craftmanship, historical motifs and the use of eclectic mix of materials characteristic of the Arts & Craft

4th March 2023  Join this historical walking tour through the Heart of New Farm, taking in landmarks and homes, and lots of stories. MEET US on the Brunswick St/Sydney St corner of NEW FARM PARK, for a 90-minute walk to see sites in Brunswick St, Bowen Tce and Merthyr Rd, along with peeks at Langshaw,

25th February 2023 — WATCH THE TALK: https://vimeo.com/802210612 Or…how a place that exists only in my memory, can hold and ground me more than many structures where I’ve lived. Speaker Award-winning author and journalist Kristina Olsson. 2:30PM | Uniting Church Centre, 52 Merthyr Rd, New Farm Everyone is welcome to attend. Members :$5 Non Members

Saturday 26th November 2022 — VIEW THE TALK HERE. Guest Speaker – Dr. Bill Metcalf Brisbane: Utopian Dreams and Dystopian Nightmares tells the stories of little-known, and rather peculiar aspects of Brisbane’s colourful history. Eleven Brisbane authors from the 19th and 20th centuries wrote about how wonderfully ‘utopian’, Brisbane could become – or how dreadfully ‘dystopian’,

Saturday, 22 October 2022 — VIEW THE TALK HERE. COME and hear about the key role played by COAST-WATCHERS during WWII in the lands and seas just to the north of Australia. Commander Eric Feldt was in the midst of it! Telling his story is his grand-niece Dr Betty Lee, who wrote Right Man, Right Place, Worst Time

Saturday, 24 September 2022  — VIEW THE TALK HERE. The “Three Ladies of Moreton Bay”, Mirimar, Mirana and Mirabel, are well remembered by the people of Brisbane for their bay and river trips. The story of the “Three Ladies of Moreton Bay” will bring back very happy memories of times spent aboard these vessels. Come and listen to

Saturday, 27 August 2022 —— VIEW THE TALK HERE: https://vimeo.com/743880853 THE landmark Prince Consort Hotel in Wickham St, Fortitude Valley, celebrates its 134th birthday this August.  Hear all about this princely pub at the August meeting of the New Farm & Districts Historical Society, when the guest speaker is to be local author and historian Robert Allen. “The

Saturday, 23 July 2022 —— Enjoy the talk here. IF a picture is worth a thousand words, then John McDonnell’s Lost Brisbane Facebook Community site, which is chockful of images of yore, is worth its weight in gold. John can often be heard on Radio ABC 612, and he is to be guest speaker at

Saturday, 25 June 2022 —— Enjoy the talk here. HISTORIC Dovercourt, on the prime hilltop location at 124 Sherwood Rd, Toowong, was built at the same time (1865) and by the same architect as Teneriffe House. Author of a book about the house, Harold Peacock, will speak at the June meeting of the New Farm and Districts

Saturday, 28 May 2022 —— Enjoy the talk here. On Breakfast Creek Rd near the gasometer once stood the venerable business of Brown and Broad, Newstead Homes (est. 1898).  One of its founders was George Brown, a self-made businessman who was a pioneer of the Queensland timber industry. To tell us all about George and the business

Saturday, 23 April 2022 —— Enjoy the talk here. FOLLOWING Pearl Harbour and the fall of Singapore, the tremendous war effort meant that Americans forces soon ‘occupied’ Brisbane. All up, it is estimated that one million American troops passed through the city during 1942-45. “The social disruption altered the lives of so many in Queensland’s sleepy

Saturday, 26 March 2022 —— Enjoy the talk here. BRISBANE HISTORIAN Helen Gregory is to be the guest at our first meeting for 2022. She will speak about ‘The People of Newstead House’. It’s a timely topic since Brisbane’s beautiful 176-year-old sandstone and timber home is currently enjoying a $5M Queensland government renovation. “As well as the

Exhibition Opening The opening of the “Two to the Valley” exhibition is set for 5pm on Thursday, 17 March, at the Maud Street Photo Gallery, 6 Maud St, Newstead. You are invited to book here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/…/rsvp-opening-event-two… Published in 1992, the book featured photographs by David Hinchliffe capturing the essence of The Valley, its architecture and

Coronet Court Flats Revisited :: View the talk here. Coronet Court at 995 Brunswick St, a New Farm landmark since 1933, was the subject of a talk to the Society in 2010 by Tamsin O’Connor whose family has been connected with the building for almost 80 years. Luckily, Tamsin’s address was recorded, and may be viewed

Saturday, 27 November 2021 —— Enjoy the talk here In February 2018 when digging up William St in Brisbane in preparation for the new Queen’s Wharf project, workmen made an amazing discovery, something to set the hearts of historically-minded electrical engineers racing. “Hey, we’ve just found an Edison Tube!” could well have been the exultant exclamation.

Saturday, 30 October 2021 —— Enjoy the talk here At our October meeting, historian Sr Anne Hetherington will present ‘The Bells of St Stephen’s’, centring on the St Stephen’s site in Elizabeth St which dates from 1843. St Stephen’s Chapel is Brisbane’s oldest still-standing church, and is one of only three pre-separation buildings remaining in Brisbane.

Saturday, 25 September 2001 :: View the talk here. The Canada Cycle and Motor Agency was established by long-term New Farm resident, Alexander Vaughan Dodwell of Moray St. With branches and agencies throughout Queensland and around 200 employees by 1914, CCM was a major Queensland company during 1905–1929. The business imported early motor cars, trucks

Saturday 24 July 2021, 2.30pm — View Steve’s talk here…  BRISBANE’S love affair with swimming from early colonial days to the present will be in focus at the July meeting of the New Farm and Districts Historical Society. The speaker is to be Steve Capelin, a writer who is a member of the West End Making

ACCORDING to speaker Col Hester from Urban Utilities on Sat 26 June 2021 at New Farm: “What allows you to have a nice quality of life and not drop dead before you are one (reference to the terrible child mortality rate in early Brisbane town), is the fact of all these red lines here (pointing

Saturday 26 June, 2.30pm — View the presentation here. “THE Long Story of How Brisbane was Sewered” is the intriguing title of our June meeting when our guest is to be Colin Hester (Head of Environmental Solutions, Environmental & Industrial, Urban Utilities) who is also a researcher and writer about local history and industrial heritage. “Have

Saturday 22 May, 2.30pm — View the meeting here. “IT would be a pleasure to share some of my research about Joshua Jeays, an important early resident and builder in Brisbane,” says Beryl Roberts, author of the book He made his Mark, who is to be the speaker at our meeting in May.   Jeays

24 April 2021 — View the meeting here. AT our April meeting, the presenter will be Noel Adsett OAM who has researched the lives of most of the soldiers, doctors and nurses whose names appear on the honour boards at St Andrew’s Uniting Church in Brisbane. “A number of those listed lived in New Farm,”

27 March 2021. View the presentation here. AT our March meeting, historian, presenter and teacher, Mark Cryle, will explore the origins of Anzac Day. In 2016 Mark was awarded a Q Anzac 100 Fellowship from the State Library of Queensland. All would agree that Anzac Day is the country’s most significant national day and that it

27th February 2021 THE FEBRUARY MEETING of the New Farm & Districts Historical Society will take you aloft for an insider’s peek into the fascinating occupation of air hostess. Imagine helping passengers with oxygen masks when flying over the Andes, or serving French champagne on Concorde… The job combines style, the thrill of flying, the

28th November 2020 WHEN you build a town on a floodplain, you must be prepared for it to flood. That is the proposition underlying Dr Margaret Cook’s popular book, A River with a City Problem: A History of Brisbane Floods. Margaret, a history lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast, is to be the

HEAR all about the McWhirters era when writer Melissa Fagan is the guest speaker at the coming October meeting of the New Farm & Districts Historical Society. Join us for the live cast on Saturday, 24 October 2-4pm at the Merthyr Road Uniting Church Centre. All Covid precautions will apply. Entry is $5 ($4 for members).

Here’s your chance to revisit the McWhirters era when writer Melissa Fagan addresses the October meeting of the New Farm and Districts Historical Society.  Melissa is a great-great-granddaughter of the enterprising Scottish draper, James McWhirter, who founded this retailing icon of Fortitude Valley in 1898. “I will be delighted to relate some of the discoveries

26th Sept 2020 Hoadley, MacRobertson and Sweetacres! They were once household names for kids of the baby-boomer generation — so we are pleased to announce that the “Sweet history of lollies” is to be the subject of our meeting on Saturday 26 September at Merthyr Road Uniting Church Centre. Join Dr Toni Risson, historian and world

Well ahead of the start time, the hall at Merthyr Road was ready for attendees to be suitably physically distanced. By 2pm, around 40 members were seated. The two cameras were rolling, thus enabling anyone anywhere  to log in so as to hear Jill Barker’s fascinating talk about “The Japanese House in New Farm”. Listeners

22nd Aug 2020 OUR FIRST PUBLIC MEETING post-COVID isolation. Jill Barker will share information about the Japanese House in New Farm. This remarkable residence was pre-fabricated in Japan in 1886 and re-erected in New Farm (see “From Japan to New Farm”, May newsletter). I am sure that you will want to hear more about this

Considering the pandemic situation, I am sure that it will come as the increasing gravity of the no surprise to hear that the committee, after carefully considering the implications of holding the cinema event on 28 March, has decided that it would be wiser to cancel the gathering. Deliberations have been based on news on

28th March 2020 view announcement here Here’s something very different for the meeting of the New Farm & Districts Historical Society on Saturday 28 March. Come to enjoy an historic film in an historic theatre. The main event is the 1940 classic comedy ‘Dad Rudd M.P.’ which includes familiar themes: dams and water rights a

22nd February 2020 Mrs Lores Bonney, wife of Harry Bonney, a wealthy leather goods manufacturer, appears  a to have led a fairly conventional life in their comfortable home in Jordan Terrace, Bowen Hills— until she met her husband’s cousin, Bert Hinkler. The year was 1928 and Bert had just landed at Eagle Farm after the

23rd November 2019 Jacarandas are pictured in bloom at Sir Samuel Griffith’s grand residence, Merthyr, which had frontages to Moray Street (between Merthyr and Sydney Sts) and the river. The man who was to be twice Premier, then Chief Justice of Queensland, arrived in Queensland in the 1850s. He was responsible for important social and

5 October 2019 Gerard will conduct an Historical Walk around Teneriffe on Saturday, 5 October, 9-11.30am. Meet from 8.30 onwards at Dot210 Cafe at 53 Vernon Terrace. It will include a look inside a wool store, a leisurely climb to the heights of Teneriffe Hill, a mini bush walk, and a survey of the Submariners

26th October 2019 A new book entitled Brisbane Bricks by local authors Joanne Heath and Virginia Russell has had people looking afresh at an astonishing variety of the city’s landmarks. Joanne and Virginia will be the guest speakers at the October meeting of the New Farm and Districts Historical Society. Virginia, a former Sydney architect,

28th September 2019 But for urban renewal in Teneriffe, the pleasing lines of buildings such as the London Woolstore (pictured above) may have been reduced to rubble. The 1991 federal government initiative “Building Better Cities” prompted the creation of the Urban Renewal Task Force in Brisbane.  “It coincided with the city fathers wanting to find

31st August 2019 Interested in a walking tour around the streets of New Farm? Here’s a chance to view a selection of local landmarks and to hear a little of their architecture and social history, from society member Gerard Benjamin. The event is planned for Saturday 31 August, commencing at 9am and finishing at 11.30.

24th August 2019 The late Dr Harry Windsor—who once lived in a house on Merthyr Road—recalls as a child accompanying his father on his medical rounds. Pointed out to him were the red crosses on the front doors of some houses during the 1919 pandemic. The Spanish Flu that year was the biggest killer in

27th July 2019 At our July meeting we welcome back George Symons with more stories about his Greek background,this time from the other side of the family in Melbourne. “My grandfather ran the Mangos Cafe in Chapel Street, Windsor for 42 years. It became famous,” George said. The cafe’s classic fare reputedly included eggs, oysters,

22nd June 2019 This suburb’s crime past… New Farm hasn’t always been the suburb that rates a nine out of 10 for tranquillity. Go back 30 or more years and the reaction was likely to be, “New Farm? Why on earth would you want to live there?” What they really meant of course was, “What

25th May 2019 Once upon a time, a grand house named Dara stood overlooking Fortitude Valley just across from All Hallows School. The account of Dara and how the site became known as Cathedral Place will be the subject of our post-election meeting in May.The guest speaker will be Archdiocesan Archivist, Fr Denis Martin, author

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

25th August 2018 A Young Englishman arrives to work on an outback sheep station and ends up writing a “fast-paced, suspenseful” novel that has melodrama, romance and comedy, with many surprising twists and turns.” “Completed in 1865, it proved to be Queensland’s second novel, though the miraculously-found manuscript was only published in 2010,” said Gerard

28th July 2018 THE speaker at the Society’s July meeting will be Julie Hornibrook, granddaughter of Sir Manuel (1893-1970), a name synonymous with master building in Queensland. “It’s remarkable that my grandfather was able to contribute to the building of the Story Bridge, William Jolly Bridge and Hornibrook Highway during the 1930s’ Depression,” said Julie,

THIS photo from the beginning of Griffith Uni in Brisbane was part of Dr Bill Metcalf’s engrossing presentation to more than 90 attendees at June’s meeting of the New Farm and Districts Historical Society. Early training in areas such as nursing, pharmacy, law and teaching was haphazard in the colony’s early days — but the

Early forms of training in Brisbane were very rudimentary… Come and hear more at our 23 June meeting. All are welcome!

 26th May 2018 QUEENSLAND’S record of invention and innovation extends to the design and manufacture of familiar potions and extraordinary strategies to popularise them. Queenslanders were also ready adopters of similar remedies devised overseas and marketed through personal contact. This talk examines the history of three Queensland remedies—two of which were marketed well beyond our

28 April 2018 While the George Symons’ family business manufactured uniforms for the Queensland Police, Railways, Ambulance, Fire Brigade and the RAAF, as well as lots of school wear, the name is most famously associated with men’s fashion garments and suits. George Symons himself will be the speaker at our April meeting. Applying all of

IT’S hard to imagine a time when Pneumatic Cash Tubes and Cash Registers were ‘new technology’ — but that was part of what attracted almost 120 people on 24 March 2018 to hear Dr Ellen McArthur outline how far shopping had come since the days of hawkers and rudimentary shop fronts. The speaker’s informative images showed