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Highgate Hill

History of Brisbane's Highgate Hill

Highgate Hill's history has been compiled as a part of the BRISbites community history project.

Aboriginal history

Two groups, the Jagera and the Turrbal, inhabited the Brisbane area. In the indigenous language the land from South Brisbane to West End was called Kurilpa, which means 'place of rats'.

The forest country and ridges from Woolloongabba to Highgate Hill supported a wide diversity of animal and vegetable foods. Kangaroos, wallabies, and other small marsupials were caught in fifty to sixty millimetre mesh nets about 1.2 metres high. These were suitably located and the prey hunted into them.

Urban development

The first white man reported to have lived in the area was Mr Trimble, an officer in the customs house. The Wilson family named the area Highgate Hill.

In 1889 a reservoir was built near the corner of Gladstone Road and Dornoch Terrace for the greater part of South Brisbane. Closer settlement coincided with the sub-division of estates during the 1890s. Public transport matched this growth with the commencement of electric tram services on 31 October 1908. Settlement proceeded up the slope until Highgate Hill merged with the adjoining suburbs.

Notable residents

A.B.Wilson, a Highgate Hill resident, was known as one of Brisbane's best architects. He was also an enthusiastic painter and while still a young man made a painting of Darts Sugar Mill on St Lucia as seen from Dornoch Terrace.

L.C.Ball lived in a historic house in Highgate Hill called 'The Grange' from 1912 until 1946. He became the chief government geologist and the first person to discover the mineral bauxite at Tambourine in Queensland. He had many interstate visitors including the Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson.

James Brunton Stephens was a resident of Highgate Hill. He was a headmaster, under secretary and famous early poet.

Landmarks

The high residential apartment block that stands as a landmark in Highgate Hill is called Torbreck. The building took its name from the historic Torbreck home of Simon Fraser an MLA. It opened in 1960.

The Highgate Hill Lookout on Hampstead Road and Dornoch Terrace is another well-known landmark standing 62 metres above sea level.

Kinauld is one of Brisbane's commanding hilltop houses. It was constructed in 1888 by the widow of Alexander Macintosh and was owned by members of the family until 1953. The building is protected by legislation to ensure it will not be demolished or changed.

Reference: BRISbites, 2000

More Highgate Hill information

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