Toowong

History of Brisbane's Toowong

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Toowong's history has been compiled as part of the BRISbites community history project.

Aboriginal history

The Aborigines of north Brisbane were Turrbal people. They were often referred to as the 'Duke of York's' clan. The Brisbane River and the creeks running from the river were major sources of food for the Aborigines. The area was also popular for the large number of river rats, which could be caught for food. Toowong was known as 'Baneraba', and the name 'Tuwong' (which probably means koel cuckoo) referred to Long Pocket.

In 1823, John Oxley and his party camped near Toowong Creek and saw some local Aborigines: 'It was evidently a favourite place with them, most probably on account of water being convenient, as among the company was a full proportion of women and children'.

When Oxley saw them again the next year, he described them as being 'very troublesome' and amongst them was the man who had stolen Oxley's hat several days earlier at Breakfast Creek. During a confrontation between the white explorers and some of the locals 'about the strongest and best-made muscular men I have seen in any country', Lieutenant Butler shot the hat thief, which resulted in much mourning.

Aborigines continued to live in the area throughout the convict period. In the early 1860s, indigenous people still lived in Toowong and corroborees were still being held in the area. Gradually the original inhabitants succumbed to white pressure and disease and by the 1860s the local population was virtually extinct.

Urban development

As Brisbane became a free colony in 1842 some land speculation occurred outside the main settled area of Gardens Point. There was little farming in the Toowong area before suburban development.

During the 1840s a track developed along the river. However, even after the bridges were built in the 1850s, River Road, which was to become Coronation Drive, was a rough track.

In 1861 the McDougall pastoral lease, which extended to Moggill, was broken up and sold. Several early settlers subdivided their blocks, including Richard Drew who named his subdivision the 'Village of Toowong' in 1865. Governor Bowen, on seeing the sign is reported to have said 'this is the Village of Toowong, but where are the people?'

The first public transport was a horse-drawn cab, subsidised by Mr Drew, and a bus followed in 1872. Toowong did not develop until after the arrival of the Ipswich railway line in 1875.

Toowong was originally a green-belt suburb of detached villas and large yards owned by an elite upper-middle class that worked in the city and socialised with each other. After the commencement of four train services a day, the population of Toowong grew rapidly. New subdivisions blossomed for 'artisans and labourers' who worked, shopped, and studied in the area. New shops grew up to cater for this truly suburban development and High Street became the commercial centre.

New businesses came to the area, including George Hiron's Steam Biscuit Manufacturing Works (1876) and Charles Patterson's 'Bon Accord Sawmill' (1884). In 1879 a public school was built to replace Mrs William's private school. New churches in the area were Wesleyan and other more puritanical Protestant denominations.

The Shire of Toowong was created in 1880, in response to a petition from Toowong residents. In 1881 the population numbered 1275, and seven years later it had almost doubled to 2,230. By 1901 this number had swollen to around 4,700. In 1903 the first tram arrived at the cemetery and Toowong was gazetted as a town, rather than a shire.

Notable residents

Charles Patterson was born in Aberdeen in Scotland and arrived in Queensland in 1871. The Patterson brothers began a sawmill at Brookfield in 1875, and in 1884 Charles Patterson established his 'Bon Accord Sawmill' in Toowong. Apart from a break of a few years when he moved to Brookfield, Patterson was a member of the Toowong Shire and Town Council until 1923. He held the position of Mayor three times. He claimed to be the first person to take a vehicle to the top of Mount Coot-tha; a spring cart that he drove through felled timber and virgin forest. Patterson built the stone-walled islands, known as 'Patterson's' Folly', in the middle of High Street to reduce street maintenance.

Schoolmaster J. B. Fewings was one of the first purchasers of land in the Toowong area. His most notable achievement is his chronicle of Toowong, which is an intimate portrayal of life in nineteenth century Australian suburbia.

Richard Drew was a shipping master and Secretary to the Marine Board. In 1862 Drew purchased several large blocks in Toowong, and split most of them into smaller portions, which he named Toowong. Mr Drew died in 1869, too soon to be buried in the cemetery for the area he had helped to develop.

Andrew Petrie was born in Scotland in 1798 and migrated to Australia in 1831. In 1837 he moved to Brisbane as Superintendent of Works, becoming our first free settler. He began the family's stonemason business in 1840. Andrew Petrie's Monumental Works moved to the gates of the Toowong Cemetery in 1882, where the business stayed until 1981. There they built many headstones, as well as Customs House, the General Post Office, and other major Brisbane landmarks.

Landmarks

The first cemetery in Brisbane was in Upper Roma Street on the border of the small convict settlement. In 1844 the new cemetery in Milton–Paddington (near present-day Lang Park) was opened, but the colony grew so fast that it soon became overcrowded.

The land for Toowong Cemetery was surveyed in 1866 and again in 1870. The first burial, that of Governor Blackall, took place in 1871, but there were only six more burials before the announcement of the official opening and the closure of the Milton–Paddington cemetery. This was probably because the lack of transport to Toowong meant that the cost of a funeral was prohibitive until the railway opened in 1875.

L. H. Heally built the timber structure that became the first hotel in Toowong. This was on the site of the current Regatta Hotel, which was built in 1886 by William Winterford.

The Toowong Library was designed by the city architect, James Birrell, and built in 1961. It is a polygonal timber and glass building with inward-slanting walls and a skylight. In 1982, the Brisbane City Council planned to close the library, but public outcry forced its reopening.

Mount Coot-tha is named for the Aboriginal word for honey. Until 1883 it was known as 'One-tree-hill', because of a single giant tree that grew at its summit. Mount Coot-tha was a timber reserve until it was declared a park in 1880.

Reference: BRISbites, 2000

Additional Information

A local historian has provided the following additional information about the early history of Toowong. It has been confirmed by another two independent local historians.

The statement made above, that 'In 1861 the McDougall pastoral lease, which extended to Moggill, was broken up and sold' is an urban myth.

This claim first appeared in a story published by the Courier Mail in the 1950s. The article found its way into the 'Cuttings Box' at the John Oxley Library and since then has been accepted as 'fact'.

For over 40 years researchers have searched for evidence to back this claim but have been unsuccessful. The original source of information for the Courier Mail article is unknown.

Searches have been made of the New South Wales and Queensland Gazette, but there is no mention of any such lease. The nearest leases offered were for Indooroopilly outwards and a few in the Long Pocket/St Lucia area. There is no record of leases being offered in Taringa, Milton, Auchenflower or Toowong.

In 1850 the surveyors received instructions to survey for Milton and River Roads. This done, they were then told to survey the Parish of Enoggera in readiness for sale. This included some of the area that purportedly was covered by the McDougall pastoral lease.

In 1853 the first land was offered for sale in Toowong and by mid-1854 all of the available crown land was offered for sale. All the area between Milton Road and River Road was surveyed into blocks and an auction was held. Some blocks sold at the auction and others were purchased after that time. This is documented by the appropriate deeds of grants. The purchase of these block occurred well before the time that the McDougall pastoral lease was supposed to have been sold off.

Another discrepancy is in the family history, which appears in J S. Fox's History of Qld. The McDougall entry, which was provided by the family, had no mention of the lease. Given that the entry was provided by the generation immediately following McDougall and they paid a fee for it to be included by Fox it is hard to believe that they would not have mentioned such a large and valuable holding.

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