Wooloowin

History of Brisbane's Wooloowin

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

Aboriginal history

The Jagera and Turrbal groups occupied land in the Brisbane and Ipswich areas. The exact boundaries are not known, however, the Turrbal generally occupied the area north of the Brisbane River. Both groups had closely related languages, which are classified as belonging to the larger Yaggera language group.

The Wooloowin area has a rich indigenous history. Evidence of Aboriginal occupation can be found in a bora ring at Nudgee Waterhole. It is believed that the suburb name was a corruption of Indigenous words wului meaning smoke, or perhaps kuluwin meaning pigeon, or the name of a species of fish. Others have claimed that it is of Aboriginal origin but that it means ‘running water’.

Urban development

Early subdivisions in the 1880s created Thorrold Town Estate, which had comprised 48 acres. This had belonged to Robert Thorrold, who became a Supreme Court Librarian. The Powis Court Estate and the Maida Hill Estate had been owned by J & A Adsett.

A bus service ran to the area and access to the suburb increased with the construction of the Wooloowin Railway Station in 1890. The electric tram was extended to Clayfield in 190.

In 1904 Windsor became a municipality. The new town of Windsor embraced Albion, Wooloowin, Wilston, Lutwyche, Newmarket, Swan Hill, a portion of Eagle Junction and a portion of Kedron. Windsor Shire Council was absorbed into Brisbane City Council in 1925.

Notable residents

Justice Alfred James Peter Lutwyche was the first judge of the Supreme Court Bench of Queensland. He occupied the position of resident judge of Moreton Bay ten months before Queensland became an independent colony in 1859. He owned land in Wooloowin and surrounding areas.

Wooloowin established one of the earliest progress associations in 1911. The first secretary of the Wooloowin Progress Association was W.A Jolly who was a member of the Windsor Town Council. He later became mayor of Windsor Town Council and eventually lord mayor of Brisbane City Council.

Landmarks

A retreat was built for the Sisters of Mercy and attached to this was the Holy Cross Laundry, which was constructed in 1888-89. The institution became known as the Magdalen Asylum- Holy Cross Retreat as its objects were to care for the needy and destitute. In 1977 the dormitory building and kitchen wing were demolished, but the laundry has remained and is now protected by heritage legislation.

The former Brisbane City Council Tramway substation no 8 is also protected by heritage legislation. It was designed by architect R R Ogg between 1934-37. The Kedron substation remained in service until the phasing out of Brisbane’s trams in the late 1960s.

Reference: BRISbites, 2000

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