Tradecoast Central Heritage Park
Thursday 24th August
11:30 am
87 Schneider Road
EAGLE FARM
QLD 4009

TradeCoast Central Heritage Park Interpretive Centre is at the heart of three heritage sites at the location of Brisbane’s former Eagle Farm Airport. On this visit, we will focus on the stories of Brisbane’s convict era from the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement. at the Convict Women’s Prison and Factory. (The other two sites are World War Two sites – Allison Engine Testing Stands and Hangar 7.)

You can bring a picnic or enjoy a meal at one of the food outlets, knowing there will always be plenty of room to spread out over the green grass of the park which covers what was once a Convict Factory, a women’s prison, and a busy airport runway.

The Interpretive Centre is open from 10am to 4pm weekdays. Entry is free. Parking is available via Backhouse Place, at the southern end of the park, and Amy Johnson Place, at the northern end. Meet at the Museum. To arrange carpooling or get a lift from Coopers Plains at 11am, leave a comment below (click this post’s heading if you don’t see the comment field below) or send a message via the Contact Page.

http://www.tradecoastcentralheritagepark.com.au/

Note this is an unofficial excursion and as such, in agreeing to participate, you accept all responsibility for all risks involved.

Pine Lodge Presentation
Brisbane History Group
Harry Gentle Research Centre

On Monday 14th, I gave a presentation about the history of Coopers Plains area to residents of the Pine Lodge retirement centre in Rocklea. Pine Lodge was created by the local Russian community and is situated next door to the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God Parish Church. It was well received and I learnt some new facts when I prepared it the day before; notably the conflict of tribal land claims over south Brisbane between the Turrbal and Yagera people. I covered history up to the 1900s and ended with an interesting video about transport by WalkaboutwithRob which I found on the Mapping Brisbane History website on Transportation Systems. Some interesting memories were shared and I invited the residents to put pen to paper and send in any reminiscences they have.

I visited the Brisbane History Group at Riverhills Plaza where they have their library of archives stored. I spoke with the Treasure, Andrew Darbyshire at length who familiarized me with the group’s history. It was founded by Rod Fisher in the 1980s. We discussed the origins of Brisbane and the upcoming bicentenary of settlement in the SE Queensland area and the development of the city of Brisbane. Henry Miller was the first Commandant of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement. Jennifer Harrison’s book on the history of convicts, “Fettered Frontier” is available at the BHG library.

Andrew also informed me that History Queensland provides Public Liability Insurance to member groups. This may be useful information for the Dutch History Cafe project. PLI is often the most expensive outlay of a small business. There is some concerning news regarding 9 Macdevitt Street, as OCCA has been given notice to leave for no explicable reason… it fact it seems quite disruptive. We’ll discuss it at the next meeting.

As I grow into the role of Chair of the CPHG, for my own sake, but also other members, I am interested in mapping the local history groups, libraries and museums in our area. Our next meeting is:

Saturday August 19th
4pm
9 Macdevitt Street,
Coopers Plains

All welcome. Please RSVP in the comments below. Anyone who wants to add to this month’s agenda, please comment below (you may need to click on the title of this post for the comment field to appear).

A name change and a new logo.

Archival material was on display at the library last month.

At a well-attended meeting last month, the group resolved to register with the Office of Fair Trade under the name Coopers Plains History Group – dropping the word ‘Local’. It also resolved to open a bank account and pursue plans for preserving the Dutch House as a history cafe.

We need a new logo as a consequence of the name change. The committee will vote on this at the next meeting. In anticipation of this, if you know anyone with some basic graphic art skills that can provide some designs, please get in touch by commenting below please (you may need to click on the heading above first to find the comment field). We had the meeting at 9 Macdevitt Street, Coopers Plains which is currently used as a Centre by Oxley Creek Catchment Association (OCCA).  We toured the property inside and out with some who were able to reminisce about the times it was built; Hank Blessing, Allan Waller and Amanda Kelly. Also with us was Neville Buch, John Prpic, and Bruce Cifuentes – we discussed the possibilities and it occurred to us to try and procure some original fittings from the other Dutch Houses that are soon to be demolished.

Last week, Consolidated Property informed OCCA their tenancy is to be terminated in two months. This was unexpected, as they have new quarters being built, ready for occupancy in July next year. We are waiting to hear from the developers as to what their intentions are.

The display of items from our archives at the library has been replaced by some interesting samples from the Woodturners Association of Queensland. I (Simon) had the opportunity to search through our archives for the first time last week. I was searching for the group’s old official certificate of incorporation. I am pleased to report that the files are well organized, thanks to the previous custodians of the history group, although there is room for further sorting.

Our next meeting will be at the Dutch House again at 4pm on Saturday 19th of August. Come along and find out what the news is. We meet every third Saturday. In September and October, we’ll meet at the library.

9 Macdevitt Street