Dutch Houses Heritage Overlay & Video
Cowper’s Convict Camp Investigation Update
Heritage & Environment

The January newsletter comes a little late but with some enticing news.

Dutch Houses Heritage Overlay

Good news. After years of raising the profile of the Dutch Houses in Coopers Plains; the City Council has confirmed that it will protect ‘a pocket’ of the houses. Cr Adam Allan stated in a letter to Dr Neville Buch on the 1^st Dec, 2023, “I can advise that on 6 September 2022, Council decided to make a qualified state interest amendment to include over 230 proposed Local Heritage Places on the Heritage Overlay in Brisbane City Plan 2014 (City Plan). This proposed amendment included the addition of a number of ‘Dutch Houses’ in Sunnybank. It is expected that Council will be undertaking community consultation on the proposed amendment in 2024.” Where this pocket is, is a mystery. Whether it includes 9 Macdevitt Street, CPs – the prime example CPHG has ear-marked – is unknown. Members and interested people are encouraged to engage in the consultation process when it occurs. A notice will appear this newsletter.

Dutch Houses of Coopers Plains video on YouTube by WalkaboutWithRob

We are very fortunate to have as aspect of our area featured on YouTube by local history documentary maker, Robert Braiden. It’s called “Brisbane’s VANISHING Suburb!” As I write, it’s already had 32K views and 253 comments. My comment, in brief, stated: “Great job, Rob … there other were building projects like this contracted out to foreign companies – the French in Zillmere and Chermside, the Swedish in Acacia Ridge and Ipswich and the Italians in Carina and Toowoomba. There are about 40 of the Dutch Houses outside the Cornerstone Living development. Whilst there is much to be desired in both the old and new iterations of development, the best one can say is that foundation engineering has improved. For more information and a petition, go to …. https://equanimity.blog/dutch-house-community-gardens/.”

Cowper’s Convict Camp Investigation update

Further work by our mapping and geo-referencing expert, Adrian O’Connor suggests the convict station or “Hut” may have been a bit closer to the mythical Musgrave Road area as rumored by local folklore and handed down oral history. This map shows it at the 859 Beaudesert Rd “Fortuna” factory.Dr Buch has drafted a paper summarizing this work for presentation and publication in an appropriate journal. Watch this space for an event showcasing this research. In recognition of this work, A Coopers Plains History Group Research Fund will be set up and either a grant applied for or donations called for in a crowd-funding campaign.

Queensland Bicentenary and BCC Centenary Commemoration Planning

Last month I met with the full committee of the Brisbane History Group and presented my concerns about the apparent absence of any official plans to commemorate Brisbane City Council’s centenary. I presented a draft letter for them to submit to the Lord Mayor. The committee is of a like mind and will act at a time of their choosing.

Heritage and Environment

To me, history is not, as Peter Turchin (Cliodynamicist) says, ‘just one damn thing after another’. There are patterns and from them we can learn. Therefore, history is not just about preserving the past for the sake of it, it is about the present and the future. It is also entwined with culture and ethnicity which is better embraced by the term ‘heritage’. The important work of preserving the past overlaps, for me, into prudent resource use and sustainability. This matters on a continent and planet straining under the demands of 8 billion people. I propose that we rename this group the Coopers Plains Heritage and Environment Group. I ask you to consider this and send in your feedback. saimoncole@gmail.com

Events

Parliament House and Lucinda Cafe Tour

The Lucinda Care in Queensland’s parliament house is named for Premier Griffiths’ paddle boat that played an important role in the Federation of Australia’s colonies into the world’s first and still only ‘continent for a nation and a nation for a continent’. Come and enjoy a tour of Parliament and cocktails in the cafe where some relics of the boat are preserved. Details to be announced.

Cooper Plains History Group Monthly Meeting

January 20^th Saturday at 4pm
Coopers Plains Library Meeting Room (at the back)

All welcome. Please RSVP by text to 0405587988. Thanks to the friendly and helpful staff of the Coopers Plains Library for printing out these newsletters and offering them to anyone who wants to keep in touch without going online. The Coopers Plains Library Meeting Room is booked every 3^rd Saturday at 4pm for us to meet.

Changed Meeting Date, Time & Place for December
St David’s Support for CPHG & Dutch House Cafe
Cowper’s Convict Camp Investigation Update
Camp Colombia WWII Dutch Historian Visit

This December newsletter contains updates on continuing stories and some developments that could prove to be a game-changer for our group. Can you spot the update in our map above? See below for the answer.

St David’s Neighbourhood Centre Collaboration

SDNC reached out to us and is offering us to work jointly to create more interest and involvement in our history group. The Neighbourhood Centre supports our older residents (among others), many of whom have deep roots in Coopers Plains. These connections can be a treasure trove as well as a great way for people to connect and reminisce. Our next committee meeting will be at the Centre on Friday 15^th (see below) to discuss our plans. Everyone is welcome to join us and learn about how we’ll be working together next year.

Dutch Houses

The Stories Collection Initiative will launch sometime in February next year. Elizabeth Blombert is these stories. Archiving information gathered is core work of any history group and it is a quite a task. St David’s can auspice a grant to pay someone with the skills and interest to do this. The state government is buying back 9 Macdevitt Street, Coopers Plains and word has it that the house will be renovated and rented out. Although a heritage listing application has failed because the house is post-war, it is a very original example and has great potential as a place to showcase Dutch migrant and Brisbane public housing history. It would make a great neighbourhood hub, cafe and community orchard too. St David’s Neighbourhood Centre could help make this a reality. All that is needed is volunteers from the community.

The addition to the map on our homepage is the (approximate location of) the convict camp.

Cowper’s Convict Camp Investigation update

November saw considerable effort to identify and locate the legendary convict camp Dr Cowper regularly visited on his way to Limestone Hill (Ipswich). Dr Neville Buch recruited the georeferencing and mapping skills of Adrian O’Connor and also spent 4 hours at the Mitchell Library in Sydney researching the early history of the Cowper’s Plains crossroad. A picture is emerging of a changing government presence over a large area intersected by the old convict-built trails between Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich (Limestone) and Cleveland. Attention has focussed on a “Hut” marked at the top right corner of this 1839 map “Acacia Ridge, Stapylton M10765”. The Hut is referred to in an 1846 report in The Moreton Bay Courier as a “hut on the Government station at Cowper’s Plains”. With Adrian’s skills the Hut has been overlayed onto modern maps and located – we think – at 98 Kerry Road, Archerfield. There are said to have been government stables in the area from which Stable Swamp Creek got its name. Dr Buch has drafted a paper summarizing this work for presentation and publication in an appropriate journal. Watch this space for an event showcasing this research. In recognition of this work, A Coopers Plains History Group Research Fund will be set up and either a grant applied for or donations called for in a crowd-funding campaign.

Queensland Bicentenary and BCC Centenary Commemoration Planning

CPHG and Brisbane Southside History Network convened a meeting with other history groups to draft a letter to the Premier, asking what commemoration plans were in the pipeline. We are awaiting Royal Historical Society of Queensland feedback on the letter before sending it in. CPHG will meet with Brisbane History Group this month to discuss the Brisbane City Council’s plans. My application to address Council in chambers was postponed until after the election.

Camp Colombia

Camp Columbia Heritage Association organised a successful event at the ANZAC Square & Memorial Galleries, Brisbane. Together with the Galleries CCHA hosted Dutch WWII historian Bas Kreuger. There was a full house with 60 delegates.

At this event, Paul Budde mentioned Dr Simpson’s:

Wolston Farm House – Dr Simpson’s

Two days after the Camp Colombia event, Wolston House was open to the public and we were treated to a guided tour. Dr Simpson’s 1850s homestead is marked on our homepage map.

Redlands Memorial Library – History Nook

Did you know the Redlands Library has a corner set aside for history? It has dedicated computers, table and chairs and hours set aside for researchers. I spent an hour there researching the Cowper’s Camp and came away with some interesting results.

Our city libraries are very supportive of local history work. Coopers Plains Library houses our history group’s archives, and the staff are very helpful. There are two shelves in the library dedicated to local history.

History on Google Maps – Arthur Lewis Place

Did you know you can educate people about local history places by sharing information on Google Maps? I added Joan (nee Lewis) Manthey’s story of her family – the Lewis Family – to Arthur Lewis Place on the corner of Musgrave and Orange Grove Roads. Barbara Black Ravenswood of Moorooka History Group gave me a copy of the Queensland Family Historian journal when she visited our monthly meeting. Check the story online – it’s about Lewis Hill, or Orange Grove Estate, as it is more usually referred to historically.

Events

St David’s Community Christmas Party

Come along and meet fellow local history enthusiasts as CPHG tags onto St David’s annual Xmas party.
Let them know you’re with CPHG when you RSVP.
Friday 15 December, 11am to 1pm
Harmony Room, Cnr Rookwood Ave & Orange Grove Road
RSVP by 13th December 3274 3240 community@stdavidsnc.org.a

Brisbane Motor Museum

Look out for the Coopers Plains History Group visit to this brand new museum in Banyo.

Cooper Plains History Group Monthly Meeting

December Friday 15th 3pm
St David’s Neighbourhood Centre
The Green Room, Cnr Rookwood Ave & Orange Grove Road
Join by Zoom by clicking here just before the meeting!
Meeting ID: 766 9631 4047 Passcode: 5q1P0v

All welcome. Please RSVP by text to 0405587988 or by commenting below (you may have to click the post’s heading to bring the comment field up). Thanks to the friendly and helpful staff of the Coopers Plains Library for printing out these newsletters and offering them to anyone who wants to keep in touch without going online. The Coopers Plains Library Meeting Room is booked every 3rd Saturday at 4pm for us to meet – except this month it’ll be on Friday 15th at 3pm at St David’s.

Wolston Farmhouse Open Day

This is short notice, but a rare opportunity because the venue isn’t usually open to the public.

You may have noticed “Dr Simpson” appears on our website homepage map. It is to the east of Coopers Plains, half way to Ipswich. The map is a small part of the 1846 “After Baker with additions” map of the Moreton Bay District:

Wolston House is a heritage-listed museum and former homestead at 223 Grindle Road, Wacol, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1852 to 1860s. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.^[1] It is now a historic house museum operated by the National Trust of Queensland.  (Wikipedia/Wolston_House)

There’s a small entry free. No booking necessary. I plan to be there when the gates open at 10am with some friends. Do join us.

Wolston House Open Day

Changed Time Notice

This month, due to booking congestion, we will meet at 1pm instead of our usual 4pm.

Saturday November 18^th
1-3pm
Coopers Plains Library Meeting Room (rear of the library)

All welcome. Please RSVP or comment below (you may need to click the heading of this post to bring the comment field up.) or by text to 0405587988. For more information about what’s on the agenda, please read the last newsletter HERE

Memories of Stephens Conference
Archiving Collected Information
Peak History Body Memberships
Brisbane-Queensland Commemorations 2023-2025
Elizabeth Blomberg and the Dutch Houses Story Collection Initiative

You’ll notice this is the “November News”, not a “fortnightly” newsletter. It’s actually been three weeks since the last newsletter because there are more than four weeks in a month. The inconvenient irregularities of the Gregorian Calendar calendar has interested me for some time. I recently gave a presentation to Queensland Skeptics on the Fixed Calendar that solves these problems. I digress, I know, but this prompts me to simplify my job as informal Chair of the CPHG and make an executive decision. From now on, there will be only one Newsletter per month, issued two weeks before the monthly meeting (on the 3^rd Saturday). The joys of being a committee of one! I jest, of course, and am patiently waiting for volunteers to come and lighten the load.

Conference

Our neighboring history group in Annerley held its biennial conference last month and many interesting presentations were given. Many valuable connections were made as well. For a wrap up, see the Annerley-Stephens History Group’s website. A printed copy of the presentations are usually published and sold at the Annerley Library some time after the events. (https://annerleystephenshistory.org/the-2023-memories-of-stephens-conference-wrap-up/) The ASHG will have a History Room at the Yeronga Community Centre, Villa St., Yeronga from early 2024.

Archiving

The work of history groups such as ours is to collect and archive historical information for research. The avenues for contributing information are (currently) our Facebook group, our website and our monthly meetings at the library. At our October meeting, Dr Neville Buch explained that digital records need to be kept on external hard drives for storage at the library. Also, Pandora (National Library of Australia) https://pandora.nla.gov.au/ created capacity for websites to be saved.

Peak History Groups and Bi/Centennial Commemoration Planning

Last month I joined the CPHG up to the Royal Queensland Historical Society, the Annerley-Stephens History Group and History Queensland Inc. History Queensland Inc.’s role is to support the many local history groups across the state by providing things like Public Liability Insurance. We will use the Zoom account that comes with membership to hold a meeting mid-November to bring together peak history bodies and consider the apparent lack of action on the bicentennial of British settlement in Queensland and the centennial of the formation of the Greater Brisbane City Council (see the previous newsletter or our website for more information about this campaign).

Dutch Houses Story Collection Initiative

Elizabeth Blomberg, a Dutch resident of Brisbane, has volunteered to oversee the collection of stories of people associated with the Dutch Houses of Coopers Plains. She is archiving conversations in the chat group we have set up on Facebook. There will be a launch of the Initiative to bring members of the community and dignitaries together and promote awareness of the Dutch presence and its history in Brisbane.

Cowpers Camp Convict Station Search

Thanks to contributions in the Facebook chat group, progress is being made to pinpoint the convict camp location. At the last meeting, Neville, Allan and Simon looked more closely at the photograph of the bunya pine said to have been planted by the convicts at the entrance of the camp in the Sunday Mail, 1929. It appears to have been taken from across the rail line facing south west. This would place the tree on the corner of Edith St and Musgrave Rd. This led us to surmize that the location of the camp covered the area west of Edith St, south of Musgrave Road and north of Stable Swamp Creek; an area of about 1 hectare.

Events

Brisbane Motor Museum

Look out for the Coopers Plains History Group visit to this brand new museum in Banyo.

https://www.brisbanemotormuseum.com.au/

Cooper Plains History Group

is booked to meet every 3^rd Saturday at 4pm (except this month it’ll be at 1pm) at the Coopers Plains Library Meeting Room until May 2024, after which the schedule may change.

Next Meeting:
Saturday November 18^th
1-3pm
Coopers Plains Library Meeting Room (rear of the library)

All welcome. Please RSVP by text to 0405587988 or comment below (you may need to click the heading of this post to bring the comment field up.) Thanks to the friendly and helpful staff of the Coopers Plains Library for printing out these newsletters and offering them to anyone who wants to keep in touch without going online.

Brisbane-Queensland Commemoration planning for 2023-2025
Cowpers Camp Convict Station Search
Dutch History Cafe update
Meet on Zoom

Coopers Plains History Group and its umbrella organization, the Brisbane Southside History Network, is pursuing an investigation into an apparent absence of planning by the state and local governments to Commemorate the Bicentennial of Queensland’s beginnings and Brisbane City Council’s formation from 2023 to 2024. History groups are planning events, but …

Layout of Brisbane Town Moreton Bay c 1839 – www.flickr.com

In late November, early December, 1823, the explorer John Oxley and crew of HMS Mermaid surveyed Moreton Bay and the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay. In mid-September 1824, Lieutenant Henry Miller landed the brig, Amity, on the shores of Redcliffe Peninsula in the Gubbi Gubbi tribal area and established the First European Settlement which they called Humpybong. It was relocated in November to Edenglassie – the first name given to Brisbane where the CBD now stands. History Redcliffe is currently planning ways to mark the 200th anniversary of this historic event. November saw the arrival of NSW Governor Brisbane in Moreton Bay for a brief inspection of the colony’s beginnings. This year and next will see the Bicentennial of these significant events in our history. 2025 will see the Centennial of the formation of the Brisbane City Council in 1925.

Cowpers Camp Convict Station Search

1919 reprint of Moreton 40 map_MBMP-0004-024

A lively discussion from many members on our Facebook group chat The Convict Station is helping us pinpoint the exact location of the penal colony era convict station that was the first settlement in our area of southern Brisbane. Join the group to contribute, or write to us. The information will be archived and announced on our website. Would you like to see a plaque placed there? We need volunteers to join a committee and apply for grants. Use the same contact details to get in touch and volunteer.

The Dutch History Cafe dream has morphed into a joint CPHG and DACC (Dutch Australia Cultural Centre) collaboration to launch a Story Collection to bring together people who feel associated with the 1950s Queensland Housing Commission project of houses built by a Dutch company and Dutch immigrants. 9 Macdevitt Street, which we identified as very original and having potential for public display, is currently being sold back the Department of Housing by the developer that owns it, we understand. This could mean a group that wanted to run a history cafe and community orchard out of it might be able to persuade the state government to rent it at a peppercorn rate.

Events

Harry Gentle Research Centre

Jan Richardson and Tamsin O’Connor, in conjunction with the Harry Gentle Research Centre are planning a conference in recognition of the bicentenary of early settlement in SE Qld. Further details on this will appear under ‘News and Events’ on their website.

https://harrygentle.griffith.edu.au/news/ Email: harrygentle@griffith.edu.au

Royal Queensland Historical Society

2023 Separation Day Celebrations: Sunday, December 10^th, 5- 7pm. On the occasion of the separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. Commissariat Store Museum, CBD.

https://www.queenslandhistory.org/events Phone: (07) 3221 4198

Brisbane Motor Museum

Look out for the Coopers Plains History Group visit to this brand new museum in Banyo.

https://www.brisbanemotormuseum.com.au/

Cooper Plains History Group

is booked to meet every 3^rd Saturday at 4pm at the Coopers Plains Library Meeting Room until May 2024, after which the schedule may change.

Next Meeting:
Saturday October 21^st
4pm
Coopers Plains Library Meeting Room

All welcome. Please RSVP by commenting below (you may need to click on the title of this post to bring the comment field up). Thanks to the friendly and helpful staff of the Coopers Plains Library for printing out these newsletters and offering them to anyone who wants to keep in touch without going online.

New Logo
Yeronga History Bus Tour
Dutch House Stories Collection Initiative

This plaque commemorates the wool teams of the 1850s that travelled from Ipswich to the Port of Cleveland on what is now Boundary Road. It sits on the corner of Beaudesert Road.

There is no such plaque commemorating the convict station a little further north on what is now Musgrave Road. Wouldn’t it be good to see that erected in memory of the first European settlement in the Coopers Plains area?

The Brisbane History Group’s bus tour of Yeronga was very instructive. We spent all afternoon weaving around the back roads, guided by Annerley-Stephens History Group members Steve and Glenda Sheaffe. We saw the original Shire of Stephens Town Hall which is now a private home and countless other landmarks.

Soon, CPHG and DACC (Dutch Australia Cultural Centre) will launch a Story Collection Initiative. We hope to bring together people who feel associated with the 1950s Queensland Housing Commission project of houses built by a Dutch company and Dutch immigrants.

We now have a new logo to go with the group’s new name.
It features an WWII ‘igloo’, a Dutch House and a steam train the cuts through central Coopers Plains.

And this is the group’s new homepage image, featuring a map of the earliest roads that intersected at Cowpers Plains Convict Station.

Events

Annerley-Stephens History Group:

Memories of Stephens Conference 2023; Saturday 21 October 2023 at Our Lady’s College, 15 Chester Road, Annerley – It will be a great day and all lovers of local history are welcome to attend, but please register soon to avoid disappointment as places are limited.

https://annerleystephenshistory.org/local-history-conferences/

Brisbane Motor Museum – Look out for the Coopers Plains History Group visit to this brand new museum in Banyo.

https://www.brisbanemotormuseum.com.au/

Next Meeting:
Saturday October 21^st
4pm
Coopers Plains Library Meeting Room

All welcome. Please RSVP by commenting below (you may need to click on the title of this post to bring the comment field up). Thanks to the friendly and helpful staff of the Coopers Plains Library for printing out these newsletters and offering them to anyone who wants to keep in touch without going online.

Dutch History Cafe
New Logo
Library Collaboration
Bicentennial Events
History Tours & Events

August 24th’s outing to the Heritage Park at Eagle Junction

First the bad news. All hope seems to be lost for setting aside one of the best examples of Brisbane’s mid-century Dutch built Housing Commission homes at Cornerstone Living. The vision was for 9 Macdevitt Street – a very original building – to become a History Cafe, displaying information about local history, including Dutch immigration and the Dutch East Indies Government-in-Exile at Camp Colombia (Wacol). It was to be run as a self-funded not-for-profit community enterprise with an orchard and outside facilities for neighbours to come together and socialize. Unfortunately the owner/developer Consolidated Property has decided to sell it on the open market.

The house currently serves as the Catchment Centre, or offices of the Oxley Creek Catchment Centre. They have been given an eviction notice of about 2 months. Six months ago, Mr Don O’Rorke, CEO of Consolidated Property, met me and Mr Paul Budde, Chair of the Dutch Australia Cultural Centre, and expressed his support for the project, even kindly offering some funds to market the concept. We were not informed. It appears that profit is overriding the community’s interests yet again. I managed to contact the Brisbane City Council’s Senior Historian, Dr Ross Mahoney in the Architecture and Heritage department. He has had a Heritage listing application on the property under consideration for several years now. On hearing the news of its imminent sale and (very likely) demolition, no sense of urgency was apparent. He reminded me that as a post war home, it is not even covered by Council’s character overlay. As such, it was always going to be a big hurdle that required a great deal of support. Sadly, that has not materialized. This is a significant disappointment, as it brings an end to 4 years of lobbying and a petition signed by more than 1,000 people. I would like to thank Mr Paul Budde for his support.

What do you think of this image as a logo for the group’s new name?

And this, for the website’s homepage?

We’ll be voting on these at the next meeting:

Saturday September 16th
4pm
Coopers Plains Library Meeting Room

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). Thanks to the friendly and helpful staff of the Coopers Plains Library for printing out these newsletters and offering them to anyone who wants to keep in touch without going online.

Events

There are some great history events on this month. Here are just two of them on Brisbane’s Southside:

Royal Historical Society – The Mermaid, the Castaways, and European Exploration of the Brisbane River. Saturday 9th, Commissariat Store Museum, William St, CBD. Book soon ($25-35)

Brisbane History Group – Yeronga Heritage Tour. Saturday 23rd, Queen Alexandra Community Centre, Cooparoo. Download the flyer here. ($25)

See you there!