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).