What Was Cowper’s Plains?

In 1826, a few years since the establishment of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement, Captain Patrick Logan named land that was eight miles south of the Brisbane River penal colony “Cowper’s Plains”. Captain Logan and Allan Cunningham undertook some explorations in 1828. The honour was to Dr Henry Cowper, the Assistant Surgeon of the settlement. He was also ‘the first student and second man to graduate in medicine in Australia and the first surgeon o the Moreton Bay Settlement’, according to The Medical Journal of Australia (19th October, 1929). (The spelling of the name changed, but not the pronunciation.)

The plains were ‘walled-in’ from the north and north-east by the ridges of Mount Gravatt that run south through Sunnybank and Sunnybank Hills, over to the heights of Calamvale. The northern ridge runs from Nathan and Toohey Forest, including the rise of Tarragindi, Moorooka, Annerley and over to Dutton Park and Highgate Hill, where it turns towards the river and declines & terminates at Hill End (West End). These hills separated the early Brisbane township from the flats of Fairfield, Yeronga, Yeerongpilly, out towards Oxley, and Cowper’s Plains.

Cowper’s Plains became the first crossroad of the Moreton Bay Penal Colony, as access was sought overland (other than by boat on the river) to Limestone Hill (Ipswich) initially, then also to Logan and Cleveland.

Roads spread far and wide, but it was over the Plains of the south of Brisbane city that the earliest transport networks converged.

There is no longer much of the ‘Plains’ in Coopers Plains.

Which Suburbs Does Coopers Plains History Group Cover?

The Coopers Plains History Group takes in areas within a reasonable distance of the modern suburb of Coopers Plains whose history are not stewarded by other history groups. To the north, the Annerley-Stephens History Group covers what was the Stephens Shire. To the east, the Sunnybank District History Group covers Sunnybank, although at the time of writing (April, 2025) the group has been inactive for some years. CPHG has responded to interest in the area, notable the passing of Allan Waller in August, 2024, a long-time resident of Sunnybank and collection of valuable archival material kindly provided to us by his wife Margaret. Anyone wishing to revive the group or deputize within CPHG for the area is welcome to make contact through this website or in person via the Coopers Plains library. Also at the time of writing, our area expanded to take in that part of Moorooka not covered by the ASHG and which has been overseen by the Moorooka History Group.

The Coopers Plains History Group tells the stories of people who have lived or currently live in this part of Brisbane.