Bulimba Heritage Trail

Ferries have been an important means of crossing the river since the colony was opened for free settlement in the early 1840s. The earliest official ferry service began in 1844 between Customs House and Kangaroo Point. By the 1880s the Bulimba ferry service was well established.

In the early 20th Century, the Balmoral Shire Council saw the need for the construction of a new ferry terminal. The council wanted the design to be of a high quality to reflect the important role that the ferry played in the district.

The accepted design by G.H.M Addison and Son reflected this. G.H.M Addison designed many important buildings around Brisbane, including The Mansions on George Street in the City, the Albert Street Uniting Church, Cumbooquepa (Somerville House) and the Old Queensland Museum on Gregory Terrace.

To learn more about this location, visit Local Heritage Places.

Marconi’s Goannary

Joseph Cornelius Marconi came to Bulimba after travelling throughout Australia with various sideshows including Lyn ‘Rocky’ Vane’s snake charming act. He gained knowledge of the professed curative qualities of goanna fat and certain herbs from the Indigenous people he encountered and began selling his famous ‘Goanna Salve’.

Marconi established his goannary and factory under his house ‘Astra’, on the corner of Oxford and Quay Streets. The salve was reputed as a virtual panacea, “Hundreds testify…to cures of piles, rheumatism, sciatica, ulcers, infantile paralysis, sprains”. (The Brisbane Courier, 19 August 1922). The use of goanna fat for the famous salve was prohibited in 1918 when the state government declared the goanna a protected species. Nevertheless, Marconi carried on with manufacturing his Goanna Salve – minus the goanna.

In 1921, as a reflection of the Bulimba residents’ fondness and respect, Marconi was elected as local councillor representing the Nationalist Party in the Balmoral Shire Elections, in a seat that had traditionally been a Labor stronghold.

With the grand residence, Bulimba House, at the top of the hill looking over the district and the majority of the modest houses of the working class at the base of the hill, Bulimba followed a pattern of development common in Brisbane in this period. That is, the wealthier residents bought the land on the rises and apexes of hills, ensuring breezes, views, protection from flooding and protection from waste run off. The less wealthy purchased land on the base of the hills.

Just prior to the discovery of gold in Gympie in 1867, which heralded Queensland’s gold rush, Bulimba had one of its own. During the latter part of 1866, Messrs Smith, Price and Harvey were reported as having discovered nuggets and particles of gold along the banks of the Brisbane River, opposite Breakfast Creek. In January 1867, the Brisbane Courier reported:

"About three months ago there arrived in Bulimba three young men – Messrs. Smith, Price and Harvey. Renouncing the luxuries of the town, they took to camping out in a tent, and one day Mr Harvey, quenching his thirst (like the stag in the fable) at a neighbouring waterhole, saw at the bottom what turned out to be gold."

While some gold was found and a shaft sunk into the main quartz reef, gold-mining did not become a major industry in the area.

To learn more about this location, visit Local Heritage Places.

Note

This is a private residence and is not open to the public.

At the same time Yellowley was establishing his business in Oxford Street, Bulimba became one of the few areas in Queensland where a State Butcher shop was established. This was located on the corner of Riding Road and Grosvenor Street.

State Butcher shops were established by the Queensland Labor Government as a means of influencing prices of household staples such as meat and sugar.

From 1915 to 1925, the state government established or acquired a number of business enterprises in order to provide competition against possible business monopolies, as well as a means of offering products at cheaper rates. This was could be done under the State Enterprises Act of 1918. These businesses included state fish shops, the ‘State’ brand jam and sauce factory, a sugar mill, cold stores and some cattle stations.

Ninety state butcheries were established in Queensland between 1915 and 1929. But the state butcheries, as a whole, were a drain on the state economy, losing £6,000 during the 14 years that they were in operation.

Commencing in 1926, the state government began disposing of the majority of the state butcherie. After the 1929 election of the Country, Progressive and Nationalist Parties’ coalition government, the remaining 39 butcheries throughout Queensland ceased operating as state enterprises on 30 June 1929.

The First World War had a profound effect on the lives of the Bulimba residents. Many lost loved ones in the conflict. As a reflection of the grief experienced in the community, the park was dedicated as the Bulimba Memorial Park on 4 November 1919 to honour those from the district who served overseas, many of whom did not return.

Bulimba took part in an important social housing movement at the end of the First World War, with the construction of five ANZAC cottages. The ANZAC Cottage Trust was established in Queensland in 1915 in an effort to ease the hardship experienced by the widows and children of soldiers and sailors killed in the First World War.

The proceeds for the establishment of the cottages were funded from the profits made by the Queensland lottery Golden Caskets lottery numbers 3, 4 and 5. The scheme provided timber cottages, mostly built on donated land and constructed by volunteer labour. Much of the material used for the construction of the cottages was supplied at cost price by many Brisbane businesses.

Thirty-eight ANZAC cottages were built in various suburbs in Brisbane. There were two ANZAC cottages constructed beside the park on Stuart Street.

To learn more about this location, visit Local Heritage Places.

The Bulimba Hotel (later called the Balmoral) was built in 1888 and was designed by one of Queensland’s most celebrated architects, Richard Gailey. Gailey is most famous for designing some of Brisbane’s best known hotels - the Regatta Hotel (Toowong), the Orient Hotel (City), the Prince Consort Hotel (Fortitude Valley), the Jubilee Hotel (Fortitude Valley), the Wickham Hotel (Fortitude Valley) and the Empire Hotel (Fortitude Valley).

During the Second World War the Apollo Barge Assembly Depot (also known as the Bulimba Army Barracks) was swiftly built by the United States Forces on land that had been acquired by the Commonwealth of Australia in March 1943. The position of the Apollo Barge Assembly Depot was pivotal to its importance as a military vessel supply base. The American military built 6 large warehouses, one of which was the workshop.

As is suggested by the name, the US barges were assembled at the Bulimba base. The steel components were shipped in via the Brisbane River and delivered by barge to the assembly depot. During the Second World War, a wide wharf was constructed for the assembly depot that allowed an efficient means of distribution. Once assembled, the barges were shipped out as deck cargo to the conflict in the Pacific.

Each barge, measuring approximately 18 metres by 8 metres and with 2 refrigeration units, was designed as a supply vessel that would be deployed into secured territory in the Pacific region of the war. The workers within the assembly depot were mainly Chinese. Approximately 1,000 Chinese workers were housed in the barracks.

In 1920, a new addition to Oxford Street was the Avro Picture Drome (also known as Avro Picture Palace), run by Henry Thompson. The Avro and the Hawthorne Theatre heralded the confidence in the local market for this new form of entertainment.

There is evidence that a picture show operated in a paddock in Oxford Street from around 1912. The Avro was built beside Henry Thompson’s Coach and Motor Works. In 1954, a foyer and 4 shops were added. The latter helped the cinema to survive the lean years following the introduction of television.

The Bulimba district was home to other attractions in this period. A short distance from the Avro theatre, one of the earliest aerodromes in Brisbane was opened in July 1920. Joy-flights in BE2E and Avro 504 aircraft (after which the theatre was named) drew adventurers from Brisbane and surrounding districts.

Swimming baths were constructed on the river in 1926, near the Hawthorne Ferry, providing safe swimming for district residents.

The Brisbane Sailing Club, which later became the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, held sailing races in the Bulimba reach of the river before moving to Manly in 1964.

In the late 1940s, the Balmoral Amateur Cycling Club was established and a quarter mile circular bitumen track was laid by Brisbane City Council in Hawthorne Park for cycle meets. Cyclists from all over the state competed at the track, including Olympians.

Prior to the construction of the Anglican Church on Oxford Street, Mrs Elizabeth Coxen donated a portion of land to the Anglican congregation in Birkalla Street, as well as £100. The sale of this land allowed the current site of the Anglican Church to be purchased. Mrs Coxen was a much loved and respected figure in Bulimba and was described after her death in 1906 as the ‘Mother of Bulimba’.

Elizabeth Coxen’s husband, Charles, was an important figure in Queensland; he was not only a politician and land commissioner, but an expert ornithologist and became the first honorary curator of the newly established Queensland Museum in 1855. Elizabeth was, in her own right, an important figure in Brisbane’s early scientific community. Her knowledge of meteorology and conchology (study of shells) led her to manage the collection in the museum for a time.

In 1886, Elizabeth became the first female member of the Royal Society of Queensland. Throughout her time in Bulimba, Elizabeth was an active member of the Anglican community. A marble plaque and lectern were dedicated to her in the Anglican Church in 1907. At the unveiling ceremony, she was described as “a true churchwoman, a true wife, and a true friend”. (Brisbane Courier, Monday 2 December 1907).

To learn more about this location, visit Local Heritage Places.

The fledgling primitive Methodist congregation held their services under a large tree, believed to have been situated on Birkalla Street. The generous donation of land by William Thorpe Riding enabled the congregation to construct a permanent church building in 1866.

As a reflection of the progress that was occurring in the Bulimba district in the late 19th Century, a school of arts was constructed on the corner of Oxford and Riding Roads (where the current Brisbane City Council library is now situated) between 1886 and 1887.

The School of Arts Movement was an important educational initiative first established in Britain in the early 19th Century. The intention was to assist middle-class adults with self-improvement, and to promote moral and intellectual growth. An important aspect of a school of arts was the inclusion of a free lending library at a time when many could not afford to buy books.

In 1914, additions were made to the Bulimba School of Arts building; the recreational hall was widened and a second storey was added to the front portion of the building. As well as the large hall, the building also had a lodge room, a reading room and a library. The new additions to the building were officially opened by the then Acting Premier Hon WH Barnes on 23 May 1914, who stated:

"The brawn as well as the brain needed development, and in a school of arts such as that they were catering for the healthy exercise of both body and mind. Those who paid proper attention to these methods of character development were all the better men and women for it." (Brisbane Courier, Monday 25 May 1914).

Unfortunately the Bulimba School of Arts was demolished in the 1980s.

To learn more about this location, visit Local Heritage Places. 

Bulimba was one of the most vulnerable areas in Brisbane to a potential Japanese air attack during the Second World War.

The intensive war-time activity along the river, between New Farm and Hamilton, as well as the American presence at the Apollo Barge Assembly Depot, highlighted the precarious position of the suburb.

The role of the Bulimba police at this time was essential for the safe-keeping of the Bulimba community. As well as carrying out their usual tasks, the police were in charge of managing, recruiting and training the air-raid warden unit, essential to managing the safety of the community if it was bombed.

The police were responsible for the receiving and transmission of information related to air raids from the Defence Information Centres. Petrol rations were also under police control. Several air raid shelters were constructed in the area. Split trenches were also dug, especially at the Bulimba State School.

The police and the air raid wardens also coordinated blackouts and drills. Luckily, Brisbane never experienced an enemy air raid.

As with most schools in the late 19th and into the 20th Century, Arbor Day was an important date on the school calendar. The tradition of Arbor Day started in America in 1872.

The first Arbor Day was held in Queensland on 1 August 1890 and was proposed by Philip McMahon, the curator of Brisbane’s botanical gardens. He distributed 2,496 trees obtained from the botanical garden’s nursery for planting to schools throughout Queensland. This soon developed into an important day on the annual school calendar for Queensland. School children were given trees to plant around the school grounds in places where they might provide playground shade and add to the aesthetic attractiveness of the school grounds. They were often planted along the fence line of the school to help mark the school boundary.

In 1892, the Arbor Day celebration at the Bulimba State School was attended by the district’s State Minister, Hon. JR Dickson (who was to become Queensland Premier in 1898). In his speech he stated, “If a man only planted one tree, he would be doing a good work for his fellow man.” (Brisbane Courier, Saturday 30 April 1892). Many of the Arbor Day trees that were planted over the years still remain in the school.

To learn more about this location, visit Local Heritage Places.