Kangaroo Point and Districts History Group
Collecting and preserving the history of Kangaroo Point, East Brisbane, Woolloongabba and South Brisbane.
The RSPCA of today would be happy with this notice. In the days when horses were an important means of transporting people and goods, it is hard to imagine how owners could mistreat them. Unfortunately instances of cruelty to horses were fairly common, but it is good to see that penalties were also imposed. The fine of two pounds in 1929 would be about $150 today. A horse wither is the ridge between the shoulder blades.
The way people shopped for their everyday needs in the late 19th and early 20th century was quite different from how it is done today. One of the most important shops was the General Store which was usually a family-run business with owners living on or close to the premises. The stores were usually very well organised with different types of goods in distinct sections, e.g. fabric, clothing and haberdashery would be on one side, food on the other, and hardware at the back of the shop. There might be a cold room or cellar to keep perishables. Dry goods such as flour and sugar were kept in bins under the counter. Friendly, personal service was the norm and shopkeepers generally knew their customers well.
A good example of the general store of the 1900s is W. Smallbone in Wellington Road, Kangaroo Point (now East Brisbane) in 1913. The picture shows a typical store of the time. Note the horse and cart and lady in elegant dress on a bike. A variety of goods at good prices is offered and personal service emphasised.
The advertisement offers city prices, phone orders and deliveries.
The Woolloongabba Cricket Ground, aka THE GABBA, was established in 1895 , with a capacity of 37,000, lush grassy banks, and beautiful Moreton Bay fig trees for shade. The first match was played on 19 Dec 1896 between ParliamenT and The Press, resulting in a tie with 61 runs each.
The first Test Match was on 27 Nov 1931 against South Africa. The first player to score a Test century at the Gabba was the great Donald Bradman when he scored 226 against South Africa in 1931.
The grass and fig trees have sadly been replaced by modern concrete stands and facilities – capacity has also been increased to 42,000, now known as the Brisbane Cricket Ground. ( Photos SLQ).
Comments:
Bruce G: Just as Lang Park will always be Suncorp to us baby boomers, the Brisbane Cricket Ground will always be THE GABBA
John G: I remember listening on the ABC to the tied test. Legendary commentator Alan MacGilvray had left the ground to catch a flight when he thought Australia would easily win. Little did he imagine what would follow. In the last over Australia needed seven runs with three wickets in hand including the captain and legend Richie Benaud. Mayhem was to follow with the Aussies losing two wickets before the last ball was to be bowled with them needing one run to win the match. As shown in the famous photos Windies fieldsman Joe Solomon ran out Ian Meckiff as the last two Aussie batsmen scrambled for a single and victory. They didn’t make it, resulting in the first ever tied Test.
Darcy M: It was more interesting as racetrack for Galloways. Much more interesting. Still have an original racebook.
This must have been an amazing sight in the 1960s at the busy intersection, known as the Gabba Fiveways where Logan and Ipswich Roads meet Stanley and Main Streets. Trains, trams, buses, trolleybuses and cars are travelled through the intersection.
When a steam train needed to cross, a railway signalman would walk in front waving a red flag and ringing a bell to stop the traffic. He was known as ‘the bell man’ and children loved running alongside the train. It was always a crowd stopper and memorable sight.
The last train ran in 1967 and the last tram in 1969.
Photos: SLQ
The State Heritage-listed ‘Phoenix Buildings’ at 647 Stanley St, cr Merton St, Woolloongabba has an interesting history. Since the 1860s the section of Stanley St between Merton Rd and Annerley Rd has been known as Clarence Corner.
The building consists of a block of six two-storeyed attached rendered brick shops which were built in 1889-1890 for William Davies, a successful mining entrepreneur. It is one of the few commercial buildings designed by renowned architect RICHARD GAILEY who is more generally known for his beautiful designs of many famous Brisbane landmarks including the Regatta Hotel, the CML Building, the Empire Hotel and, of course, the Story Bridge Hotel, Chalk Hotel and Lord Stanley Hotel in our areas.
It was first advertised for rent in July 1890 and had a variety of tenants including a chemist, an undertaker and a bank.
In 1920 a Lebanese immigrant , Calile Malouf , bought the building and established a family drapery business. Malouf and Sons became one of Brisbane’s most successful retail businesses which traded there until
1986. It is now home to a golf warehouse.
Although we think we’re badly off when suffering flu symptoms, we can be thankful that we’re not living in the 1900s in the days of the Bubonic Plague (also known as the Black Death because of dark patches on the skin caused by bleeding under the skin).
The origin of the outbreak in Queensland was traced to an infection carried by rats arriving aboard vessels from Sydney, at a time when the plague was known to exist there. The infection spread to local rats then to humans.
The first case in Brisbane was James Drevesen who lived in Hawthorne Street, Woolloongabba. He was a van driver employed to remove goods from the wharves where dead and plague-infected rats were found. Twenty five deaths were recorded from fifty-six reported cases of the disease. (Source: SLQ & The Queenslander, 5 May, 1900).
The house on the left is where the first case of Bubonic Plague was identified in Brisbane on 27 April 1900. It was occupied by James Drevesen, a van driver whose job it was to take goods from the wharves where dead and plague-infected rats were found. Both houses are sealed off with quarantine barricades, (SLQ # 47425).
Another view of the quarantine barricades.