Last week in a post “History of Annerley – Part 1” I wrote about beginnings of the area and the genesis of Annerley’s name. This week I will write about development of the suburb.
John Soden’s Omnibuses
As mentioned in the previous post, transport connections played an important role in shaping Annerley. John Soden’s omnibus company was considerably responsible for supporting the growth of the southside of Brisbane. In 1879, John Soden purchased the pub called Hardcastle’s Hotel (opposite current Chardon’s Hotel) and opened a small shop there. He successfully tendered for the mail run between Brisbane and Rocklea (then Rocky Waterholes) and soon local residents asked for the increase of his service to a regular public bus run. It grew so fast that in the early 1880s he had 25 buses running. This helped to bring settlers to Annerley.
It was due to the late Mr. John Soden, however, that the district bounded ahead. Mr. Soden settled on the Ipswich-road, Yeronga, in September, 1879, and about two years later commenced his line of buses to the city. An efficient service was established, and Soden’s buses continually brought out new settlers In the district. The buses were run for many years with the aid of Mr. Soden’s six sons and a daughter, and to-day five of the children still reside within a stone’s throw of the original home site. Eventually modern trams replaced the buses, which were withdrawn, and the stables were converted to a coachworks. [1931 ‘Annerley District.’, The Brisbane Courier, 10 January, p. 19.]
Electric trams in Brisbane
Horse trams began servicing Brisbane in 1885 running from the city to Woolloongabba, yet electric trams in Ipswich Rd made Mr. Soden’s horse-drawn buses out-of-date by the turn of the century. Electric trams began in Brisbane in 1897 and reached Cornwall street that year. The extension from Cornwall to Dudley Street (then Mary Street) along Ipswich Road in 1899 changed the predominantly rural landscape into residential living. The line was extended to Chardon’s Corner in 1914.
ANNERLEY is the attractive name conferred of recent years upon the dry and healthy ridges which constitute the eastern side of Stephens Shire. The central point of this area is formed by the junction of Ipswich-road and Annerley-road, and it is reached by the Ipswich-road tram service at a cost of 3d. from the Customs House. [1906 ‘BRISBANE’S SUBURBAN BEAUTIES.’, The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 – 1933), 4 August, p. 12]
Development of railway in Queensland
In 1884, the railway line from South Brisbane to Corinda was opened with the nearest station at Fairfield. After the 1893 flood, the railway was moved to its present location in 1895. Also, a station was opened at Boggo Junction, now Dutton Park being just north of Annerley. The arrival of the railway and progressive extension of the trams on Ipswich Road boosted further land subdivisions and settlement.
(…) Removing the line above flood level. In order to obtain as far as possible the last named object, a considerable deviation is necessary in the neighbourhood of Fairfield station, where the existing formation is only 7 feet above high water, and, therefore, soon covered in time of flood. In 1890 the flood water at this station was 14 feet over the rails, and 28 feet in 1893. [1894 ‘SOUTH COAST LINE DEVIATION.’,The Telegraph, 15 November, p. 5.]
Growth of Annerley since 1880s
The growth of Annerley was rapid from the 1880s. There were important developments in this decade – the opening of the Boggo post office in 1880, railway line came in 1884, the opening of a provisional school in 1888 and more housing estates opened up at the same time. Churches played a big part in the lives of the early settlers. Baptist, Methodist, and Catholic churches were built on Ipswich Road. The Methodist Church was founded by Mr. Kirkman in his own home in 1884 and the church was built in 1885. The Roman Catholic Mary Immaculate church became part of the Annerley Parish in 1914. The Baptist church took the place of the Fairfield Baptist church of which the founder was the Grimes family.
The distance of the suburb from the city, being some four miles from the General Post Office, doubtless militated against its rapid development, but it has always been almost entirely a residential district. An ideally situated one, with a background of wooded hills, the right-hand side -overlooking the river and St. Lucia. The successive councils of the shire have recognised this fact, and their attention has been directed to providing living conveniences for residents, with such success that the population grew from 3000 in 1887 to 13,000 at the time of the abolition of the shire. Since then the progress of the district has kept pace with that of the rest of Brisbane [1929 ‘DO YOU KNOW YOUR BRISBANE? IPSWICH ROAD—A Cluster of Progressive Suburbs’, Sunday Mail (Brisbane), 14 April, p. 23]
With the arrival of trams to Annerley Junction in the 1900s, the shopping centre prospered. Grocery stores, bakeries, cake shops, fruit shops and newsagents flourished. Very popular picture theatre “Boomerang” was opened in 1924.
The shopping centre at The Junction is one of the best equipped and finest in the suburban area. This is probably due to a large extent to the fact that circumstances have operated to keep the shopping area distinct from the residential section. The scattering of shops in discriminately among the dwelling places tends to mar both the progress of the shops and the comfort of the dwellings, and the custom of having a distinctively outlined shopping quarter makes for good town planning. Gradually in Ipswich-road the old style shops of wood and brick, with small windows are giving way before buildings of the most modern type with an attractive splash of tiles and plate glass. Some few, however, of the older shops remain, with evidence that they wore once the pride and glory of the trading community of earlier days. [1929 ‘DO YOU KNOW YOUR BRISBANE? IPSWICH ROAD—A Cluster of Progressive Suburbs’, Sunday Mail (Brisbane), 14 April, p. 23]
The Thompson Estate Provisional School
The Thompson Estate Provisional School was opened by Mrs. Kathleen Barry in rented cottage in 1888 with 52 pupils yet by the end of the year, it has grown to 173 children and in 1889 the school moved into a hall in Regents St. In 1891 new school building was opened, it was built for 280 but soon 480 children were attending daily. In 1893, the name of the school was changed to Junction Park. An interesting fact is that the first ever school’s swimming pool in Queensland was opened in this particualr school in 1910. The present brick building was constructed in 1936.
Thompson Estate School. The contractor for the new school buildings commenced, operations last week on the school reserve, near the Thompson Estate. This long-delayed event will probably lead to the organisation of a children’s picnic at an early date. Numerous promises of assistance in that direction have been received by the teachers. [1890 ‘Thompson Estate School.’, The Telegraph, 11 September, p. 3.]
Chardon’s Hotel
Chardon’s Hotel located on a corner of Cracknell and Ipswich roads was opened in 1871 by the Chardon family. The design of original Chardon’s Hotel was unique with its arches, porticoes, and balconies. It’s a shame that current architectural design doesn’t look as attractive as original.
Chardon’s Hotel, built in 1891, on the corner of Cracknell and Ipswich roads, gives a quaint Elizabethan touch to the locality, and is one of the most picturesque buildings of the .district. The position, however, of the Junction Hotel at the corner of Annerley and Ipswich roads more than makes up for the more homely appearance of its architecture — that of the typical early hotel. It dates back well over 50 years. [1929 ‘DO YOU KNOW YOUR BRISBANE? IPSWICH ROAD—A Cluster of Progressive Suburbs’, Sunday Mail (Brisbane), 14 April, p. 23]
Princess Alexandra Hospital
PA Hospital began in 1883 when the Lady Diamantina Orphanage was established on this site. It was named after the wife of the first governor of Queensland Lady Diamantina Roma Bowen. It was remodeled and became a hospital for chronic diseases in 1901 and in 1943 it was upgraded to the South Brisbane Auxiliary Hospital becoming after WW2 the major hospital for the southside. In 1956, the Queen gave permission for the hospital to be named after her cousin Princess Alexandra, following Princess Alexandra’s visit to Queensland previous year.
The institution, however, which makes Ipswich-road a familiar name throughout Queensland is the Diamantina Hospital for Chronic Diseases. Named after the Countess Roma Diamantina, wife of the first Governor of Queensland, it has given splendid service to the State, not always recognised or appreciated. [1929 ‘DO YOU KNOW YOUR BRISBANE? IPSWICH ROAD—A Cluster of Progressive Suburbs’, Sunday Mail (Brisbane), 14 April, p. 23]
Great book to learn about Annerley in the 1950s is Hugh Lunn’s classic book “Over the top with Jim“. In his memoir, author wrote about growing up in a working-class family in Australia. A humorous style the book is written makes it very easy read.
References:
Mackenzie, Annie 1992, Memories along the Boggo track, Boolarong Publications, Bowen Hills, Qld
Kerr, John, 1942-2003 & Royal Historical Society of Queensland 1997, The Annals of Annerley : proceedings of the Annerley Conference, 17 July 1994, Royal Historical Society of Queensland, Brisbane
