The Ashgrovian House

Ashgrovian houses are a variation of a Queenslander, built between the 1920's and the 1930's in the suburb of Ashgrove.  Some of the distinctive features of an Ashgrovian House is, they are fronted with a grand gable roof and often surrounded by secondary smaller gables behind.  The smaller gables are usually the shelter of a verandah or a sleep-out.  A staircase almost always dominates the front yard, leading to a large verandah; which in later years was most commonly filled with extra rooms.  Another great quality of the Ashgrovian House is they have wide spacious rooms, and they were designed to increase the flow of air because of their large doors of windows, which is great for living in Queensland.  Most of the Ashgrovian/Queenslanders are built with wood and metal/steel roofs, with a corrugated iron design.  In summary the Ashgrovian House is a great feature of the Ashgrove area and its significance will always be recongised in the Ashgrove and Brisbane history. 

Governor Blackall

Samuel Wensley Blackall is respected greatly and his monument at the Toowong Cemetery is a representation of his significance.  Blackall was born on the 1st of May 1809, and he became the Governor of Brisbane 1868.  In his time being Governor he was respected and loved by the local community.  On the 2nd of January 1871 he passed away from a terrible illness in which because of this he had only been the Governor of Brisbane for three years.  Before he had died the Government had decided that they would put a side a cemetery reserve which is now known as the Toowong Cemetery.  Blackall was the first person to be buried in the cemetery and he had chosen the highest point in the cemetery.  His current position is able to be seen from the surrounding roads, the reason for this is because he had made a major impact in Brisbane in the time.  His monument is based in an expensive area which not the everyday person would be able to afford, this shows that he was wealthy and he wanted to be remembered as part of the community forever. In summury Governor Blackall was a very special memeber of the Brisbane community and by this he was awarded such a special monument which will always be significant in Brisbane's History. 



Governor Blackall's Monument at the Toowoong Cemetery



 

Grantuly House

Grantuly House in Elimatta Drive is in the loving and caring hands of the staff and students of Mt St Michaels College.  The origional house was built in 1899 on eight acres of land which was transferred from the Glenlyon Estate to Jeannie Maxwell Stewart.  In 1924 the land was acquired by Archbishop Duhig for the Catholic Archdiocesse Brisbane, at a later date Grantuly was offerred to the Sisters of Charity.  The Sisters used the wide varandahs of the house for the St Finbarr's Primary school in 1925.  Eventually Grantuly became a secondary school, which was known as Grantuly College.   The origional school St Finbarr's built a new church and primary school in 1927.  In 1941 the Grandtuly College students and staff were relocated to a nearby building.  After this stage the Grantuly grounds were known as Mt St Michaels and the house itself was a convent until 1998 when it was renovated and now is the Administration office for the Mt St Michaels College.  In conclusion this building has a great significance to the Ashgrove history and the way everything now came to be.      

The Turrbal People

The Turrbal people were the original inhabitants of the north side of Brisbane and they provide an insight into how the ancient Aboriginal people lived off this land.  The clan first sighted by the explorers Oxley and Cunningham in 1824 around the Breakfast Creek area.  Everyday life for the Turrbal people consisted of hunting and gathering food like:  fish (they fished from the sand wall at Nudgee Beach which now can still be seen today at low tide), eggs; meat; nuts; flowers and leaves and native fruit and vegetables. With all this they still had time for games and other social and spiritual activities like corroborees (which is a type of special Aboriginal ceremony).  The clan was forced from their land by the European settlers and their numbers diminished.  By 1900, most of the clan had been forced to move away to either reserves; missions or fringe camps outside Brisbane.    In conclusion, the Turrbal people of Brisbane had a big impact in the history on the land that surrounds us today and even now we still pay respect to them through acknowledging then as the traditional custodians of this land. 



Maroochy of The Turrbal People