ON a warm winter s afternoon in July, Mike Gillies

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1 NEW FARM & Districts HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC. NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2016 Vol. XXII, No. 7 JULY MEETING Joanna Phillips Cinema cathedral up on the screen ON a warm winter s afternoon in July, Mike Gillies (pictured right) romanced us with a delightful tour of the halcyon days of Queen Street s Regent Theatre. He drew on wonderful research from his recently published book, The Regent: Brisbane s Motion Picture Cathedral. His journey had begun in 2004, with research on the theatre s Wurlitzer organ, but finally this became a study of the theatre itself. The theatre was planned in 1927, in the days of the silent movie, and was to be called The Capitol. Frank Thring, father of the actor, Richard Gailey, Brisbane architect, James Mayne and Charles Hollinger were the four players involved. The theatre opened in 1929, now the era of the talkies, to great fanfare and seating for 2,500. Built totally by local tradesmen, it was European in style and palatial with a Gothic foyer. Its mezzanine floor had bronze sculptures, murals, chandeliers of one ton, and a glorious swimming pool-size dome. Cinema Antics: There was plenty of fun at Lucky Door Prize time when local councillor Vicki Howard (left) helped Usherettefor-an-afternoon Denise cast her beam on one of the fortunate ticket-holders. (Below): The Regent s lavish foyer. (Below right): The theatre s unusual roofline was distinctive on the city s modest skyline. It didn t just show the latest movies. It also boasted an orchestra, a jazz band, and a ballet of 16. Rupert Hayes played the organ every Sunday evening through the war, there was a 4KQ concert each Wednesday, and new products were launched, including the VW Beetle. Navy bands played, while Miss Australia events attracted audiences. In 1947 fire almost destroyed the theatre, a careless cigarette butt the cause. In 1962, the infamous John Stewart rampaged through with police in pursuit, and bullets were fired through the gorgeous plaster walls. With the arrival of TV in 1959, patronage dropped a little, but by the late 60s numbers were down to 200, not 2,500, and bookings were no longer required. In 1975, the owners wanted it demolished and four smaller cinemas built, thus Save the Regent was formed in 1978, but was unsuccessful as the theatre was destroyed on a December night in 1978, by paid youths wielding axes. In 1980 a new complex of four cinemas opened, with one a showcase of retained plasterwork. The entrance with Gothic foyer and dome remains and is heritagelisted, but the cinema itself closed for good in The organ is now at GOMA. People forget years and remember moments (Ann Beattie, novelist)

2 NEW FARM & Districts HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC. AUGUST 2016 Page 2 CAN YOU HELP? Mystery hotel in Tipperary Street THERE must have been many Irish immigrants living in Harcourt Street in the early 1860s, since the thoroughfare s original name was Tipperary Street. Somewhere in the street around was an inn of brick and stone named the Bricklayers Arms. According to a newspaper advert in February 1865, it offered DANCING! DANCING! DANCING!! Every SATURDAY NIGHT. Supervising proceedings from 7pm was Mr H.J. Sylvester, a Violinist and Dance Professor. The licencee was Edward James O Connor, a stonemason who had arrived in the colony in In June 1860, the O Connors Harcourt Street house burned down. The property was the result of his own plodding industry, and he is now utterly destitute, said the report. The publican s licence was taken over by O Connor s father-in-law, Malachi Madden, who came to Moreton Bay in The inn contained two sitting rooms and four bedrooms, exclusive of those required for the use of O Connor, his wife and four children. Malachi Madden purchased the property at 241 Harcourt Street in 1866, and it remained in the O Connor family for 100 years. Addressing an enquiry to the History Society, Steve O Connor wrote: My father grew up at 241 Harcourt Street and my aunt was the last family member to reside there, selling in The current house is on one side of the double 38-perch block. If anyone can throw further light on the location of the Bricklayers Arms Hotel, or the age of the house at 241 Harcourt Street, then their help would be very much appreciated. Where was the Inn?: The current house at 243 Harcourt Street is on one side of a double 38-perch block. Once named Wirra, this dwelling dated from at least 1925 and had eight rooms, electric light and gas, and a shed (The Telegraph, 20 May 1926.) As shown on 1925 Water Supply plans, there appears to have been a much smaller (hence older?) home on the vacant block. PRESIDENT S REPORT Howard Smith Wharves New Farm and Districts Historical Society Enquiries: Ross Garnett At last! Your chance to nominate... A UGUST is the last month in the Society s year and that means, of course, an annual meeting! The AGM will be held prior to our regular monthly meeting at 2 pm on 27th August. It also means that the membership renewal is due, still at $10 per person. In the light of that, I have two things for you to be thinking about between receiving your newsletter and the meeting: remembering to bring your completed membership form and fee to the meeting and considering nominating for membership of the Committee. All positions will be declared vacant, so you can nominate for any particular position or as a general member of the committee. Can you commit to attending one meeting per month (i.e. for about an hour per month) to ensure that the Society is on track with respect to finances and the direction of our endeavours? Our activities relate to our motto: Collecting information from the past preserving it for the future. Committee members, along with many other volunteers, find ways of assisting in the smooth running of the monthly public meeting and we thank them for their commitment. We really need assistance with researching topics, and answering enquiries through our website. Speaker: Noel Field, Author of a book about Wm Collin who established his wharf and home at this site in 1883 People are icebergs, with just a bit you can see and loads you can t. (D. Mitchell, novelist)

3 NEW FARM & Districts HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC. AUGUST 2016 Page 3 Where it all began: Lady Musgrave, which steamed between Brisbane and Bundaberg under the command of Capt William Collin, is tied up at the company wharf beneath what was later the Story Bridge. The Collin family lived nearby. Overlooking the site is All Hallows designed by Andrea Stombuco. Its foundation stone was laid in AUGUST MEETING William Collin & Sons, pioneering maritime family LONG before the Howard Smith Wharves under the Story Bridge, Captain William Collin helped pioneer the state s shipping trade from this site. Noel Field, author of a book about this prominent maritime family, will speak at the August meeting of the Society. Master Mariner Captain William Collin established his wharf and home at this site in 1883 and progressively developed the precinct by purchasing the land and excavating the cliffs, said Noel. All are welcome on Saturday, 27 August at Merthyr Road Uniting Church Centre, 2-4pm. Why not bring along a friend to enjoy Noel s talk followed by afternoon tea. For more information, please phone DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS Heritage values imperilled Heritage dwellings in New Farm s Maxwell Street and Bowen Terrace are subject to development plans which could compromise their heritage value. Maxwell Street There is a currently an application for moving/partdemolishing a heritage property at 42 Maxwell Street. Once known as Gwandoben, this mock-tudor, two-storey, concrete stucco home with a terracotta tile roof featured in Homes with History. It was built ca1933 on the northern corner with Dodwell Lane as the new home for newly-marrieds Mervyn and Betty Dodwell. The home was designed by the young local architect, James M. Collin ( ), a descendant of Captain William Collin. It was just below Linden, the Dodwell family residence on Moray Street of which only the 1918 low boundary fence remains. An application to seek a demolition order on the Maxwell Street property was disallowed in October The current application is part of the applicant s plan to join the three properties at the end of Maxwell Street (42, 44 and 49). The application seeks to demolish a NW section of the existing building, and relocate the rest of the building toward the laneway. It is difficult to see how this would preserve the heritage-listing significance of the property. Readers may remember that Maxwell Street suffered the loss of Belvoir and Deanville in 2009 and 2011 respectively. Fenton, Bowen Terrace Earlier this year, a redevelopment of heritage-listed Fenton at 388 Bowen Terrace drew a strong public outcry. Though the BCC Assessment Team refused the application, the developers have lodged an Appeal in the Planning and Environment Court. According to Councillor Vicki Howard, the Brisbane City Council will contest the appeal and the BCC Legal Team is working on the case. As an observer so aptly put it, Something in the landscape should show us a little of the world that has gone before us. Public outcry: (Above left) The community protest in 2011 against the seeking of a demolition order on 42 Maxwell Street. (Above right) The original Tudor-style home at this address, pictured in 1953 before its later additions. There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you (Angelou)

4 NEW FARM & Districts HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC. AUGUST 2016 Page 4 SEPTEMBER MEETING Add an historical dimension to your CityCat ride THERE is nothing more exhilarating than standing on the bow of CCs such as Gootcha, Binkinba or Tugulawa and speeding along the watery highway that was, after all, the raison d étre for the European settlement of Brisbane. Passengers aboard these City Cats were enjoying the sunshine and the company of others but they were learning nothing of Brisbane its stories and buildings that passed them by, reflected David Gibson, Brisbane-based historian and commentator. The result was the upside-down Heritage Trail booklet, a concept brought to life by Dan Kelly of Boolarong Press, the volume s publishers. Come along to find out more about Brisbane s riverside treasures, and to learn how the book works, when David Gibson addresses the Society s meeting on Saturday, 24 September at Merthyr Road Uniting Church Centre, 2-4pm. All are welcome. SOCIAL MEDIA THE Facebook site New Farm History, begun last year by Ron Altmann, continues to provide a cornucopia of fascinating details about countless aspects of the suburb s history, including some marvellous photos. IF you re on Facebook, feel free to visit both New Farm History and Fortitude Valley Revisited, post a question, answer a query or upload a photo. NFVN: THIS MONTH Fingal on Moreton St SAM AHERNE (pictured below) recalls a 1940s childhood at Fingal (1918), cnr of Moreton and Brunswick Streets. When it became Allender Apartments in the early 1990s, Robert Allender remembers when there were only two restaurants at the Merthyr Village corner. READ the whole article online at <newfarmvillagenews.com.au/latest-issue> on page 28. Sole connection?: Still standing in Maud Street, Newstead, is the boot factory built in 1888 using timber from the Dath, Henderson, Bartholomew and Co. timber yard, once located beside the Teneriffe ferry. Since the letter writer below mentions boots and upper leather, perhaps he was connected with the factory? See Village News, May TO THE EDITOR Treasures to be found on Trove IF you are interested in doing research into New Farm s past, an invaluable tool is Trove, particularly its online newspapers. In case you haven t yet discovered this gem, access it here: trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper. Trove often throws up treasures such as this Letter to the Editor from a Newstead resident in February Maud Street SIR I desire through you to inform the Booroodabin Divisional Board that there is a street bearing the above name which they evidently are unconscious of. Some two or three years ago the next street was raised and well metaled, and put into first rate condition, also the paths at the sides. At the same time Maud street was patched up with stiff red clay, and with the rain we have had, it is in an almost impassable state right through, and the paths, on one side half way down, and the other quite through. For the enlightenment of those officials, it would be as well for them to hold a court here and see for themselves this road. It must have been a mistake to name it Maud. It ought properly to have been Mud street; that is its most proper name. When they may make this inspection, it will be well before they set off to see that the soles of their boots are well secured, or else they may find them torn from the upper leather, and left in the mud. Yours &c., Stick in the Mud. What a heavy oar the pen is, and what a strong current ideas are to row in! (Flaubert)

5 NEW FARM & Districts HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC. AUGUST 2016 Page 5 Cinema-mode: A happy reminder of the Society s successful presence at July s Teneriffe Festival has been provided by Jenny Smith s colourful sketch. More than 80 people enjoyed unusually mild July sunshine to take a nostalgic ride back to the days of Queen Street s Regent Theatre. Poster: Desley Garnett Design & Layout: Gerard Benjamin Photography: Gerard Benjamin, Gayle Martin Many Thanks to The Hon Trevor Evans Federal Member for Brisbane for photocopying the newsletter New Farm & Districts Historical Society Inc The Office is located at the front of the Ron Muir Meeting Room, New Farm Library, right behind the green 135 Sydney Street. Office Open Hours: Every Thursday 2-4pm Postal Address: PO Box 1141 NEW FARM info@newfarmhistorical.org.au President: Ross Garnett Phone drgarn@bigpond.net.au Vice President: Phil Evans Secretary: Phil Evans Phone: pje1959@bigpond.net.au Treasurer: Denise Buckby Committee: Bernie Driessen, Jim MacDonald, Barry Martin and Ann Sargeant Newsletter Editor: Gerard Benjamin ggerardb@bigpond.net.au Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers (Tennyson)

6 Membership Our Our year is September to August. We invite you to pay your $10 now for the year NEW FARM & Districts HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC Membership Form Annual Membership 1 September 2016 to 31 st August 2017 Type of Membership Renewal New Name: Residential Address: P/Code: Postal Address: P/Code: Telephone: Work/Mobile: Home: I can volunteer in the following ways: o Welcoming at meetings o Set up / clear up of room o IT support at meetings o Assist with afternoon tea o Advise on new technology Membership Cost: $10 o Collect Oral Histories o Assist with archives o Write short historical items for website o Other please specify Signed:... Date:... Payment method: Bank Transfer: to New Farm and Districts Historical Society Inc. BSB Account Number Reference: MEMB and your surname cheque or money order payable to: New Farm & Districts Historical Society Inc. Cash at public meeting or Society Office Post to: PO Box 1141 New Farm QLD to: info@newfarmhistorical.org.au Office Use Only: Receipt No: Date: Treasurer: Date Entered on Register: Secretary: PO Box 1141, New Farm QLD ABN: