Indigenous Aboriginal Sites of Southside Brisbane

Dr Ray Kerkhove

This essay details Aboriginal sites known to have existed during the historic (post-contact) period within the southside Brisbane area (as defined from Bulimba west to Chelmer, and Sunnybank north to South Brisbane). Archaeological (pre-contact) sites are of course much more numerous.

Vegetation and Geography

Much of the southside region was described by early explorers as extensive ‘plains’ – hence ‘Cowpers Plains’ – which initially included regions further south.  These were actually woodland flats, broken here and there by low, undulating hills and largely sandstone ridges towards Toohey Forest, Holland Park, Bulimba and Yeronga.  Early sketches, photos and accounts reveal that the Stephens area was once covered with tightly packed, tall forests, but also large areas of open woodland with a grassy understorey. Ironbark, stringy bark, tallow wood, and forest oak were among the notable trees.

On flats in some areas – for example, Toohey Forest and near what is now Yeronga High School – wattle scrub was common.[1]Annie MacKenzie, 1992, Memories along the Boggo Road, Bowen Hills: Boolarong, 74

Uplands such as Toohey Mountain, the former ridges of Kangaroo Point and Bulimba additionally had understoreys of grass trees, banksias and leptospermums.[2]Colleen Wall, 2008, Redefining Pathways within Greater Brisbane Area – Report Wynnum: Wanyiram, p. 109f The arc of the river towards the Dry Dock and around into Kangaroo Point was dense causarina and wattle scrub[3]Mrs. F. W. Woodrosee, Half a Centruy Ago -Kangaroo Point and East Brisbane, Sunday Mail 20 Sept 1931  p 20 and some vine scrub.  Beyond this, Kangaroo Point was densely forested,[4]Qld Women’s Historical Association, From Kangaroos to Cargo Ships – A Short Histoy of Kangaroo Pt 1823-1996 1997, Herston p 1 with its eastern sidea nd East Brisbane supporting wallum (banksia forest) and ti-tree[5]Kangaroo Point and East Brisbane, Sunday Mail, 20 September 1931, p.20

For Aboriginal people, the southside was a great resource zone (towrie) for ironbark and many other valued timbers such as bloodwood, forest oak, stringybark and blue gum.[6]Meaning of Moorooka, The Brisbane Courier, 18 March 1929 p 12; MacKenzie, op.cit, p.45. Stringybark was used to fashion canoes and huts, whereas ironbark was important for utensils such as spears and clubs, and provided probably the best-burning firewood.  Spears, clubs, and hut sheets are mentioned being traded or sold by Aboriginal people to settlers and other Indigenous groups.[7]Ibid., p.1

Associated with such rich timber sources were woodland animals. Wallaby, possum, bandicoots, goanna, gliders, koala, snakes, and echidna were reported being hunted, and we can imagine the area saw large-scale hunting drives.  Items derived from woodland game were another principle product: sinew bindings, bush meat, fur cloaks etc.  For example, Mt Gravatt (Kaggur Madul – ‘Echidna Mountain’) was known for its echidna quills, used in sewing cloaks.

The other distinguishing feature of the region was reedy creeks and swamps – Oxley Creek, Norman Creek, Sable Creek Swamp, Bulimba (small lagoons and swamps in pockets throughout), Woolloongabba (One Mile) Swamp, Burnetts Swamp, and most famously, the lagoons and wetlands of Rocky Waterholes (today’s Moorooka, Rocklea and Yerongpilly suburbs). These wetlands furnished tortoise, fish, waterfowl, bird’s eggs and waterlilies.[8]Brisbane’s Suburban Beauties – A World of Fair Scenes described with Pen and Camera. No.IX – Stephens Shire (Annerley), The Brisbane Courier, 4 August 1906 p 12

Brisbane 1840s Watering Holes Map
Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1: 1840s map showing former Wolloongabba and South Brisbane waterholes (courtesy John Oxley Library)

Norman Creek once meandered into bulrush-edged ponds, and the place-name ‘Ekibin’ derived from an edible water plant – most likely the bulrush.[9]Ibid,p. 12  The rich swamps made the area a major producer of basketry, reed necklaces, useful fibres and nets.

At South Brisbane and Woolloongabba lay a “chain of lily-covered waterholes”[10]Nut Quad, When Woolloongabba was Wattle-scented, 28 August 1914, Melton Cuttings Book, Royal Historical Society of Queenland MSS(“whirling waters” being another translation for Woolloongabba), including a large waterhole (Corella) at what is now the Brisbane Cricket Grounds, which was a favourite swimming place.[11]William Clark, A Jubilee Retrospect – the City of South Brisbane, The Queenslander 7 August 1909 p 21 The surrounding area was mainly open woodlands offering game such as wallaby, squirrel gliders, kangaroo, possums and koala.[12]J.K. Jarrott, 1989, History of Highgte Hill Brisbane: Jarrott, p.3

As the name “One Mile Swamp” suggests, swamps or waterholes formed a key feature. One swamp lay at Melbourne Street and the lower part of Musgrave Park; another behind Vulture Street at Water/ Brook Streets.  These provided reeds, crayfish and yabbies (this being the name of Cumboomeqa – Sommerville House: “crayfish there”). There is mention of reed necklaces made from the swamps here.[13]William Clark, Aboriginal Ceremonies – the Bora Ground, The Queenslander 9 Dec 1916  p

In a few small areas along the Brisbane River – around West End; from the southern end of Dutton Park to Fairfield, and again along both banks of the mouth of both Oxley and Norman Creeks, the vista was broken with “luxuriant vegetation”[14]Local Intelligence, The Moreton Bay Courier, 8 August 1846, p.3.– pockets of vine forest and wet sclerophyll/ rainforest. Ferns, orchids, staghorns, figs (with edible fruit), blood wood, mahogany and hoop pines were reported in these areas.[15]Melton Clippings book, 20 March 1915 (RHSQ), p. 57; JOL Neg 5684; Lona (Price) Grantham, 1994, Tis all Relative: History of the Nutter Family c1762-1994 (Lona Grantham), p.21.  Parrots, snakes, possums, bandicoots, flying foxes and other game are known to have lived here.[16]Wall, op.cit., p.115 The vine forest at the mouth of Oxley Creek was said to be so thick that “you could not shove your hand into it, unless there was a tomahawk in it.”[17]Oxley Ploughing Match, The Brisbane Courier, 19 November 1869, p.3. 

West End and Hill End formed a large pocket of rainforest. Seen from across the river (Brisbane City) the whole riversidefrom Victoria Bridge to Hill End was a tropic wall of tall figs, emergent hoop pine, vines, flowering creepers, staghorns, elkhorns, towering scrub palms, giant ferns, and hundreds of other varieties of ferns, beautiful and rare orchids, and wild passion flower, whilst along the river bank itself were sandy beaches, waterlily in thousands, and dangling convolvulus.[18]The Brisbane River – 100 years ago – its shallow waters, The Brisbane Courier 22 March 1930 p 10

This rainforest was best known for being home to thousands ofkuril – a species that was either the bush rat or fawn-footed melomys (a rat-sized rainforest mouse). The wedge-shaped pocket of West End allowed these to be driven out and netted in huge quantities (henceKureel-pa – ‘place of mice’).[19]This is sometimes translated as “place of water rats” but both Clark and Petrie state that it was a mouse – see C.C.Petrie, Tom Petrie’s Reminiscences – Aboriginal Fairy Tales, The Queenslander  27 September 1902 p 682 and William Clark, The Queenslander 16 September 1916 p 8. Kureel or Corrill has been identified as Indigenous words for the fawn-footed melomys – see  R.W. Braithwait et al. Australian names for Australian rodents. Australian Nature Conservation Agency, 1995. Melomys and bush rats were only eaten by women, and featured in various Dreaming tales and tribal lore.[20]See C.C. Petrie, Tom Petrie’s Reminiscences – Aboriginal Fairy Tales, The Queenslander  27 September 1902 p 682; C.C.Petrie, Tom Petrie’s Reminiscences, The Queenslander 13 September 1902 Supplement, p 588

Norman Creek at its mouth had pockets of vine forest with wild (native?) limes and ti-trees.[21]Growth of East Brisbane – From Green Fields to Residential Suburb, Brisbane Courier, 24 January 1931, p. 19. Here was the focal camp with intensive fishing using nets and weirs, where hundreds of fish were caught in tow-rows within minutes.[22]Chas Melton, When Wolloongabba was Wattle-scented, Historical Society of Queensland Journal, April 1919 Vol1: 6, 347. On the northern  (eastern) side of Norman Creek extending a good distance into what is now East Brisbane there was dense pine scrub, providing useful resins,[23]Ibid. and other vine forest/ rainforest,  extending into scrub (vine forest/ rainforest) on the east (East Brisbane). Convolvus vine (morning glory), ferns and ground orchids – used as food and fibre – grew here.[24]Kangaroo Point and East Brisbane, Sunday Mail, 20 September 1931, p.20 A little further south (towards Cooparoo) forest oak and ironbark dominated.

Principal Indigenous sites within the Region

Aboriginal sites sometimes shifted when geography, natural resources and climate changed, but otherwise were fairly enduring.  In the historic period, it seems that Brisbane’s Aboriginal people kept utilizing the same camping grounds and ceremonial grounds they had before contact, as different locals recorded them being present at these same spots for the same purpose over many decades.

Camping grounds

General nature of camping grounds

Throughout Aboriginal south-east Queensland, camping grounds were well-organized, set spaces[25]See A. Rapoport, 1972, Australian Aborigines and the Definition of Place, University of Sydney, Sydney: 37; P J F Coutts,. Nov. 1966, ‘Features of Prehistoric Campsites in Australia Mankind – Australian Anthropological Society Vol. 6: 8, pages 338–346, and Ian Lilley, 1984, Late Holecene Subsistence and Settlement in Subcoastal South-eastern Queensland, Queensland Archaeology Research Vol.1, p.26. – quite comparable to our caravan parks and National Park camping grounds in terms of size and permanency. An average camp site could cover 0.5 kms² with peak-period camps perhaps 2 kms.² Place names identified a camp site, its dominant resource, landform and Dreaming– hence thebah/ ba/ dah/ dhan/ dha ending of place names, which probably derived fromdhagun –‘camping place.’[26]Rod Milne, 1993, Dahs and Bahs: Aboriginal Place Names of Southern Queensland Brisbane: Rod Milne, Intro Early observers witnessed camps in clusters of 3 to 4, or otherwise 6 to 7[27]See Old Blacks at the Hamilton. Memories of Mr C.W. Phillips, The Brisbane Courier 30 March 1929 p 18 -“within coo-ee” of one other (1-2 kilometers apart).[28]Minnie Jenkins, Redcliffe Herald, 25 August, 1955 in Patricia Gee, 2009, Woody Point Jetty Memories, Moreton Regional Council, p. 3. Leichhardt compared them to “villages and inns…. only little distantfrom one another.”[29]Ludwig Liechhardt 14 July 1843 (Darragh & Fensham edition), 2013, The Leichhardt diaries Early Travels in Australia during 1842-1844, Memoirs of the Queensland Museum Culture Vol 7 (1) Brisbane p. 254 In ‘off season,’ a camp might be empty or see just the occasional visitor. When being used, they held 30 to 80 – or according to other accounts – 250 to 300 occupants.[30]Colin Munro, 1862, Fernvale or the Old Squatter, London: T C Newey,p.142; Tom Petrie, ‘Ethnology – The Old Brisbane Blacks. Letter to the Editor’ The Brisbane Courier, 28 September 1901, p 624 Camps of 400 to 2000 inhabitants were reported, but these were for specific inter-tribal events such as tournaments, feasts, corroborees or funerals.

Holland Park

A cluster of three camps was reported in historic times around HollandPark. One was at Mott Park along Motts Creek– the former east approach to the Holland Park Reserve (Abbotsleigh Street was formerly a body of water).[31]Gwen Robinson 1991, Mt Gravatt – Buh to Suburb Mt Gravatt, 3rd Edition, Gwen Robinson, p.3. Another was at Glindemann Park – along the Logan Road Creek,[32]Ibid. and one sat on the hilltop that is today Selborne, Springwood and Grenfell Streets – probably extending to Drury Lane and Eyre Streets. All these camps lay adjacent to swamps with abundant rushes.[33]Ibid. Women’s activities such as basketry and cloak-making were reported at these sites.[34]Ibid.

Along Norman Creek

Along Norman Creek lay a camp beyond the junction of Gordon Street and Logan Road (Stones Corner).[35]Brisbane Suburbs and Localities – Information from the Queensland Place Names Board; Wall, op.cit., p.106 Another was situatedalong Ekibin Creek by Arnwood Place (now a Kindergarten)[36]Trevor McKell (President, Annerley-Stephens District History Society), pers. comm., 18 June 2014 – the former old wool scour area.[37]Michael Strong, person. commun, 23 June 2014 Like those at Holland Park, these were associated with reedy swamps and swamp resources.[38]Sydney May Card Index, Item: Annerley m.118 (71/179) John Oxley Library; A Meston, The Last Tribes of Merton Bay Aboriginal Place Names, Brisbane Courier 25 August 1923, also Queensland Place Names Board Card Index (John Oxley LibraryThe biggest Norman Creek camps, however, were at the mouth of water course. These worked the fishing weirs there. One lay in the “pocket” south side of Norman Creek – at and near Barker’s Pocket.[39]Nut Quad, An Aboriginal Fight in the Fifties, Brisbane Courier, 20 April 1907, p.4 ; Chas Melton, When Wolloongabba was Wattle-scented, Historical Society of Queensland Journal, April 1919 Vol.1: 6, 347. Another lay on the opposite bank:Yam Bridge over Pashen Creek.[40]Morningside Primary School unpublished history paper in “Local History” (folder), Bulimba Local Studies Unit, Bulimba Library (no date)

Yam Bridge Campsite
Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 3: Yam Bridge Pashen Creek Bulimba campsite (Creek now dry)

Boggo Scrub

The Boggo Road/ Fairfield area had another set, on the borders of the former ‘Boggo Scrub’ (vine forest that was presumably an importanttowrie). The Boggo Road camp was towards the Boggo Road jail site (ridge), near Boggo Road School.[41]MacKenzie, op.cit., p 11 Stone artefacts indicate the site once ran to the back of South Brisbane (Dutton Park) Cemetery. Even into the 1950s, the Aboriginal Dillon family and Colwells gathered here to fish, catch mud crabs, and chat.[42]Michael Aird, 2001, Brisbane Blacks Southport: Keeaira Press, p. 29

On the other side of the Boggo Scrub lay a camp in the vicinity of Fairfield Railway Station, not too far from the ‘Fairfield’ axe grinding grooves (at 153 Venner Street). The sharpening of axes here may well have related to exploiting the resources of the neighbouring Boggo Road/ Fairfield Scrub – tree-climbing, honey extraction, the harvesting and processing of rainforest medicines and fruits.

Figure  SEQ Figure \* ARABIC2: Moorooka axe grinding groove (courtesy Denis Peel)
Figure  SEQ Figure \* ARABIC2: Fairfield axe grinding groove (courtesy Denis Peel)

Bulimba-Hawthorne

For the Bulimba-Hawthorne area, there were no less than eight camping grounds. One was at the lower (Brisbane River) end of Brisbane Street[43]Morningside Primary School unpublished history paper in “Local History” (folder), Bulimba Local Studies Unit, Bulimba Library (no date) mss (presumably to the current park). Another wasalong Bulimba hill – north from today’s shopping centre, between Princess, Harrison and Johnston Streets.[44]Norm Love, pers. comm.., Balmoral Historical Society, pers. commun, June 2014 Oxford Street roundabout (including ridge towardsBulimba State School) and Carlton Hill, top of Main Ave, was another site.[45]Norm Love, Balmoral Historical Society, pers. commun, June 2014 Similarly,Hawthorne Park[46]Morningside Primary School unpublished history paper in “Local History” (folder), Bulimba Local Studies Unit, Bulimba Library (no date) and Riding & Hawthorne Roads (Barton Road) – the formerGambetta estate – hosted a camp, as did thenorth side of mouth of Norman Creek – riverside of Gillan Street/ Wynnum Road junction. There was alsoa camp by the river at the end of Apollo Street (old Bulimba Ferry wharf).[47]Old Blacks at the Hamilton. Memories of Mr C.W. Phillips, The Brisbane Courier 30 March 1929 p 18

Bulimba is a corner of relatively elevated “bundanba” sandstone. This and the adjacent reach of the river were known as “heart,” presumably on account of its shape but possibly on account of a now-lost Dreaming story. It caught the Bay breezes. Thus it was a favoured resort during the worst of summer, which may explain this abundance of camps.   People regularly crossed over to the camps at Hamilton and Breakfast Creek. Past Perrin Creek Colmslie (former Cairncross Paddock and now the State Hockey Centre), there was a women’s burial site and finches and other small birds were abundant. The rocky landscape was open woodland with low undergrowth, wallum, swamps, creeklets and many waterholes.[48]Ibid.

This diversity was another factor in the area having many (though relatively small) camps. The camp by Riding Street sat against a chain of fresh waterholes, and had access to abundant wallaby and kangaroos.  Bulimba, Colmslie and Morningside had plentiful bandicoots and paddymelons. These were hunted in drives or with dogs.

Figure  SEQ Figure \* ARABIC4: Bulimba Hill camp with view to city
Figure  SEQ Figure \* ARABIC4: Bulimba Hill camp with view to city

South Brisbane, West End and Woolloongabba

Figure  SEQ Figure \* ARABIC5: Barnes’ oil painting of South Brisbane - view from Dorchester Street camp (1850s – courtesy Royal Historical Society of Queensland Library)
Figure  SEQ Figure \* ARABIC5: Barnes’ oil painting of South Brisbane – view from Dorchester Street camp (1850s – courtesy Royal Historical Society of Queensland Library)

Within the West End/ Woolloongabba area, one camp was reported “under trees” (i.e. rim of forest growth above the swampy fields) on the ridge at “foot of Highgate Hill”[49]Nut Quad The Queenslander 1 June 1907, 8 in South Brisbane – running from the “slopes of Cumboomeqa (Sommerville House)”[50]Chas Melton March 20 1915: 58-9 and the areanear Dorchester Street[51]Jarrott,op.cit.:3 Mater Hospital[52]Sunday Mail, 16 June 1935: 6 (Water Street). This area seems at times to have extended to what is now Brisbane State High School – i.e. the upper part of Musgrave Park. Sometimes there was also a camp at the “fringes” (edge) of rainforest growth at Hill End (Dornoch Terrace?)[53]William Clark ,No. 29, c.1915, Melton Newsclippings Book, RHSQ mss

There was a small winter camp at “Dry Docks” (= Queensland Martime Museum site)[54]Chas Melton Melton Newsclipping (mss) March 20 1915Royal Historical Society of Qld Library: 58-9 and a much larger one onthe ridges of “One-Mile Swamp” and what became the Woolloongabba Park/ Woolloongabba Railway Yards[55]William Clark, A Jubilee Retrospect – the City of South Brisbane, The Queenslander 7 August 1909 p 21 – edges of the block between Stanley and Vulture Streets (e.g. Woolloongabba Bus Station) and Princess, Linton and Anglesey Streets.At Kangaroo Point, the campsite was theflat area opposite Mowbray Park[56]James Darragh, Leters to the Editor Kangaroo Point, The Brisbane Courier  6 August 1931 p 19 – near Wellington Road.[57]Mrs. F. W. Woodrows, Half a Century Ago – Kangaroo Point and East Brisbane Sunday Mail 20 Sept 1931,  p 20

Figure  SEQ Figure \* ARABIC6: Clarence Corner (Woolloongabba) waterhole (John Oxley collection)
Figure  SEQ Figure \* ARABIC6: Clarence Corner (Woolloongabba) waterhole (John Oxley collection)

Woolloongabba/ South Brisbane camps were evidently the largest of southside Brisbane.  They lay in close proximity to important crossing points for the north (along former sand beaches at what is now Kurilpa Park and the William Jolly Bridge). From here, around Russell Street, a major pathway began, running past Stanley Street. This pathway was the main route to the south and east, becoming today’s Cleveland and Logan Roads.[58]Ray Kerkhove, West End to Woolloongabba: The Early and Aboriginal History of a District, Brisbane: FAIRA, December 1985: 5.

Rocky Waterholes & Sable Swamp (Moorooka/ Sunnybank)

One problem in southside history is locating the campsites of this area.  Settlers recall Aboriginals being “numerous” and “camping” in the vicinity of Rocky Waterholes into the 1860s[59]Courier Mail, 8 Feb 1937, p 9; F.E.Lord, Brisbane’s Historic Homes. CVI.-Matavi., The Queenslander, 12 May 1932, p. 35 but they do not elaborate exactly where.  Camps could not have existed at the waterholes themselves as the area was too swampy and repeatedly flooded.

Fortunately, we have a reminiscence from 1923 which refers to the ‘main’ Aboriginal camp being across from Rocklea Railway Station on ‘Sinnamon’s Hill.’[60]‘Coal at Rocklea,; The Brisbane Courier 10 March 1923, p 15; Neville Buch, pers. comm., 30 May 2014 However, this ‘hill’ proved a challenge, as it is not marked on early maps. By walking the area, and through the assistance of Dr Neville Buch (who utilized 3-D google earth mapping in his historical reconstructions) we could establish that there is indeed a low hill just across from Rocklea Station – the top of Dinmore and Hawtree Streets in Moorooka – extending as far as the primary school.[61]Ibid. Isaac Sinnamon’s fig tree (near a former corroboree site) seems to have been the western edge of this hill.[62]Telegraph, 26 May 1977, 27 July 1979, 15 Feb 1979; also Sydney Card Index (John Oxley LibraryThe fact that Sinnamon’s ironwood shed was also on the hill and often served as a refuge for locals during floods strengthens the conclusion that the area east of that location was the probable campsite. Moreover, there is a direct sight-line from here to the sandstone lookout at Toohey Mountain. The latter was just behind another Aboriginal camping ground at the end of Compo (Evans Road).[63]Family Record of the Fergusons of “Bellissima” and “Cintra”, Salisbury, Brisbane, Queensland 1871 to 1996 (mss), kindly supplied to Beryl Roberts by Jan Michaels of the Ferguson family of Cintra Camping grounds seem to have often been beside hillocks with views to hills next to other camps. This enabled rapid smoke-signalling if the groups needed to communicate.

Sinnamon’s Hill was not the only Rocky Waterholes camp. As mentioned, camps usually occurred in clusters of 3-4 or 6-7. On the far end of this area (actually Sunnybank) there was a camp towards the eastern end of Compo (now Evans) Road behind (and just north of) the Salisbury Hotel.[64]Ibid.

Much closer to Sinnamon’s Hill, a camp was reported as being near William Fraser’s homestead between Ipswich Road and Beaudesert Road.[65]Brisbane News, Queensland Times, 10 March 1896, p.6. According to residents, this was near or within today’s Poinciana Park.[66]Kate Dyson, pers comm., March 2016. It was probably identical to the campsite said to be in the Franklin and Horatio Streets area.[67]Wall, op.cit., p. 118 A third Rocky Waterholes camp was evidently near the mouth of Oxley Creek. Reminiscing about their youth, the O’Brien brothers recalled how they foolishly tried to cross Oxley Creek in flood.  They report that Aboriginals camped nearby saw their plight and saved them – assisting them crossing over.[68]Brisbane Courier, 10 June 1922, p.9. The fact that the Aboriginal campers could see the imperilled brothers indicates they were fairly close to the mouth of Oxley Creek yet somehow above flood level.In 1842, Leichhardt writes that he visited an Aboriginal “village” at “Canoe (Oxley) Creek.”[69]Ludwig Leichhardt, in T A Darragh & Roderick J Fensham (eds), op.cit., 30 July 1843, p. 311. Additionally, we have two reports from 1848 and 1849 of Aboriginals “encamped” or otherwise near “Canoe Creek.”[70]Domestic Intelligence, The Moreton Bay Courier, 29 April 1848 p.2; Shocking Murder, The Moreton Bay Courier, 23 June 1849, p.2. We know that the mouth of Oxley Creek was a major traditional crossing point – immortalized by Finnegan and Parsons’ discovery of a canoe here (hence the creek’s other name ‘Canoe Creek’), thus it would have been a logical stopping-place. However, almost all this area is very low-lying and was once covered with dense rainforest near the creek itself, and swamp between here and Yerongpilly, as mentioned. Checking flood maps and other early maps, the only non-flooding ground would seem to be towards the Golf Course Club House – the end of the Brisbane (Rocky Waterholes) Golf Club including Walker and Curzon Streets, Yerongpilly. The fact that Aboriginals were sometimes seen camped close to the Brisbane River at Yeronga and Tennyson[71]MacKenzie op.cit., p 1 strengthens the likelihood of this location. In all probability, the camp stretched from Curzon Street to the Esplanade, affording some view of the creek mouth.

Previous studies have emphasized the importance of Rocky Waterholes as “favourite hunting grounds” of local Aboriginal people, who utilized its “beautiful chains of ponds” and associated resources – e.g. duck, crayfish and tortoise to reeds and waterlilies.[72]Do You Know Your Brisbane? Moorooka and Rocklea – Rich in Historic Interest, Sunday Mail 7 July 1928, p.29 Mooloolabin Creek is even translated as “plenty of fish.”[73]‘Do you know your Brisbane? Yeerongpilly – from Agricultural to Residential Popularity, Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 12 May 1929, p. 27. However, the fact that ‘Moorooka’ may also relate to ironbark[74]Meaning of “Moorooka, The Brisbane Courier 18 March 1929 p 12 implies that wood products were an equal focus.

Even so, there is every indication that Rocky Waterholes were important for other reasons.  The area was dotted with ceremonial sites that would have required prolonged stays. No less than seven boras, corrobboree grounds and fighting grounds (used to ‘prove’ recent initiates) lay near the Rocky Creek and Compo camps if we include thecorroboree ground just west of Oxley Creek at the bottom of Cliveden Avenue (Corinda).[75]Ralph Fones, 2002, Them’s Our Ways in Oxley-Chelmer, Oxley-Chelmer History Group Papers III, pp. 5-6 The entire region from Corinda and Chelmer to Moorooka, and across the river into what is now St Lucia and Indooroopilly seems to have held ritual significance, perhaps for rain-making given the vine forests here and the various lagoons and gullies within and near them.

Ceremonial and Dance grounds

Many base camps had their own ‘amenities’ nearby – their own specific places for hunting, ceremony, burial etc. Pioneers rarely distinguished between dance grounds and ceremonial grounds, thus we cannot be always certain what they referred to, but we do know that the Compo Road camp had a “corroboree” area at the Evans Deakin building site[76]Beryl Roberts, 2000, A Closer Look at Salisbury and Nathan Heights , Coopers Plains Local History Group pp.10 – 12 and what from all descriptions seems to have been a two-ring bora ground at Barnehurst Street/ Isabella Street in what is now Nathan.

Running from the Recovery Hotel (Stanley Street between Reid and Hubert Streets) to the current site of the Anglican Church on Hawthorne Street and Merton Road was the southside groups’ “largest and most used” bora ground.[77] The Queenslander, 7 August  1909 p. 21 William Clark provides a detailed account of this. It evidently included platforms made from uprooted wattle trees with a basket-like framework. Ceremonies here could last several weeks.[78]William Clark, Aboriginal Ceremonies – The Bora Grounds, The Queenslander, 9 Dec 1916, p.12.

The Moorooka camps had a corroboree ground across Beaudesert Road (Muriel & Farlie Avenues)[79]Ibid., p 12 and possibly a bora or at least a dance ground at Rice’s Paddock (probably near the fig tree planted by Isaac Sinnamon).[80]Telegraph, 26 May 1977, 27 July 1979, 15 Feb 1979, 26 July 1979;7 Feb 1980,  also Sydney Card Index Near the Poinciana Park camp at Moorooka there was an apparent bora ground between Cavan/ Hamlet Street and Tarrigindi Road (probably DERM’s LB:021).[81]Michael Strong identifies this is LB:021 in the DERM files but he has no exact location, Michael Strong, pers. commun., 23 June 2014 & 4 April 20156 This is probably identical with the double-ring bora described for the Clifton Hill area (Waterlot, Deville, Mamertz Streets).[82]Brian Matthews to Denis Peel, per commun, 1 March 2016 2016 The Stones Corner camp similarly had a corroboree ground very near it (junction of Gordon Street and Logan Road).[83]Brisbane Suburbs and Localities – Information from the Queensland Place Names Board (John Oxley Library MSS)

Tournament grounds

Pullen pullenor tournament grounds were flats or fields between ridges that were used for ceremonial fights involving hundreds of warriors from diverse tribes. They were used to settle disputes and ‘prove’ youths’ fighting skills. Sometimes they contained oval-shaped rings and small palisaded rings for one-on-one fighting matches.

One translation of Woolloongabba is “fight talk place.” The area was remembered as the “favourite” fighting/ tournament site for all the southside groups. [84]William Clark, Sketcher – Aboriginal Reminiscences, The Queenslander 14 October 1916, p.41 Within former Woolloongabba Park (now GoPrint and Woolloongabba bus stop) was as very importantpullen-pullen (fighting ground).

There was another tournament ground at Nathan around Bankside Street.[85]Roberts, op.cit., p 10 Equally, we have an account of a tournament inThe Illustrated London News of 1853. It describes a contest held between the Logan, Bribie, and Ningy (Toorbul) groups a mile or two south of Burnetts Swamp (Stones Corner) to settle a dispute over the alleged kidnapping of a woman.[86]Brisbane Suburbs and Localities, op.cit.

Figure  SEQ Figure \* ARABIC7: 1853 tournament at the pullen-pullen grounds somewhere between Annerley and Yeronga (courtesy Illustrated London News)
Figure  SEQ Figure \* ARABIC7: 1853 tournament at the pullen-pullen grounds somewhere between Annerley and Yeronga (courtesy Illustrated London News)

The exact site of thispullen pullenis unknown. Libby Connors inWarriorfavours Julliette and Cornwall Streets (the vicinity of Hanlon Park and Thompson Estate Reserve)[87]Libby Connors, 2015, Warrior – A Legendary Leader’s Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier, Sydney: Allen & Unwin, pp. 169-170. but archaeologist Michael Strong estimates this is too close, given the size of Burnett’s Swamp and the high likelihood that such a site would be adjacent to an established pathway.(Michael Strong, pers comm, 4 April 2016)) On the basis of Strong’s assessment and my own survey of the area, I would favour somewhere at or near Yeronga Memorial Park and Yeronga Park Pool, given the proximity of camps to this spot; the similarity between remnant tallowwood vegetation here and the 1853 sketch, and the proximity of Annerley/ Boggo Road pathway. Bullum – a Beaudesert elder- told of his people joining with groups from the Gold Coast against Brisbane people at an immense tournament-battle at Yerongpilly, which he recalled as a “tremendous slaughter.”[88]James Devaney Records of Brisbane Blacks. The Brisbane Courier,  21 May 1932 p 19 This is most probably the same tournament ground.

Burial sites

In south-east Queensland, the funerary process was quite lengthy and complex. For different phases in the treatment of the body of the deceased, it could involve exposure on platforms and in hollow trees, cremation and tanning of the skin, and placing certain bones in special portable, globular dillies, or in groves of figs or rock crevices.  Often some bones were deposited in rock crevices or caves at hills or cliffs. It seems that there were spots in Holland Park (Thompson Estate) and Mt Gravatt that may have been used for that purpose. There are also reports of skulls being found near or at Toohey Mountain in the early 1900s.[89]Sunday Mail,  21 July 1929 22

Aside from high country, in the 1880s burial remains were found near the former Junction Hotel between Boggo (now Annerley) Road and Ipswich Road in Annerley,[90]Human Remains, The Telegraph, 10 August 1887 p 5 and there was a similar site discovered almost a century ago towards the end of McCullough Road in what is now Sunnybank.[91]Sunday Mail 21 July 1929 p 22 Platform or tree fork burials are described near the Woolloongabba camp in the 1840s.[92]W. Clark, Aboriginal Reminiscences, The Queenslander. 14 October 1916, p.41 William Clark The Queenslander, 7 Aug 1909: 21; The Queenslander 1 June 1907: 8 Skulls found in the 1890s suggest this burial area was within wattle scrub in the vicinity of Dock St and Lower River Terrace[93]Qld Women’s Historical Association, From Kangaroos to Cargo Ships – A Short Histoy of Kangaroo Pt 1823-1996 Herston 1997, p 1

Shanty towns: Indigenous camps into the 1950s

A frequently-neglected point concerning Indigenous heritage in Brisbane is that it continued into today. Through extensive interviews with Brisbane Indigenous families, Michael Aird – an Indigenous photographer, curator and writer – found Aboriginal families persisted living at, or using, former camping areas right up to the present day.[94]Michael Aird, pers. comm, 2013. On his suggestion, I investigated the location and composition of ‘shanty towns’ in relation to the siting of 19th Century camps. I found that from the 1920s/ 1930s into the mid to late 1950s, there were three shanty towns in the Stephens-Annerley region, all either close to, or within, former Aboriginal camping grounds. Each had a considerable proportion of Indigenous residents. To this day, there are Aboriginal families such as theColwells, Richards, Martins, Costelloes, Ryans, Yates, Dollars, Sandys, Mitchells, Andrews and Coopers with a strong relationship to those areas.[95]Aird, op.cit., p. 28

The thread of unbroken continuity between 19th century historic camps and the shanty towns is nevertheless difficult to ascertain.  It seems the earliest shanty towns were partly the results of the Depression, and thus began in the 1920s. One was at the end of Wanderlust Avenue (Tarrigindi/ Moorooka)[96]Kate Dyson, personal communication, March 2016 and the other in the pocket of Toohey Forest where the Combo (Evans Road) camp had been.  The degree of Aboriginal occupancy in the Combo camp remains uncertain,[97]Beryl Roberts, personal communication, 2015. but the other certainly had Aboriginal inhabitants.

Phyllis Colwell recalled living from 1936 to 1938 at Moorooka camp.[98]Aird op.cit., p. 28 By the 1940s, that same camp had become huge. It had spread to Fernvale and Tarragindi Roads, Bracken Street and the eastern end of Mayfield Street – around gullies and hills of the former Military (World War II) American Staging Camp and army huts and the back of Tarrigindi Hill (the Reservoir).[99]http://www.ozatwar.com/locations/campmoorooka.htm  2003; see also Shanty Town Mars Moorooka, The Courier-Mail, 20 September 1946 p 3

A similar shanty town developed at Holland Park – precisely on the same areas recorded for the Colonial-period camps (e.g. Steele & Selville Streets)[100]Aird, op.cit.,, 29,32-33. – and equally built on former Army housing land. Max Ford and the Rallahs were of the early Aboriginal residents here, and it seems the Holland Park camp had a greater mix of European migrants.[101]ibid, p. 29.

1940s news reports describe “several coloured” families living at Moorooka.[102]Council Move on Camp Sites, The Courier-Mail, 31 October 1946 p 1 Uncle Bob Anderson remembers them mostly along Mayfield Road at the foot of the hill.[103]Wall, op.cit., p. 120 There were at least 500 residents of all races at the Moorooka camp. Similarly, there were well over 600 residents at Holland Park, of which 500 children attended a Convent school.[104]Jim Mulcahy, ‘Hut homes mean life with little hope,’ Sunday Mail 1 August 1954 p 2

Not only were the camps large, but they endured for decades. Mr Christy Culham, who in 1946 was identified as the “Aboriginal spokesman for nine Aborigines living in one shanty,” said he had lived in the Moorooka shanty town for 4 years (thus 1942-1946).[105]Revelations Of Conditions At Moorooka Have Resulted In Double Probe on Shanties, Courier-Mail,  21 September 1946, p 3 An even longer-term residency of 6 years was documented at Holland Park,[106]Mulcahy, op.cit., p.2. and in all likelihood some people lived a decade or more in these places.

Whether the location of shanty towns reflects continuity of traditions over what land should be traditionally used for living or camping remains unclear but it seems likely.  It is simply too much of a coincidence that Moorooka shanty town was within close walking distance to the campsites and bora rings of both the Moorooka and Toohey Mountain areas.[107]Wall, op.cit. p.120 Brisbane’s other shanty towns at Kalinga Park (Nundah), Sandgate, Victoria Park and Holland Park similarly occupied former camping grounds.[108]Ray Kerkhove, 2016, Aboriginal Campsites of Greater Brisbane: An Historical Guide Salisbury: Boolarong, pp.48,63.

Despite this 1930s-1940s revival of Indigenous presence, the shanty towns were eventually dismantled – just a hut remaining here or there after 1956. Local government initially addressed the problem by donating tents and huts, and trying to improve sanitation (which was in many cases useless on account of the gradient on which huts were built).[109]Council Move on Camp Sites, op.cit., p 1 Authorities also moved people to other areas – the Holland Park camp shrank from over 600 to 148 by 1954.[110]Mulcahy, op.cit., p.2 Later – as over much of Queensland – the shanty towns were simply bulldozed and the residents re-located.Most of the Holland Park residents were into housing commission homes.[111]Ibid. Although this measure greatly improved the standard of living and amenities enjoyed by former occupants, it also meant– as in other Queensland towns such as Mitchell – a loss of traditional lore concerning these places and their immediate environment.  Thus it would seem that –ironically – the re-establishment of connection to country was severed again by efforts to improve the quality of life.

The disappearance of shanty towns was mostly due to pressure from white neighbourhoods.  Shanty towns were decried as “a blot on Brisbane… a menace.”[112]Shanty Town Mars Moorooka, The Courier-Mail, 20 September 1946 p 3 Newspapers cited neighbourhood complaints about open sewers, foul dumps, student truancy, ramshackle huts, and “petty thieving… metho parties… gambling.”[113]Ibid.; Revelations Of Conditions At Moorooka Have Resulted In Double Probe on Shanties, op.cit., p 3 It may therefore come as a surprise that Inspectors officially sent by Council and State authorities to investigate these rumours found that all the Indigenous and non-Indigenous inhabitants had jobs and that Aboriginal residents were fully compliant with the regulations imposed by the Department of Native Affairs. The Inspectors even concluded that the residents were “quiet and well-conducted”[114]ibid and that residents kept their huts remarkably clean, neat and tidy – especially considering their obvious poverty.[115]Mulcahy, op.cit., p 2

Given this analysis, what is a more realistic explanation for these shanty towns?  At the time, their locations were still quite forested. In fact, the Moorooka camp was mostly in and against the bushland.[116]‘Council move on Camp Sites,’ op.cit. p 1  Former neighbours such as David Wright recall the camps were (by suburban standards) rather ‘remote’ – many of the roads were just dirt tracks.[117]David Wright, pers.comm, April 2016. These factors are significant. They indicate that rather than ‘polluting’ the wealthier suburbs or depending on them, the inhabitants sought privacy and self-reliance.  Apart from whatever work they had, the residents could live off the land for shade, building materials, water and some food. For example, the residents of Holland Park camp caught turtles in the creek,[118]Aird, op.cit., p.32 and Aboriginal teenagers from Moorooka shanty town shot wallabies and hares for sustenance.[119]Gardener Shot Dead in Brisbane,Townsville Daily Bulletin, 17 February 1949 p 1 Indeed, one hunt ended in tragedy due to a quarrel between one youth and a white neighbour over a horse.[120]Ibid. There were also reports of “brave little gardens, blooming colour” – vegetables and flowers clinging precariously to the gully slopes where the shanty dwellers lived.[121]Mulcahy, op.cit., p 2

As such anecdotes suggest, life at the camps was rough but stoically independent and somehow sustainable.  In 1951, there were quarrels between some of the Indigenous families that saw individuals sent to jail for assault.[122]14 Days’ gaol, The Courier-Mail, 6 January 1951 p 4 In 1950, a number of young women from the Moorooka camp were killed in a horrific car accident.[123]Two Aboriginal Women Killed In Car Smash, The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 January 1950 p 7 

Rough or not, the camps obviously provided a haven for Aboriginal families freshly released from the confines of Reserve living.  Michael Aird’s interviews show Reserve immigrants ignored the Exemption stipulation about not associating with other Aboriginal persons. It seems most newcomers sought out kin or went wherever other Aboriginal people suggested.

Moorooka camp seems to have been especially favoured by individuals and families from northern New South Wales. In 1949, whilst visiting his mother in Brisbane Hospital, a Kyogle youth temporarily escaped the control of the Department of Native Affairs to stay at Moorooka – resulting in quite a man hunt.[124]Patient captured, The Courier-Mail, 21 December 1949 p 1 Likewise, in 1934, a group of Aboriginal youth from Lismore dodged their fares and jumped train to hide out at Moorooka.They too were picked up and returned to New South Wales. En route to Moorooka, one had stolen women’s clothing from a washing line. Asked to account for this unusual action, the youth explained: “I have no clothes for my woman.”[125]Ibid.

Apart from providing some sort of refuge, it seems the key attraction of these places for Aboriginal people was affordability.  They were either cheap Army-built homes or areas where people were already squatting.  At this time, the policy of Exemption permitted Aboriginal people to leave Aboriginal Missions and Reserves if they could prove they were able to be productive members of white society. However, it offered few resources to enable the penniless migrants to establish themselves within their new urban settings.  It was also ill-equipped to deal with the unspoken racism and lack of community support which narrowed their choices of where to live.  It is a case in point that “most complaints” about the shanty towns concerned “coloured families” (the term for Aboriginals at the time).[126]Council Move on Camp Sites, op.cit., p 1

However, Inspectors consistently noted the real culprit was not “coloured folk” but the “housing problem” they endured – namely, the lack of housing affordable to, or even made available to, Aboriginals.[127]Ibid. In other words, racism had impelled Aboriginal families to live where they did, despite paying high rents for hovels.[128]Shanty Town Mars Moorooka, op.cit., p 3

Conclusions

This article was intended as a history of Indigenous lifestyles and living spaces. Originally, the most distinctive feature of the district was its extensive woodlands and swamps – providing baskets, clubs, spears, woodland game and bark sheets to sell to settlers. Many camps in the western parts of the district were probably connected with ceremonies in the Chelmer/Corinda ‘peninsular,’ whilst camps around Holland Park evidently protected the Logan Road pathway and the burials and springs in the hills there.

By the 1920s and 1930s, a number of large shanty towns appeared at or near former camping grounds, housing a sizable number of Indigenous inhabitants. These evolved from poverty and discrimination, but were more hygienic and independent than was usually assumed. They were dismantled during the 1950s, but many Aboriginal families in and around Brisbane today can trace a connection to these places.

References

References
1 Annie MacKenzie, 1992, Memories along the Boggo Road, Bowen Hills: Boolarong, 74
2 Colleen Wall, 2008, Redefining Pathways within Greater Brisbane Area – Report Wynnum: Wanyiram, p. 109f
3 Mrs. F. W. Woodrosee, Half a Centruy Ago -Kangaroo Point and East Brisbane, Sunday Mail 20 Sept 1931  p 20
4 Qld Women’s Historical Association, From Kangaroos to Cargo Ships – A Short Histoy of Kangaroo Pt 1823-1996 1997, Herston p 1
5, 24 Kangaroo Point and East Brisbane, Sunday Mail, 20 September 1931, p.20
6 Meaning of Moorooka, The Brisbane Courier, 18 March 1929 p 12; MacKenzie, op.cit, p.45.
7 Ibid., p.1
8 Brisbane’s Suburban Beauties – A World of Fair Scenes described with Pen and Camera. No.IX – Stephens Shire (Annerley), The Brisbane Courier, 4 August 1906 p 12
9 Ibid,p. 12
10 Nut Quad, When Woolloongabba was Wattle-scented, 28 August 1914, Melton Cuttings Book, Royal Historical Society of Queenland MSS
11 William Clark, A Jubilee Retrospect – the City of South Brisbane, The Queenslander 7 August 1909 p 21
12 J.K. Jarrott, 1989, History of Highgte Hill Brisbane: Jarrott, p.3
13 William Clark, Aboriginal Ceremonies – the Bora Ground, The Queenslander 9 Dec 1916  p
14 Local Intelligence, The Moreton Bay Courier, 8 August 1846, p.3.
15 Melton Clippings book, 20 March 1915 (RHSQ), p. 57; JOL Neg 5684; Lona (Price) Grantham, 1994, Tis all Relative: History of the Nutter Family c1762-1994 (Lona Grantham), p.21.
16 Wall, op.cit., p.115
17 Oxley Ploughing Match, The Brisbane Courier, 19 November 1869, p.3.
18 The Brisbane River – 100 years ago – its shallow waters, The Brisbane Courier 22 March 1930 p 10
19 This is sometimes translated as “place of water rats” but both Clark and Petrie state that it was a mouse – see C.C.Petrie, Tom Petrie’s Reminiscences – Aboriginal Fairy Tales, The Queenslander  27 September 1902 p 682 and William Clark, The Queenslander 16 September 1916 p 8. Kureel or Corrill has been identified as Indigenous words for the fawn-footed melomys – see  R.W. Braithwait et al. Australian names for Australian rodents. Australian Nature Conservation Agency, 1995.
20 See C.C. Petrie, Tom Petrie’s Reminiscences – Aboriginal Fairy Tales, The Queenslander  27 September 1902 p 682; C.C.Petrie, Tom Petrie’s Reminiscences, The Queenslander 13 September 1902 Supplement, p 588
21 Growth of East Brisbane – From Green Fields to Residential Suburb, Brisbane Courier, 24 January 1931, p. 19.
22 Chas Melton, When Wolloongabba was Wattle-scented, Historical Society of Queensland Journal, April 1919 Vol1: 6, 347.
23, 111, 120, 125, 127 Ibid.
25 See A. Rapoport, 1972, Australian Aborigines and the Definition of Place, University of Sydney, Sydney: 37; P J F Coutts,. Nov. 1966, ‘Features of Prehistoric Campsites in Australia Mankind – Australian Anthropological Society Vol. 6: 8, pages 338–346, and Ian Lilley, 1984, Late Holecene Subsistence and Settlement in Subcoastal South-eastern Queensland, Queensland Archaeology Research Vol.1, p.26.
26 Rod Milne, 1993, Dahs and Bahs: Aboriginal Place Names of Southern Queensland Brisbane: Rod Milne, Intro
27 See Old Blacks at the Hamilton. Memories of Mr C.W. Phillips, The Brisbane Courier 30 March 1929 p 18
28 Minnie Jenkins, Redcliffe Herald, 25 August, 1955 in Patricia Gee, 2009, Woody Point Jetty Memories, Moreton Regional Council, p. 3.
29 Ludwig Liechhardt 14 July 1843 (Darragh & Fensham edition), 2013, The Leichhardt diaries Early Travels in Australia during 1842-1844, Memoirs of the Queensland Museum Culture Vol 7 (1) Brisbane p. 254
30 Colin Munro, 1862, Fernvale or the Old Squatter, London: T C Newey,p.142; Tom Petrie, ‘Ethnology – The Old Brisbane Blacks. Letter to the Editor’ The Brisbane Courier, 28 September 1901, p 624
31 Gwen Robinson 1991, Mt Gravatt – Buh to Suburb Mt Gravatt, 3rd Edition, Gwen Robinson, p.3.
32, 33, 34, 61 Ibid.
35 Brisbane Suburbs and Localities – Information from the Queensland Place Names Board; Wall, op.cit., p.106
36 Trevor McKell (President, Annerley-Stephens District History Society), pers. comm., 18 June 2014
37 Michael Strong, person. commun, 23 June 2014
38 Sydney May Card Index, Item: Annerley m.118 (71/179) John Oxley Library; A Meston, The Last Tribes of Merton Bay Aboriginal Place Names, Brisbane Courier 25 August 1923, also Queensland Place Names Board Card Index (John Oxley Library
39 Nut Quad, An Aboriginal Fight in the Fifties, Brisbane Courier, 20 April 1907, p.4 ; Chas Melton, When Wolloongabba was Wattle-scented, Historical Society of Queensland Journal, April 1919 Vol.1: 6, 347.
40, 46 Morningside Primary School unpublished history paper in “Local History” (folder), Bulimba Local Studies Unit, Bulimba Library (no date
41 MacKenzie, op.cit., p 11
42 Michael Aird, 2001, Brisbane Blacks Southport: Keeaira Press, p. 29
43 Morningside Primary School unpublished history paper in “Local History” (folder), Bulimba Local Studies Unit, Bulimba Library (no date) mss
44 Norm Love, pers. comm.., Balmoral Historical Society, pers. commun, June 2014
45 Norm Love, Balmoral Historical Society, pers. commun, June 2014
47 Old Blacks at the Hamilton. Memories of Mr C.W. Phillips, The Brisbane Courier 30 March 1929 p 18
48 Ibid.
49 Nut Quad The Queenslander 1 June 1907, 8
50 Chas Melton March 20 1915: 58-9
51 Jarrott,op.cit.:3
52 Sunday Mail, 16 June 1935: 6
53 William Clark ,No. 29, c.1915, Melton Newsclippings Book, RHSQ mss
54 Chas Melton Melton Newsclipping (mss) March 20 1915Royal Historical Society of Qld Library: 58-9
55 William Clark, A Jubilee Retrospect – the City of South Brisbane, The Queenslander 7 August 1909 p 21
56 James Darragh, Leters to the Editor Kangaroo Point, The Brisbane Courier  6 August 1931 p 19
57 Mrs. F. W. Woodrows, Half a Century Ago – Kangaroo Point and East Brisbane Sunday Mail 20 Sept 1931,  p 20
58 Ray Kerkhove, West End to Woolloongabba: The Early and Aboriginal History of a District, Brisbane: FAIRA, December 1985: 5.
59 Courier Mail, 8 Feb 1937, p 9; F.E.Lord, Brisbane’s Historic Homes. CVI.-Matavi., The Queenslander, 12 May 1932, p. 35
60 ‘Coal at Rocklea,; The Brisbane Courier 10 March 1923, p 15; Neville Buch, pers. comm., 30 May 2014
62 Telegraph, 26 May 1977, 27 July 1979, 15 Feb 1979; also Sydney Card Index (John Oxley Library
63 Family Record of the Fergusons of “Bellissima” and “Cintra”, Salisbury, Brisbane, Queensland 1871 to 1996 (mss), kindly supplied to Beryl Roberts by Jan Michaels of the Ferguson family of Cintra
64 Ibid.
65 Brisbane News, Queensland Times, 10 March 1896, p.6.
66 Kate Dyson, pers comm., March 2016.
67 Wall, op.cit., p. 118
68 Brisbane Courier, 10 June 1922, p.9.
69 Ludwig Leichhardt, in T A Darragh & Roderick J Fensham (eds), op.cit., 30 July 1843, p. 311.
70 Domestic Intelligence, The Moreton Bay Courier, 29 April 1848 p.2; Shocking Murder, The Moreton Bay Courier, 23 June 1849, p.2.
71 MacKenzie op.cit., p 1
72 Do You Know Your Brisbane? Moorooka and Rocklea – Rich in Historic Interest, Sunday Mail 7 July 1928, p.29
73 ‘Do you know your Brisbane? Yeerongpilly – from Agricultural to Residential Popularity, Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 12 May 1929, p. 27.
74 Meaning of “Moorooka, The Brisbane Courier 18 March 1929 p 12
75 Ralph Fones, 2002, Them’s Our Ways in Oxley-Chelmer, Oxley-Chelmer History Group Papers III, pp. 5-6
76 Beryl Roberts, 2000, A Closer Look at Salisbury and Nathan Heights , Coopers Plains Local History Group pp.10 – 12
77  The Queenslander, 7 August  1909 p. 21
78 William Clark, Aboriginal Ceremonies – The Bora Grounds, The Queenslander, 9 Dec 1916, p.12.
79 Ibid., p 12
80 Telegraph, 26 May 1977, 27 July 1979, 15 Feb 1979, 26 July 1979;7 Feb 1980,  also Sydney Card Index
81 Michael Strong identifies this is LB:021 in the DERM files but he has no exact location, Michael Strong, pers. commun., 23 June 2014 & 4 April 20156
82 Brian Matthews to Denis Peel, per commun, 1 March 2016
83 Brisbane Suburbs and Localities – Information from the Queensland Place Names Board (John Oxley Library MSS
84 William Clark, Sketcher – Aboriginal Reminiscences, The Queenslander 14 October 1916, p.41
85 Roberts, op.cit., p 10
86 Brisbane Suburbs and Localities, op.cit.
87 Libby Connors, 2015, Warrior – A Legendary Leader’s Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier, Sydney: Allen & Unwin, pp. 169-170.
88 James Devaney Records of Brisbane Blacks. The Brisbane Courier,  21 May 1932 p 19
89 Sunday Mail,  21 July 1929 22
90 Human Remains, The Telegraph, 10 August 1887 p 5
91 Sunday Mail 21 July 1929 p 22
92 W. Clark, Aboriginal Reminiscences, The Queenslander. 14 October 1916, p.41 William Clark The Queenslander, 7 Aug 1909: 21; The Queenslander 1 June 1907: 8
93 Qld Women’s Historical Association, From Kangaroos to Cargo Ships – A Short Histoy of Kangaroo Pt 1823-1996 Herston 1997, p 1
94 Michael Aird, pers. comm, 2013.
95 Aird, op.cit., p. 28
96 Kate Dyson, personal communication, March 2016
97 Beryl Roberts, personal communication, 2015.
98 Aird op.cit., p. 28
99 http://www.ozatwar.com/locations/campmoorooka.htm  2003; see also Shanty Town Mars Moorooka, The Courier-Mail, 20 September 1946 p 3
100 Aird, op.cit.,, 29,32-33.
101 ibid, p. 29.
102 Council Move on Camp Sites, The Courier-Mail, 31 October 1946 p 1
103 Wall, op.cit., p. 120
104 Jim Mulcahy, ‘Hut homes mean life with little hope,’ Sunday Mail 1 August 1954 p 2
105 Revelations Of Conditions At Moorooka Have Resulted In Double Probe on Shanties, Courier-Mail,  21 September 1946, p 3
106 Mulcahy, op.cit., p.2.
107 Wall, op.cit. p.120
108 Ray Kerkhove, 2016, Aboriginal Campsites of Greater Brisbane: An Historical Guide Salisbury: Boolarong, pp.48,63.
109, 126 Council Move on Camp Sites, op.cit., p 1
110 Mulcahy, op.cit., p.2
112 Shanty Town Mars Moorooka, The Courier-Mail, 20 September 1946 p 3
113 Ibid.; Revelations Of Conditions At Moorooka Have Resulted In Double Probe on Shanties, op.cit., p 3
114 ibid
115, 121 Mulcahy, op.cit., p 2
116 ‘Council move on Camp Sites,’ op.cit. p 1
117 David Wright, pers.comm, April 2016.
118 Aird, op.cit., p.32
119 Gardener Shot Dead in Brisbane,Townsville Daily Bulletin, 17 February 1949 p 1
122 14 Days’ gaol, The Courier-Mail, 6 January 1951 p 4
123 Two Aboriginal Women Killed In Car Smash, The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 January 1950 p 7
124 Patient captured, The Courier-Mail, 21 December 1949 p 1
128 Shanty Town Mars Moorooka, op.cit., p 3