Alderman Dawson was the target of a lot of political pressure to abandon the plan – she was a local government representative for a very divided ward – and there was also strong opposition to a Library in New Farm Park, on environmental grounds. A challenge to the Courts that ruled against the Library was made on the grounds that the Park was zoned “open space use”. Council threatened to close Nundah Library which was in a Park, and although many Liberal MPs opposed the Labor Council plans for a new library, Beattie Dawson and Council were determined to succeed.
 
Council actually started the construction of a building in New Farm Park, and said it would be used for any legal purpose – but it intended it for library use if possible.
 
Through this time Alderman Dawson withstood extreme pressure to give in and weathered the stress admirably.
 
MLA Russ Hinze, the Local Government Minister, sensibly broke the stalemate by introducing an amendment to the Town Plan to allow the Library to open, and this was passed on May 24th 1975. The Library was soon ready and Alderman Dawson happily invited residents to a special ceremony on 18th. October 1975 when Lord Mayor Bryan Walsh opened the Library and business began on the following Monday.

The Library has always fostered service to its community, providing fiction and nonfiction books and multi media materials, community information and local history. Alderman David Hinchliffe and the Library organized a local history walk around New Farm to attract interest in a local history society, and followed up with a meeting in the Library on 18th June 1994 where the inaugural meeting was held.  The society was named the New Farm and Districts Historical Society and  Beattie Dawson was honoured by Life Membership of the Society. The Society met for many years in the Library and was very strongly supported by its local history collection and the Librarian.
 
The Library has provided other services to the community. Library staff initiated a Reconciliation Group in conjunction with the New Farm Neighbourhood Centre, and also took part in many St Joseph’s Day festivals.  The Library book and magazine budget has been spent on material appropriate to the community, free internet access is provided,  staff have organized countless author and literary events, and have developed and promoted a gay and lesbian collection for the New Farm and Brisbane GLBT community. New Farm Library is very much loved by its keen membership.
 
In 2001 the Ron Muir Room, a small meeting hall adjacent to the Library and managed by Library Staff, was opened for community meetings, and this room has been a valuable community asset being in regular use by many groups.  The New Farm and Districts Historical Society was given a small lockable space in the front of the Ron Muir Room for an  office where members are available for consultation every Thursday afternoon. For quite a few years the monthly meeting of the Society was held in the Ron Muir Room, but since the membership has expanded under President Ross Garnett, it now meets at the Merthyr Road Uniting Church Centre.
 
Further information is also available at the office of the Historical Society, next to the New Farm Library, open Thursdays from 2.00pm to 4 pm or by appointment.

In my early years, the powerhouse, the sugar refinery and the woolstores at New Farm and the railway yards at Newstead were still operating. From an early age, I learned to ride the old shop bike (heavy frame and no gears) and after school, on holidays and weekends, a lot of time was spent on my bike. There was no hill in New Fann or Teneriffe that I could not negotiate. Teneriffe Drive was always a good challenge up but great to come down.

Many, many hours were spent following trains delivering wool etc to the wool stores
and supplies to the powerhouse and sugar refinery. The train drivers and their helpers got to know me as often I would ‘race' the train to its next destination. The train lines ran along both sides of the road and the lines crossed the road regularly. These had to be carefully negotiated on the bike. A reward for my interest in the trains was to allow me one day to sit in the driver's seat of the steam train and drive the train accros Breakfast Creek Road. In those days, one of the train men would walk in front of the train with a red flag and large hand bell to stop the cars using Breakfast Creek Road.

One of my many jobs at my parents' shop was to help Dad deliver groceries to the customers. One of the companies that provided lunch and snacks to the wool buyers attending the sales at the woolstores was a customer of our shop. The orders were taken over the phone, packed into large cardboard boxes and delivered in our Holden Station Wagon to the woolstore. In front of each woolstore was a long platform where the train carriages loaded with wool bales were shunted to allow for easy loading and unloading, all of which was done by hand using two wheeled trolleys.

From memory, the lunch room was located on the third floor of one of these buildings and access was gained by using the old type lifts that had the two door system of closing: the outer wooden door and inner steel concertina steel-grated door, both of which had to be securely closed before the lift would operate. As the boxes of groceries were very heavy with lots of tinned jams etc, Dad always parked as close as he could to the door which was adjacent to the lift. A two wheeled trolley which we
could use was always left by the lift. Parking the car was always a difficult manoeuvre. It could not be parked on the train lines for obvious reasons, but also had to be far enough from the lines to allow the trains to pass without them hitting the car. Also, as a lot of trucks used the road, the car could not be left too far out on the road.

There were a few occasions when we were upstairs and could hear train whistles
blowing signaling obstruction on the line. We had to check to see if we were the
problem and sometimes we were the guilty party. Negotiating the heavy boxes
through parked carriages was often tricky and it was very difficult lifting the heavy
containers up onto the high platform. I was always worried that one day a train
would hit our car, but it never did. On some occasions we had to do a small urgent
delivery. This was left up to me while Dad stayed in the car. This was both exciting
and scary for me. I always worried about getting stuck in the lift or not being able to
find ‘Mrs Anderson', the lunch room supervisor, who would take delivery of the
goods and pay for them.

I can still remember the smell of the wool, the greasy wooden floors, the wool
spilling out onto the walkways through the open bales and all the men from overseas
countries looking at the hundreds of bales on offer for sale. The smell from the coal
fired steam trains would often linger along the woolstores and in the buildings. There
was always a lot of activity happening inside and outside the buildings.
When not following trains on my bike, I would ride the gauntlet of the tunnels at the
rear of the woolstore buildings trying not to be seen by the workmen unloading the
wool from the trucks. These tunnels were located at the rear of the first woolstores
that commenced near the old tram terminus at the end of Merthyr Road and ran all
the way to Beeston Street.

TIme was also spent under the wharves trying to avoid being seen by the wharfies
loading the ships. What we got up to under the wharves is another story.

- Jeff Garnett, 30/06/2010

• William Anderson
• George Hacket
• William Wright
• Robert Glover
• Harry Hacket
• Walter Sargeant
• Walter CuMming
• John Lebrocq
• William Kennedy
• Len Canning
• Harry Davidson
• Mascot: Ern Sargeant

Five of these men saw 1914-1918 War Service, and the young mascot served in Malaya, and was a P.O.W. on the Burma Railway. The full personnel of the Brigade was 25.  The Fire Bell was given to the Anglican Church, Brunswick Street.  Some of the Brigade’s equipment was given to the Queensland Museum.
 
Further information is also available at the office of the Historical Society, next to the New Farm Library, open Thursdays from 2.00pm to 4 pm or by appointment.

The first club house was erected on the western side of the property. The club was originally very exclusive, the membership consisting of business and professional men. In 1923, rates and other costs would mean the playing fee would be 1/- per game. It was therefore proposed by the treasurer, Mr. Chapman, that representation could be made to the council for land to be made available in the park, but the suggestion was rejected.
 
Because of the lack of space for the increasing membership, the clubhouse was sold to the South Brisbane Council in 1924 for removal to Musgrave Park. In late 1923 a further piece of land was purchased to build a new club house. This was opened on the 22nd March, 1924 by the then QBA president, Mr.
Shaw. In 1926 the playing fee was raised to 2/- and the yearly subscription to 5 guineas. An addition known as the annex was added to the club house in 1954 and the cost met by the New Farm branch of the R.S.S.A.I.L. This was opened in October of that year.
 
In the early seventies, a replacement clubhouse was being discussed by the committee and in 1972 it was decided to proceed. In 1973, following a statement by the Lord Mayor about the availability of parkland for sporting clubs, discussions were held with the Brisbane City Council about the possibility of relocating to the Park. The vote by the committee to make the move was defeated. The clubhouse was burnt down in 1976 after a new kitchen caught fire, and a new clubhouse was built and opened by Royal Queensland Bowls Association President E. J. Smith, on the 25th June 1977.
 
In 1992 the New Farm Bowls Club was incorporated, and in the following year installed poker machines. In 1997 the Bowls Club celebrated its 90th anniversary.
 
In recent years, the New Farm Bowls Club has suffered from the demographic shift that has seen a decline in bowls playing. Under the guidance and coaching of former international player Gary Ryan, the club has seen a renewal of interest, through activities such as barefoot bowls, dining facilities and a keen resurgence of competitive bowling, in both the mens’ and the ladies’ sections.

Life was clearly not easy during the coming years. There was resentment against the ‘foreigners’ receiving work when Australians were missing out. He was told to get out of the unemployment line. He then went to north Queensland for work where he took a job as a cane cutter. On returning, he worked in the Queen Street, Brisbane City, at Christie’s Café for 2 or 3 years He worked in a Milkbar opposite the Savoy Theatre in Clayfield but in 1931 the urban cinemas closed when ‘talkies’ where introduced. The equipment was too expensive for all but the city cinemas to purchase. After marrying, he opened a shop on Brunswick Street near the Shamrock Hotel. Here he did well. He made Easter Eggs by joining two chocolate halves with a candy binding. The eggs were then decorated on top with flowers and wrapped in cellophane. He was able to personalize the eggs by inserting special gifts inside the eggs and writing the recipients name on the top.

This allowed him to buy a house at 123 James Street, on the corner of Terrace Street, New Farm and move his business to Wickham Street. There were five rooms above this store. When the depression came, people did not want fancy sweets. He offered pies with peas and a pot of tea in his sit down café for three pennies and still people could not afford it. The James Street house was rented out during the depression years and when the family returned to the house the fence palings had been used to fuel the fire and the lead waterproof lining in the bathroom had been taken up and sold.

During this period, three children were born to John and Helen. Jim (James) was the third, born in 1930. Two sisters preceded him. Interestingly, both his sisters benefited by having their traditional Greek names adapted to a more familiar name.

WW2 came and with it the US soldiers. There was a big demand for confectionery but factories struggled to find workers. John and Helen were granted permits to obtain glucose and sugar and began making confectionery at home. Jim remembers having 15-16 bags of sugar (1 ton in weight) stored in the living room. The children would climb on these bags. He remembers the “huge barrels of glucose syrup stored under the house. Containers would be filled by hand and taken upstairs into the house, where we mixed it with sugar and other ingredients and boiled the mixture in a big copper cauldron almost a metre wide by half a metre deep”. She says that to start, “all the chocolates and Turkish delight were made by hand”. The family introduced Turkish Delight to Queensland. ‘Chocolate Dippers’ were professional women skilled in the trade of writing on chocolate-coated lollies. They used their fingers to dribble the chocolate on to the sweet identifying the type of sweet eg marshmallow. Jim tells how his mother announced that she would do this job and proceeded to learn to do it.

After the war, the family began producing Candy Easter Eggs. Jim and his sister proudly tell how John Bavas was the first man in Queensland to introduce salted peanuts and later he manufactured sugarcoated peanuts. They tell how during the depression, their father would “put together boxes of chocolates and tie them into bundles with string so that he could carry them, a bundle in each hand. He would then walk up the hill to Brunswick Street to catch the tram to the city selling his wares to the cafes. Later S. Hoffnung and Company bought his confectionery for distribution.”

The old shop at 119 James Street was acquired after the war to be used as a factory. It had rooms upstairs. An Italian family bought the property, business and machinery. Later they used it to make cheese. At the time John owned it, it looked like Elisha’s Antique Store, which is located further along James Street. The top floor, which consisted of four rooms and a corridor, was used to store the candy eggs. Cartons filled with scrunched up old newspaper were used to pack the cellophane wrapped eggs.

Jim explained how Hoadley crumble bars were hard to get in Queensland so they began making honeycomb bars and coating them in chocolate that was imported from NSW. 20lb blocks would be melted down and then the coated bars would be wrapped in silver foil and labeled ‘Crunchy Foam Bars’. Heat was a factor so the bars would be store downstairs where it is cooler. Jim and his father worn long white aprons and the factory was screened to keep out insects. There was big demand for these bars and they were only sold to wholesalers who collected and then distributed them.

After the war, the Queensland heat continued to be factor with the chocolate so production shifted to Candy Easter Eggs. Demand for sweets fluctuated greatly during the year. Chocolates were traditionally popular in the winter time followed by big sales of other brand sweets at the Ekka time. Demand would then fall away dramatically so John decided to begin Easter Egg production from this time. He made only Candy Eggs so that they would keep. A loan was sourced from the Commercial Bank in Fortitude Valley, icing sugar was purchased and production begun with no pay for the family until Easter sales began. Jim recalls how 100’s of dozens of eggs were made and stored. They were more attractive than the competitor’s products so sold well. The eggs were coloured and inside a plastic doll was included. These dolls came in many colours including pink, blue, orange and black. All the family members plus good friends such as the O’Brien family, came to help put the toys into the eggs. Next, classical Gainsborough style pictures were put onto the front of the egg, secured by gold icing done in elaborate scrolls and embellished with green leaves. Jim describes the eggs as ‘very artistic’ and as a consequence demand was high. The large eggs were individually boxed. There were four sizes in all with No.1 being the larger boxed eggs down to a No. 4 for the smaller eggs. Size 2,3, and 4 eggs were wrapped in clear cellophane that was decorated with strips of red and green cellophane shaped to form a bow. Distribution began soon after Christmas through agents J Chambers and Sons, Thomas Brown and Sons as well as with S. Hoffnung. Eggs were supplied all over Queensland.

After finishing school all three children worked in the business. Jim worked closely with his father. Extra girls were employed to help in the busy times. They mainly did wrapping and packing. Mother died in 1966. Jim describes her as ‘the power behind the throne’. The business was sold after her death. John was an old man now but Jim reflects on how his father was always a gentleman, always impeccable. Jim cared for him until his death, aged 81 years. John had been a member of the Greek Church in Charlotte Street. He played cards with the Greek Community. The family enjoyed dances at the Boathouse at North Quay near the Victoria Bridge. His experience with insular attitudes and persistent name-calling clearly made him despondent at times but the family did settle down in New Farm making many good friends particularly with their neighbours.

The three children all attended New Farm State School during the 1930’s. Jim later attended Brisbane Boys Grammar School. He vividly remembers the day the war ended when all the students were sent home in celebration. This proved difficult as the streets were packed with people and the trams and buses could not get through. During the war, James Street roared with traffic. Many troops were transported and they would ‘wolf whistle’ the girls. The noise from Evans Deakin shipyards could be heard in Terrace Street. Jim remembers people being interned during the war. A local barber had disappeared. Jim was sent to get a haircut and found the shop ransacked and the Italian proprietor gone. He believes that the authorities were looking for a hidden radio. The fish and chips shop, located near the Astor Theatre, was run by an Italian family. After the father was interned the business continued but was subject to hostility so the women put up a Greek flag to protect themselves. Big heavy coal trucks traveled along James Street to the powerhouse. A returning empty truck lost control crashing into the corner of the house. It was lucky that the driver was not decapitated. The whole house shook and it was quite expensive to make the repairs. Fortunately, the truck was insured.

There was another Confectionery manufacturer in Chester Street, Tenneriffe. The owner was a Mr. Tafe and his son George was known to Jim. He sold his honeycomb at the school and at the Ekka. Jim’s sister Ephrosene and her husband Jim Sophios bought a local business. It was the New Farm School Shop on the corner of James and Annie Streets. It was known as Sophios.

I would like to start with my great grand parents on my father's side. George William Cowin (Bill), my great grand father, was born at Ulican, Baldwin, County of Braddan in the Isle of Man on December 27, 1863. He was the third oldest child ofa family of ten who worked a 98-acre farm. As the family grew, the farm could not support the children as adults. He left the Isle of Man in 1881, aged 17, and sailed for Australia to start a new life. He immigrated to Brisbane, and was followed by a younger brother who settled in New South Wales. Other members ofthe family later emigrated to England and America. On arrival in Brisbane he applied for various jobs and obtained a job with the family that owned Newstead House at the time. He worked in the grounds as a general hand and livestock attendant, and prepared landscaping around the home like building stonewalls to terrace parts ofthe gardens. One of the chores he had to do was to teach a daughter ofthe owner to ride sidesaddle. To do this, he had to don a ladies skirt (that was long) and show her how to mount and set herself in the saddle with the long skirt.

He then decided to invest in a property near Grantham to establish a citrus orchard. After working the property for a couple of years, the area (and most ofQueensland) was hit by a very severe drought that wiped him out, so he abandoned the property. He then returned to Brisbane and bought himself a horse and dray and plied for work in Brisbane Town. To do this he lined up with his horse and dray along with many other carriers in Eagle Street at the Queen Street end. He and the others waited for business proprietors to walk down and hire their services, much like taxicabs today. He had lodgings in Kent Street, New Farm, and stabled his horse at the rear ofthe property.

ELIZA JANE WHITE: In contrast to George, my great-grand-mother Eliza Jane White was born in Northern Ireland in 1862. She moved to England at Lancaster where she studied and then took up a maid's position with a family and cared for their children. She immigrated to Australia in 1883 to join her brother John and his family in Chermside Street, Teneriffe. She obtained work as a nurse-maid for Reverend and Mrs. Court, the Church of England Minister of St Mary's Church at Kangaroo Point, however he was not a well man and died shortly after. She then became Governess to the Jackson family children. The Jackson family were merchants and retailers in the City. They later established warehouses and then a carrying company well known in the Fortitude Valley area, R. J. Jackson & Sons. Later there was friendly rivalry between Mrs Jackson and Eliza as to which family established their transport business first. While she worked for them, Mr Jackson advised her on how to save money to better herself in the world. After a couple of years she was able to purchase a house at 109 Browne Street, New Farm with the funds she had saved. During this time, she became acquainted with a gentleman lodging behind her brother's house who had a horse and dray. This gentleman was George (Bill) Cowin and after a courtship they later married and moved into her house in Browne Street.

TRANSPORT BUSINESS: George (Bill) obtained a contract with a saw mill at Woolloongabba. He continued with this work until the saw mill burnt down and the work ceased. He always had a
hankering to go back to Grantham out in the country; however Eliza was against the
idea because of his past experience, the uncertainty of conditions that farming offered,
particularly with the arrival of a family. Shortly after this he tendered on a contract
with The Colonial Sugar Refining Co., who were building a new
refined sugar factory in New Farm due for completion in January 1893. The Refinery
was affected by the 1893 floods and did not open until July 1893. CSR had two
contracts on offer, one to cart raw sugar from the Fortitude Valley rail yard to the
Refinery, and another to cart the refined sugar out to customers around Brisbane. He
reasoned that the factory was a major investment in Brisbane and an important
economic asset to Brisbane. This being the case, the Government would eventually
service the factory with a rail line to carry sugar and coal for its operation from the
rail head. Therefore, he only tendered for the cartage of sugar out to customers. As
was the case, it was not long after that a rail line was put through to the refinery and
only one contract survived for the long term.

The 1893 flood also affected the house that the Cowin family lived in at the time.
Flooding came up Browne Street and isolated the house to below the floorboards so
they could not live in it. They were forced to move out and were billeted by their
neighbours at the rear. This was an Irish family by the name of Hackett, who had a
small stone cottage on higher ground. This was a very generous act as the cottage
was a very small lowset stone dwelling that barely enough to accommodate the
Hackett family. The friendship with the Hackett family continued for many years,
with a son Paddy working for the family as a driver for over forty years.

VILLIERS STREET PROPERTY

George (Bill) then decided that he could not conduct a business from Browne Street if
it was going to be subject to flooding. Also, operating from the Browne Street house
was nigh on impossible with more horses being used, so he bought a property of 118
perches higher up in Villiers Street that had a small cottage on it and plenty of land to
rest the horses. When the property was bought, it had one of its boundaries in line
with the middle of what is now Villiers Street. The property opposite joined with his
and divided Villiers Street into two halves. George's property had a gate on either
side. Residents of the area asked could they use the gates as a short cut to their homes
from Brunswick Street and George (Bill) agreed on the proviso that the gates were
closed again so the horses did not get out. People being people, the gates were left
open so George (Bill) locked them up and they were unable to be used. In 1905, he
had plans drawn up to build a family residence and move his young family of four
children into it. The small cottage was demolished leaving a shed that later was used
as a workshop and remained on the property until it was sold in 1995. He later built
stables and a feed house on the site to eventually accommodate 36 draught horses.

So in 1905 when seeking to build his residence, the then fledgling Brisbane Town
Administration wanted to connect the two halves of Villiers Street with a roadway
and offered to buy portion of the land. However, they only wanted to purchase two thirds
of the width of the existing roadway because they did not have sufficient funds
to buy the whole roadway. George (Bill) was disgusted by their short-sightedness and
told them that he was building his house to the front of his remaining property and,
that once it was built, the additional width could not be obtained without shifting the
house. This is what occurred and remained so until 1995 when the property was sold,
much to the consternation of local residents, particularly some who were inattentive
and collided with the kerb at night damaging their vehicles.

The Cowin family with four children now established themselves in the new
residence. They were the following members, and this is some of their life's history:

Isobella Cowin
Born: 1894
Married: Harold Oscar Corlett Faragher (ex. West Derby Lancashire, born 1862 in Lonan, Isle of Man)
Died: 1958

Children:
Edith Isabella Faragher
George William Faragher

George William Cowin II
Born: June 28, 1896
Married: Dorothy Pearl Sewell
Died: August 25, 1972

Children:
Dorothy Cowin
Born: July 19, 1917
Married: Alan Stevenson
Died: August 20, 2007

George William Cowin III
Born: June 12, 1920
Married: Lucy Bernice Hoppe
Died: August 17, 1989

Elizabeth Cowin (Betty)
Born: April 8, 1925
Married: Bill Trout

Winifred Cowin
Born: October 22, 1927
Married: Des Buck

Robert Joseph Cowin
Born: 1898
Married: Eva Brown
Died: 1976

Children:
Joyce Cowin
Born: 1922
Married: Bruce Marjason

Audrey Cowin
Born: 1925
Married: John Cable

Elizabeth Jane Cowin (Bess)
Born: 1902
Married: John M McBride
Died: 1990
Children: Nil

Isobel married Oscar Faragher and lived in Bailey Street, New Farm where they
brought up their family. It was later sold and converted into a boarding house.

George II commenced work as a Bank Teller in approximately 1912 and enlisted in the
Australian Expeditionary Forces and went to England in April 1915. He was posted
to France in an artillery division and fought in northern France. He was injured in the
foot by shrapnel at Millencourt in 1916 and sent back to England for treatment. He
returned to the front and continued his service till January 1919. George II married
Dorothy Sewell in England while convalescing from his injuries and began a family
that lived in Villiers Street and then later in Charles Street, New Farm.

Robert commenced work as a telephone technician approximately 1914 and worked
for the Post Master General until 1920. He married Eva Brown in 1920 and later
bought a residence in Oxlade Drive on the river. The large home had a tennis court
on the riverside. He later sold it and took up on a 99-year lease allotment from the
Brisbane City Council on land adjacent to the New Farm Park ferry off Brunswick
Street on the riverbank and built a house.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Elizabeth (Bess) commenced work as a School Teacher in approximately 1920 and
taught at New Farm State School for a period. She married the pharmacist John
McBride and they built a residence at Coorparoo and lived there for the rest of their
lives. John (Mac) had a pharmacy on the corner of Cavendish and Old Cleveland
Roads until he retired in the late 1980's.

By 1920, the Cowin family were all adults and the business was well established.
George (Bill) and Eliza had made substantial contributions to community
activities over time. In 1900, George (Bill) was a member of a Committee chaired by
Thomas Welsby that raised funds towards the construction of the New Farm State
School. The State Government matched the funds raised by the
committee and the school was built in 1901.

George (Bill) was one the founding members of the Queensland Manx Society
established in 1914 and was Vice President twice and President three times up to
1923. Eliza was Vice President once. A number of picnics were arranged at
Seventeen Mile Rocks on the property where the Cowin draught horses were agisted
to spell them from the heavy work on main roads. Eliza was also an elder ofthe
Kingsholme Methodist Church and was involved in many of their
activities.

George (Bill) was a founding member in 1907 ofthe Brisbane Carriers Association
later to become the Queensland Road Transport Association and is now
the Queensland Trucking Association. During the First World War, he experimented
with motorised transport when he purchased a steam driven truck. However, it had to
be abandoned because the driver had to have a steam ticket to enable it to be used on
the road. Later, after the war he purchased solid tyre vehicles that had been used in
the First World War. They were reconditioned and sent to Australia for sale. Some
of these vehicles were O.M.'s, Fiat's, Thorneycroft's and Dennis's. Later, he
purchased new solid tyre Thorneycroft's and Dennis's to make up a motorised fleet.
The horse drawn fleet was gradually disposed of except for one dray and three horses
that continued until 1950 when the driver (Bill Gray) retired. Most ofthe drivers up
until then were local people or people from surrounding suburbs that either walked to
work or rode bicycles. The furtherest employee lived in the Grange, but mostly lived
in New Farm, Teneriffe, Windsor, Hawthorne and Herston.

G. W. COWIN & SONS - CARRIERS
When the motorised vehicles were purchased, the drivers converted from drays to
trucks by obtaining a licence. These licences were issued by police officers that in
most cases did not know how to drive a vehicle themselves, but if the driver could
negotiate the vehicle down the road, he got his licence (no written tests). Bill Gray
could not get a licence; so short haul work was arranged for him on the dray until he
retired. Such was the way the employees were treated and most ofthe early drivers
worked for the family for over 40 years until retirement.

George (Bill) had suffered from some medical problems, mainly bought on from
nicotine poisoning when sucking on a pipe all day long when on the dray. So in 1920
he bought George II and Robert into the business and called it G. W. Cowin & Sons.
The sharing of workload was also necessary due to the expansion ofthe business,
phasing out of horse drawn vehicles and the introduction on motorised vehicles.
However, George (Bill) died in 1930 as a result of his medical condition. Eliza
survived him by 20 years. She continued to purchase property in New Farm and had
purchased five workers cottages in Villiers, Gertrude and Browne Streets. She did not
dispose ofthe original Browne Street residence until the late 1940's, as it meant so
much to her. The family home in Villiers Street continued to be partly used as an
office until Eliza died in 1950. The house and property was then used as an office and
base until the business was sold in June 1993.

GRANDPARENTS

Now we come to my grand parents. George II was educated firstly at the Fortitude
Valley State School and then moved to the New Farm State School when it was built
in 1901. George II married Dorothy Sewell and had four children, Dorothy, George
III, Elizabeth (Betty) and Winifred (Winnie). After living in a cottage in Villiers
Street, George II bought two properties in 1938 between Charles and Bailey Streets.
He constructed a family residence on one and demolished the residence on the other
block to make a single property on which he lived until his death in 1972. He
purchased a property and built a new residence on the property opposite his residence
and rented it out to the Lesley Richmond (and family). Lesley was the resident pianist
at the Regent Theatre for many years. George II also built residences at the top end of
Beeston Street, Teneriffe and Hawthorne Street. The four houses (his own and the
three others) were of similar appearance and by the same builder.

George II was a keen sportsman throughout his life, and was a member of clubs such
as: Valley Football Club, Valley Cricket Club, CSR Refinery Cricket Club, New
Farm Bowls Club, and Booroodabin Bowls Club. He was a member of many represented
sides in most sports from time to time. He was also a keen billiards and snooker
player and hosted Friday night competitions on his own table at Charles Street with
noted local identities. He was also a keen breeder of Budgerigars and had about 10
aviaries on the Charles Street property. Dedicated to breeding pure breed colours for
competition, he won many ribbons from his brood of birds. He was a keen gardener
and he had a large vegetable patch and grew his own vegetables, as well as many fruit
trees.

The Hawthorne Street residence was a wedding present to George III and Lucy when
they got married in 1939. They rented in Chester Street, Teneriffe until the house was
completed in March 1940. Dorothy married Allan Stevenson and moved to Camp
Hill to raise a family. Betty and Winnie married later. George III and Lucy lived in
Hawthorne Street until 1974 and it is from here that I got my early experience ofNew
Farm. George III & Lucy bought George II's residence in Charles Street from his
estate and sold Hawthorne Street. They built in underneath and renovated the existing
residence. They lived there until both had passed away.

George III was educated at the New Farm State School and then The Brisbane
Grammar School. He joined the transport business in 1936 as a drivers offsider and
yardman, and later qualified as a motor mechanic to carry out repairs on the
expanding motor fleet. In 1950 George III left the transport business and established
a motor repair business. Later he took over a Golden Fleece Service Station at Aspley
to continue his repair business and serve the community with fuel and accessories.
Later he established a Car Sales business and built a Showroom on the property next
door.

In 1964, George II decided to retire. He offered his share in the partnership with his
brother, Robert, to George III. George had to decide if he wanted to continue in the
business he had established or return to the family business. A decline in his health
prompted him to return to the transport business where the hours were more regular
and the business had more certainty. He continued in the business until his death in
1989, even though he suffered from kidney failure and was forced to go to dialysis
treatment three times a week in his later years.

The business G.W. Cowin & Sons started with the Colonial Sugar Refinery at the end
of July 1893. This business continued carrying out the same style of business (i.e.
delivery of refined sugar to customers) until it was sold at the end of June 1993, one
month short of 100 years. Many changes occurred during that period, from horse and
dray to motor vehicles. The dray carried up to one -two tonnes and motor vehicles
commencing at 4 tonnes. The goods originally consisted of bags, sacks, drums and
cartons. Then wooden pallets arrived and goods were consolidated into 1 tonne of
packaged products and carried on larger vehicles. Other advances in delivery
consisted ofdelivery ofbulk sugar in granular and liquid fonn in tankers. A few
years after the business was sold the Refinery was closed down and sugar was
delivered from further manufacturing operations.

GEORGE COWIN IV
July 2009

The Oxlade brothers can claim descent from a very old English family dating back to Nicholas Oxlade who lived in Radnage, Buckinghamshire (England), before 1476. George Oxlade, grandfather of Bryan Oxlade of Oxlade Brothers, was born in 1848. George emigrated in August 1863 on the ship Fiery Star, arriving at Moreton Bay on 20th November. This was an ill fated ship that caught fire off the coast of New Zealand. This was on a return voyage in April 1865; it sank with the loss of many lives. George was 15 years of age when he arrived in the colony of Queensland.
 
George Oxlade travelled to Toowoomba and settled there, and married Louisa Maria Byers in 1877.

William was born on 29th October 1877. George lived in Toowoomba for five more years, until moving to Brisbane with his family in 1883. In that year he was working as a signwriter for Exton and Gough, with W G Lewis, founder of the Brisbane signwriting and painting firm W G Lewis and Sons.
 
Two years later he was working in the O'Keefe Building, Petrie Terrace. Around 1893/4 he moved to Burnett Lane, and took on a partner (Oxlade and Wright, signwriters) but nothing is known about this man, and in 1895 George was on his own again at George Street, between Charlotte and Mary Streets.
 
In 1894 George's son William joined him as an apprentice until 1900, and at the end of the apprenticeship in 1900 the pair became Oxlade and Son, Signwriters, at 229 Adelaide Street near Foundry Lane (now Isles Lane). They were there for nine years before moving to 293 Adelaide St between Creek and Wharf Streets.

 
In 1907 George built a home at 588 Lower Bowen Terrace. The couple had nine children, five boys and four girls. George passed away on 14th Sept 1910. Three of the sons, William, George and Allen, formed Oxlade Brothers, and moved in 1912 to 149 George Street near Roma Street, but it was too small for their expanding business and they moved to 526 Queen Street (the old Exton and Gough building). They expanded into other areas specializing in glass etching, silvering, glazing leadlights and paperhanging.
 
Allan Oxlade was an alderman for the Merthyr Ward, as well as a business man and a first class rugby player: he captained Australia in 1907. He had been on good terms with James Clark, the Pearl King, but after Council resumed some of Clark's land to extend River Drive and named it Oxlade Drive, the friendship faltered.
 
In 1920 the brothers bought an old one storey shop in Wickham Street at number 136, demolished it and built a new two storey shop plus basement. The basement was used for storage of stock, the front of the street level for the shop and office, and at the rear a silvering room. The top floor was where most of the production took place, the front for commercial art, and areas for glass etching, lead turning and leadlighting, signwriting and screen printing.
 
The firm employed 44 painters at one stage, but because of the uncertainty  of the weather at times, Oxlade Brothers decided to expand into other areas, producing beautiful decorating products as well as sales of paint. They won a bronze medal in 1933 for a glass sign, at the Panama Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco. During the war, paint was rationed and business was lean, but after the war, the family began rebuilding the business. The developing paint industry meant that Oxlades decided to specialize in art products, which is still the case today.
 
William became manager after the death of his brother George Colling. Stephen's son Bryan joined the firm in 1938 at 13 years of age.  In 1948 his father Stephen took over after the death of William. Bryan became head of the business in 1961 after the death of Stephen, and successfully continued this old Brisbane family business, and was joined by his children, Kay in 1978 and Paul in 1991.

Start at the Story Bridge end of Merthyr Road.

Introduction: Many literary writers have written about New Farm over the years.  JACK LINDSAY, son of Norman Lindsay and a novelist is said to have written about New Farm mozzies.
 
One of the earlier descriptions of New Farm takes place in VANCE PALMER’S Seedtime set in Brisbane in the late 1920s, the story of Macy Donovan, an MP from Golconda (Mt Isa) who has come Brisbane as a Labour MP. Macy meets the Hegarty family - Judy Hegarty  occasionally returns to the family home at New Farm, the streets of which Palmer describes (page 35).
 
(1) Merthyr Road: View of Story Bridge - Many writers have mentioned the Bridge, but the most comprehensive is:
 
SIMON CLEARY in The Comfort of Figs. The novel tells the story of the building of Story Bridge, and the deaths of three workers and how it affected their workmates.  Some of them attend the wake for Hodges in a New Farm cottage where they discuss whether engineers plan for a certain number of deaths (page 198).
 
Read also MICHAEL MOY’s Story Bridge: Idea to icon, for a factual retelling of the Bridge building.
 
ANDREW McGAHAN in Praise has Gordon and Cynthia walking home to New Farm across Story Bridge (page 93).
 
Read also JAYA SAVIGE poem “Riverfire” about the fireworks over the Bridge. Simon Cleary also includes a description of the fireworks in The Comfort of Figs (page 57).
 
(2) Corner of Merthyr Road and Moray Street:  Apartments and houses.
 
DAVID MALOUF in Johnno , one of his earliest works, has Dante, the narrator and friend of Johnno, visiting Binkie, a lovely girl who lives in a flat along the River (page 135).
 
STEPHEN CARLETON in The Narcissist has written a play telling the story of a 40 year old gay man Xavier, who works as a spin doctor for the ALP.  Xavier lives in an apartment in New Farm where the play is set. A former lover Jesse turns up – what follows are Xavier’s very funny adventures; first performed in 2007 and still entertaining audiences today.
 
ALASDAIR DUNCAN in Sushi Central, and Metro has characters who live in large houses in New Farm: in Sushi Central, Calvin visits some young guys “who Margot knows”, in a big house near the River (page 41). In Metro, Liam lives in a share household in New Farm at the “Teneriffe end”(page 11). Alasdair writes about the young gay and straight scene in New Farm and the Valley – very entertaining reads.
 
(3) Corner Merthyr Road and Abbott Street: No. 36 and 34 Merthyr Road.
 
VENERO ARMANNO: The Armanno family lived at No. 36, which Venero chooses as the setting for the beginning of Firehead, where the Capistrano family live. Next door, number 34 is occupied by the Zazo family (page 4-5, page 134-5). Venero tells the story of Salvatore and Gabriella, and remembers his childhood and adolescence in their escapades.
 
BRIAN CON PENTON : The house at No. 34 was also the childhood home at the time of WWI of novelist Brian Con Penton (1904 -1951).  He also wrote as Conn Bennett.  One novel was Landtakers (1934).
 
Judith Wright writes about the trees that the kids climb in Abbott Street in “Camphor Laurel”, Collected Poems (page 35).
 
(4) Stop at Corner Merthyr and Brunswick Street: Brunswick Street the home of several hotels and bars:  The Brunswick Hotel, at Number 569, and The Empire Hotel at Number 339.
 
SIMON CLEARY in The Comfort of Figs has the Story Bridge workers drinking and eating at the Empire Hotel, while they discuss the delay in spanning the bridge (page 137).
 
In JANETTE TURNER HOSPITAL’s The Last Magician, Cat had worked out of the Empire Hotel as a prostitute (page 324). Young Gabriel notices his father’s excitement when a prostitute gets on their tram at The Empire (pages 170-171). The novel challenges the authority of male power in Australia.
 
ANDREW MCGAHAN in Praise has his lead character Gordon working casually at the Capital Hotel in the bottle shop (most likely the Brunswick Hotel, on pages 1, 6-7), where he meets Cynthia and with whom he begins an affair. It is a bleak and realistic novel, but also very satisfying.
 
(5) Mary Ryan, 85 Merthyr Road: Cross Brunswick Street and walk along Merthyr Road to Mary Ryan, New Farm’s own bookshop, where books about New Farm may be bought or ordered.
 
(6) Leave Mary Ryan and walk east down Merthyr Road to just past the Big Fortune: New Farm Cafes.
 
ALASDAIR DUNCAN in Sushi Central describes his gay narrator Calvin seeing an older woman in a coffee shop in New Farm, and it leads him into thinking about his latest fling (pages 180-181).
 
REBECCA SPARROW in The Year Nick McGowan Came to Stay has Nick training as an apprentice chef for a guy called Mario in a little Italian café on Merthyr Road (page 216).
 
(7) Turn right into Alford Street, and stop at the corner of Alford Street and Welsby Street: Thomas Welsby.
 
At the end of Welsby Street at No. 101 on the River is Amity House, the home of Thomas Welsby who described the life of Moreton Bay in his Collected Works. (The house can be glimpsed from the street).  Dr Jim Lergessner has written I, Thomas Welsby, a biography of the famed colonialist, businessman, politician and sportsman. 

(8) Walk further down Alford Street to Sydney Street: to New Farm Library, 135 Sydney Street.
 
Built in 1975 at the urging of Alderman Beattie Dawson, the Library has fostered literacy and literature, with numerous author nights, local history and library services for the community. Books on New Farm may be borrowed including via inter-library loan. In VENERO ARMANNO’s Firehead, Gabriella visits the Library and finds a story for herself (page 300).
 
(9) Walk to the right of the Library into the Park: stop near the soccer field.
 
New Farm has symbolic value for some writers as a locale with healing qualities. In The Comfort of Figs, it is symbolized by the Moreton Bay Fig trees (page 21), while In Firehead, the Italian nonno finds sensual pleasure in eating figs. GARY CREW in The Inner Circle has Tony cycling along the paths in the Park, the Moreton Bay figs welcoming him and hiding him from reality (pages 5-6).
 
The Park is a place for picnicking, to play sport or just relax under the trees.
 
MARY ROSE MACCOLL in Killing Superman has hero Scott Goodwin rediscovering Brisbane with the help of Emily; they enjoy picnicking in the Park (page 28).
 
JUDITH WRIGHT in With love and fury: selected letters of Judith Wright. In the introduction: editor Patricia Clarke describes Judith’s leisurely afternoons picnicking in New Farm Park with her friend, the poet Val Vallis.
 
(10) Walk across to the ring road: cross it and stop opposite the coffee van: New farm park as a refuge.
 
MANFRED JURGENSEN in The American. In this novel, the protagonist Harry, an English Professor, goes jogging in New Farm Park as an escape and a way to fill in time after he has been retrenched (page 20).
 
(11) Walk around the ring road and stop: opposite the Powerhouse entrance road.
 
DAVID FORREST The Hollow Woodheap. The grassy area to the left of the entrance path is where Earl Lucas goes Scottish dancing with his work friend Yvonne, an escape from his boring job in a bank. (Words to Walk By, pp. 61-2).
 
GARY CREW in The Inner Circle. Gary Crew also picnicked in the Park when young, growing up in 1950s Brisbane. He played games of hide and seek in the Powerhouse, where in his novel the troubled adolescent boys Tony, who is white, and Joe, who is indigenous, become friends while hiding out. The graffiti in the Powerhouse is evidence of the role it has played as a refuge for homeless and neglected youth. Joe bathes in the Powerhouse boiler to maintain his self-respect (page 20).
 
(12) Walk across to The Rose Garden.
 
VENERO ARMANNO The Volcano. Here Venero has Emilio Aquila steal red roses for his estranged wife, to try to reconcile with her (Words to Walk By, p. 60).
 
And in Firehead, both Salvatore and Gabriella’s grandfather(page 211) steal roses for Gabriella.  She/her sister asks Sal to meet her there.  Barry Hutchinson is beaten up and dumped beside the Rose Garden (page 249).
 
Gary Crew uses a rose bed with a central Binkar palm to symbolize the boundary between indigenous and white, but suggests it can be fluid, breachable.
 
(13) Walk to the Rotunda: GARY CREW in The Inner Circle describes the Rotunda as “elegantly useless”, where children make “mock orations to pigeons” (page 5). The trees represent a nourishing Park, as well as being metaphors for the harmony of different races.
 
(14) Walk to the Riverbank: The Park is also a place for harmony, love, and sex.
 
GARY CREW uses the contrast between the muddy river and the exotic trees to symbolize the need for harmony among the world’s peoples (page 26).
 
JUDITH WRIGHT conducted a passionate affair with married but separated philosopher Jack McKinney, lying on rugs in the Park.
 
Poet KRISTIN HANNAFORD has written “Night Walking: New Farm Park” (2008) Queensland Poetry Festival.
 
ARMANNO VENERO in Firehead has Salvatore and Tony meet the Farmer girls in an assignation to lose their virginity, but Salvatore cannot because of his love for Gabriella.
 
In Romeo of the Underworld, Romeo lies on the grass of the riverbank with the beautiful Monica beside him.
 
There can be a dark side to the Park.  KIMBERLEY STARR in The Kingdom where Nobody Dies allows a victim of the serial killer to escape in the Park (page 78).
 
(15) New Farm Ferry:

THEA ASTLEY in Reaching Tin River has Belle grows up on her grandfather's sheep farm, but is sent to boarding school at seven years old, lonely and longing for love.  She has music lessons from Mr. Bathgate, at a house opposite New Farm Park.  As an adult after the failure of her marriage she returns to live in New Farm near the River, perhaps able to enjoy a solitary life (page 48).
 
(16) New Farm and the War:  the Sandakan War Memorial.
 
Judith Wright’s Jack McKinney enlisted for World War II, but came back a troubled man, and she helped him recover from his traumas, in “Pain”, Collected Poems (Page 30).
 
DAVID MALOUF in Johnno provides a very good description of Brisbane in WWII (pages 38-39).
 
(17) Brunswick Street: Walk north along it and stop opposite the Neighbourhood Centre.  Here is a housing referral service for homeless and marginalised people.
 
ANDREW MCGAHAN in Praise shows his hero Gordon as directionless, and living in a flat near the Park in a rundown boarding house, and describes the place and the residents in some detail (pages 2-3).
 
(18) 100 Sydney Street:  Keep walking north to the corner of Sydney Street and cross the road to the Fish Café.  This is where No. 100 stood, a Queenslander that Judith Wright rented a little room in, in the early 1940s. The house is where John and Ada (Bee) Ward lived; Judith made friends with the couple. (With Love and Fury, page 5)
 
(19) Return to the corner with Brunswick Street,  and walk to Welsby Street corner.
 
JANETTE TURNER HOSPITAL The Last Magician. The trams used to run down Brunswick Street to the ferry stop, until 1969. In the novel, the child Gabriel, whose father Judge Robinson Gray is adored by everyone but lives a hypocritical life visiting prostitutes, is taken by his parents for an historic last tram ride to New Farm ferry (page 163).
 
Walk north to Merthyr Road.  Turn right and return to Mary Ryan.

1994: September 7 - CSR guided tour

1994: October 1 - First offical walk: Southern part of New Farm

1995: February 4 - Woolstores and Teneriffe

1996: June 1 - Merthyr Park and New Farm Park

1996: August 17 - BCC Heritage Trail Number 3: Teneriffe

1996: October 27 - Drive tour to celebrate BCC Heritage Walk No. 3

1997: April 19 - The Delights of Teneriffe

1997: June 28 - Wool Stores

1997: August - Brisbane City Council Archives (14 Macquarie Street)

1997: October - CSR Tour and Amity House

1997: Nov. 15 - The Valley of New Farm: Kent, James, Clay and Heal Streets

1998: February - Walk and exhibition

1999: September 25 - Heritage tour: Aboriginal pathways and convict trail

2000: May 27 - Petrie Point

2000: July 20 - Night walk around the Valley (post- Fitzgerald Inquiry)

2000: September 23 - The Kinellan Estate

2000: October 28 - City Botanical Gardens No. 1

2001: April 28 - Wool Stores

2001: October 14 - A Stroll through New Farm

2002: October 26 - Teneriffe Walk No. 3

2003: April 26 - Irish Heritage through Fortitude Valley

2003: June 28 - Mystery walk

2003: October 18 - George Street Walk, Number 2

2004: April 3 - Arthur Street

2004: July 24 - Brunswick treet

2005: June 1 - Cutters Landing and CSR

2007: June 23 - The Neighbourhood

2007: Not Known - Recreation of first official walk around southern New Farm

2008: August 10 - Joint Mary Ryan & Society walk: Helen Gregory & Simon Cleary

2009: October 11 - Joint Mary Ryan & Society walk: Some Notables of New Farm

2010: July 3 - Magical Mystery Heritage Tour (bus trip) Teneriffe Festival

2010: August 29 - Joint Mary Ryan & Society walk: New Farm Literary Heritage