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The Administration Building Built-in 1917 The original administration block was a small, unpretentious timber building erected in 1894 and situated in a less-than-prominent position The new Administration block was built as a two-storey brick building with a tiled roof. It was completed in 1917 as part of the major building program during the 1910s under the direction of HB Ellerton. Ellerton first suggested a new administration building as early as 1910, but no action was taken. He again requested a new block in 1914, and approval was granted on this occasion. Choosing an appropriate location for a building that was intended to be the centrepiece of the institution was not an easy task. Eventually, a decision was made to demolish male ward no 8 for the new block. Plans were prepared by William Ewart in the Department of Works, construction commenced in 1916, and the building was completed in the following year. The ground floor comprised offices for the medical officers, matron, head attendant and clerk; a hall, porters' room, library, pathological and photographic room, dispensary, strong room, surgery and visiting rooms. Toilets opened off the entrance porches constructed at both ends of the ground floor. The upper storey contained a flat in the central portion, with a sitting room, a kitchen, two bedrooms, a bathroom and a store. The building was built of brick and with a Marseilles tiled roof. The exterior featured exposed brickwork to sill height and roughcast above with a light ochre finish. The main entrance featured a port cochere, and the roof was capped with a decorative fleche. The building was officially opened by Governor Goold-Adams on 6 October 1917, together with the new kitchen. Superintendent Ellerton believed that the new building was made more dignified and imposing by the portico at the main entrance in 1911. Following the construction of the administration block and hospital in the 1910s, the area in front of the buildings was landscaped with formal gardens and a driveway. The area opposite was also landscaped with paths and a lawn where patients met visitors. Terraces were built by the inmates between the Administration building and the new hospital, and five sets of concrete steps were built from the lawn to the hospital and to male wards 1and 5. When a dentist was added to the staff in 1928, an upstairs room was divided into two rooms, one for pathological work and the other for dental surgery. In 1957, the rear verandah was enclosed. In 2025, a considerable collection of hospital complex-related paraphernalia is housed in cabinets in the medical superintendent’s office on the ground floor. Chronology : 1917: building construction was completed 1957: rear verandah enclosed with louvres 1915 Layout Plan Click to view 1938 Photograph of Administration Building & Laundry Building Click to view Front Entrance 1949 Click to view Rear Entrance 1949 Click to view Administration Building Unknown Year Click to view Air Raid Siren Click to view WWI Honour Board 1916 Click to view Rear Entrance Click to view Gardens Click to view Front Entrance Click to view Rear Entrance Click to view Inside Staircase Click to view Inside Office Click to view Rear Entrance Click to view Front Side Stairs Click to view Front Verandah Click to view Front Verandah Click to view Rear stairs with original sandstone guttering Click to view Inside Archway Click to view Rear Verandah Click to view Front Entrance Click to view Front Entrance Click to view Front Stairs Click to view Front Click to view Front looking towards the Laundry Click to view

Magdalen Asylum Magdalen Asylum, in Wooloowin, was operated by the Order of the Sisters of Mercy. It opened in 1889 as a home for unmarried mothers, disabled girls and infants. It ceased operating as a home for very young children in 1959. From 1974, it no longer cared for children but provided continuing care for physically and intellectually disabled persons and single mothers. In 1978, its function changed to a centre for persons with intellectual and physical disabilities and was renamed Mercy Centre. Mother Mary Vincent was instrumental in the establishment when she came to Queensland from Ireland in 1861. The foundation stone was laid on Sunday, 22nd April 1888, by Archbishop Dr Dunne. The Holy Cross Retreat was then opened on 13th October 1889 by Governor Sir Henry Norman. The asylum was a haven for destitute women (usually 'fallen' or with children out of wedlock) and, in common with most similar institutions, employed the women in laundry work in the running of the institution. Holy Cross Retreat was licensed in 1895 under the Orphanages Act 1879, then under the State Children Act 1911. It was licensed again under the Children's Services Act 1965. In 1977, the dormitory building and kitchen wing were demolished, but the steam laundry was maintained as a sheltered workshop for intellectually handicapped women and men. Today, all that remains from the days gone by is the laundry building and the church on site. Former Names Magdalen Asylum, Wooloowin Holy Cross Magdalen Asylum, Wooloowin Holy Cross Retreat and Infants Home 1895 map Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view

Patients' Shelter Shed for Female Patients Built in 1929 This shelter shed is a brick and concrete structure with a fireplace, located at the rear of female No I & 2 wards and was erected in 1929, replacing an earlier timber structure. The shed was used by 'troublesome patients' during the day from the adjacent ward, and the fireplace was incorporated to keep these patients warm during the winter months. Front of the shelter Click to view Side of the shelter Click to view Rear of the shelter Click to view Rear of the shelter Click to view Rear of the shelter Click to view Rear of the shelter you can see the original fencepost on the corner Click to view Cricket roller Click to view Chimney Click to view Heritage fence post Click to view Roof foundations Click to view Rear with sky Click to view Front side Click to view The distance Click to view Amongst the trees Click to view From inside Click to view The dead tree Click to view A nights sky Click to view Front inside Click to view The wall Click to view Rear side Click to view Before the graffiti Click to view

The Powerhouse Built-in 1917 The power house was erected in 1917, replacing an earlier building on the site. The erection of a new power house was another initiative of HB Ellerton and part of his plan to create a modern mental hospital. The expansion of the institution and the need to replace kerosene lighting with electricity made a new power house necessary. The building was designed based on advice from the tile electrician and engineer, Mr Burrows. Construction commenced in 1916, but because of delays in receiving machinery and boilers from England due to the war, the power house was not operational until late in 1917. With the closing of the boiler room on the 28th February 1998, another chapter in the interesting history of the complex closed. Folklore has it that one of the boilers was sunk in a ship during transit. A search of hospital records substantiates this. The 1917 Annual Report stated that although the building itself was completed early in 1917, "with the exception of the accumulators, none of the machinery arrived until the year was well advanced". The report further states that the war was responsible for the delay in receiving the machinery as part was commandeered for war purposes when it was ready on the wharf for shipment, and other portions were on ships sunk by submarines. Morrie Sams, boiler attendant, who has been employed at the Wolston Park Hospital for the past 18 years, stated that this is the only steam boiler of this type known to be still running in Australia. The boiler is fully manual. Everything is done manually, from shovelling the coal to putting in more water to cool the boiler if it gets too hot. Before closure, the boilers were run year-round with one boiler online for 12 months while the second boiler was offline for maintenance. In the past, the boiler house ran two shifts, but as patient numbers declined. In 2025, it remains largely intact. The building comprises two parts: a large double-height boiler room and an adjacent single-storey engine room, the floor of which is at the level of the upper gallery of the boiler room. The building includes an open ‘coal bunker’ on the side of the boiler room, and a tall freestanding brick chimney. In 2020, the boiler room was vacant, retained its boilers and was used as a store for a considerable amount of hospital paraphernalia. The engine room has had partitions installed and is now used as offices, containing a small hospital museum. Chronology: 1917: building construction was completed 1920: disinfectant room added 1944: curved galvanised iron awnings added to coal bunkers 1945: conversion of disinfectant room to a change room 1957: additional coal bunkers to the western elevation 1958: workshops added to the southern elevation. Powerhouse Click to view Coal Bunker 2022 Click to view Coal Bunker 2022 Click to view Former Workshops Click to view Former Workshops Click to view Powerhouse 90s Click to view Chimney 2023 Click to view Chimney 2023 Click to view Chimney 2023 Click to view Chimney 2023 Click to view Inside Chimney Click to view Inside Chimney Click to view Unknown Structure Click to view Coal Bunker Click to view Rear Entrance Click to view Inside Click to view Inside Click to view Engine room 2022 Click to view Engine room 2022 Click to view Workshops Click to view Coal Bunker 2000 Click to view Inside 2000 Click to view Inside 2000 Click to view Inside 2000 Click to view Inside 2000 Click to view

Goodna Township As early as 1841, there was a sheep run called "Woogaroo Station," owned by the Grenier family of South Brisbane. This name referred to a waterhole in the creek, and was superseded from 1856 onwards by Goodna, an Indigenous word meaning "dung'. An unfortunate linguistic misunderstanding appears to be responsible for this name. Before time The broad river snaked its way through the bush as always since the Dreamtime, nourishing the people and animals who came to its banks. The rhythm of life and the movement of people accompanied the unfolding pattern of the seasons. Women and children spent their days gathering plants and small creatures while the men hunted larger animals, birds and fish. The dreaming stories were celebrated in dance, song, art, and word in the camp along the creek, where neighbouring clans gathered, and the Yaggera people met the Turrbal in corroboree. Tools and blades were fashioned from stone and traded. The males of many clans gathered at the Bora Ring to teach the boys how to become warriors, and the elders guided them through the secret steps to manhood. Ceremonies marked the passage from child to adult, and the mysteries of initiation passed down from the ancestors were shared. Europeans' arrival In December 1823, the incursion began. Two rowboats came up the river, crewed by alien men from another continent. John Oxley and Allan Cunningham, with an officer and their boat crews, began their exploration. On 3 December 1823, Oxley landed at Prior’s Pocket on the northern bank of the river and, leaving his men to rest, he crossed the river, climbing a low hill and then walking to Dingo Hill from where he could see much of the surrounding landscape. Others followed, and in 1827, a small party of convicts and their guards passed by on their way to a spot upstream, beyond where two rivers joined together, where a deposit of white limestone had been recognised. Here, at the future site of Ipswich, limestone could be hewn and burnt to make cement. When the ghostly strangers arrived, they were terrifying in their violation of the land and its creatures, and of each other. They brought with them their alien animals, and in their cruelty and savagery, they broke all the laws that had existed since time immemorial, bending the country to their will and somehow escaping the fate of those who transgress against the spirit of the land. Against their violence and their diseases, the original people had little defence. The convicts left in 1839, and free settlement was allowed. The Aboriginal people were driven to the margins as the white men took over the land, careless of their gathering places and sacred sites, and excluding them from their hunting grounds. The men of Woogaroo Station and their horses drove their sheep across the land, crushing underfoot a way of life that had existed for thousands of years. Woogaroo The river became a highway for the steamboats of the white man, and the dusty track beside it became a pathway for bullock drays and carts. At this spot, a village known as Woogaroo grew up on the river flats as a landing developed and innkeepers set up hostelries for thirsty workers and travellers by land and by water. A store was established in 1857. By 1859, a thousand bales of Darling Downs wool made their way down the river to Brisbane each month. Settlers attempted to cultivate sugar and cotton with early success. Bullock teams heaved prized logs of hoop pine and red cedar to the wharf for use in Brisbane. Coal was discovered, and primitive mines were developed as men imagined the fortunes they could make selling the valuable fuel for use in steamships, foundries and workshops. Situated between the two most important towns in the Moreton Bay district, the growing settlement welcomed the establishment of the new Colony of Queensland in 1859, the same year that O’Possum Creek cattle station was established, and a cemetery was opened. As a self-respecting part of the British Empire, Queensland needed all the latest facilities. This included an ‘asylum’ where the unfortunates of society could be housed away from the public eye. In those days, such a place was not only for the mentally ill but also for many of those with disabilities. The Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum received its first inmates in 1865 when seven warders (two of them female) and ten police constables escorted 57 male and two female lunatics from Brisbane Gaol to the new Asylum. The place has changed its name many times: the Goodna Asylum, the Goodna Hospital for the Insane, the Brisbane Mental Hospital, the Brisbane Special Hospital, Wolston Park Hospital, and now simply ‘The Park’. As the number of inmates increased, so did the number of warders living nearby. So too did the number of farmers, as the government divided the land into farms, and the number of mouths to feed steadily grew. The establishment of the new Colony necessitated the construction of a Government House and a Parliament building. The sandstone for these buildings came from a quarry established at Woogaroo near what Stuart Street is now. The stone was quarried, dressed, and transported by cart to the river for barge transport to Brisbane. Construction of the Government House at Gardens Point in Brisbane began in 1860, and of the nearby Parliament House in 1865. Another requirement of the new Colony was a railway. River transport sufficed from Brisbane to Ipswich, but beyond, a line to the rich Darling Downs with its grazing properties was needed. All the rails, workshop equipment, locomotives, carriages and wagons needed for the pioneer line came up the river on barges hauled by steamboat to North Ipswich, from where the line commenced in 1865 Woogaroo becomes Goodna In 1865, the settlement’s name was changed from Woogaroo to Goodna. By now, it had been delivered by mail to a post office and to a Congregational church. The Royal Mail Hotel had opened by 1866. The wealthy entrepreneur Robert Towns opened a coal mine, with production beginning in 1867, thereby creating additional jobs. The loaded coal wagons, about 7000 tons a year, were hauled by horses down to the river wharf on a narrow-gauge tramway using timber rails. A police station was established, and in 1870, a blacksmith set up shop. 1870 also saw the opening of a State School. As Brisbane and Ipswich grew, farming shifted to maize (for animal feed) and root vegetables, with a strong local market for these products. By the early 1870s, the development of transport and industry had led to passenger transport options between Goodna and Brisbane and Ipswich, with two steamboat services per day in each direction. Three-horse coach services each way, two of them run by Cobb and Co. The steamboat called at Oxley and Goodna, while the intermediate coach stops were at Rocklea, Oxley and Goodna. The Brisbane Road of that time corresponds to the Brisbane Terrace of today. When it was decided to extend the railway from Ipswich to Brisbane, the first sod turning took place at Goodna on 30 January 1873. Two thousand people travelled from Brisbane and Ipswich, most by river, to see the Governor, the Marquis of Normanby, perform the ceremony using a silver spade and wheelbarrow. The Ipswich Volunteer Artillery fired off two cannons as a salute. It took more than three years to complete the line, making Goodna an essential station for travellers between Brisbane and Toowoomba, Dalby, and Warwick. From Goodna, travel to Ipswich by train was only about half an hour and to Brisbane about an hour: the river steamers and coaches plied their trade no more. The coming of the railway line encouraged further development. For example, a sawmill had opened by 1884, allowing sawn timber to be taken as building supplies not only to Brisbane but as far west as Roma. Dairying, butchery, market gardening and even honey production grew as a result of the improved transport links. At the same time, a chemical factory was established close to the river, and a brickworks was opened. By 1888, the population of Goodna was 500. The open country in the area was used for a variety of purposes. For example, in 1886, the Queensland Defence Force’s volunteer soldiers used the area for training their horses to haul artillery guns in preparation for any foreign attack upon the colony. A few years later, the Goodna area was a favourite gathering place for the Brisbane Hunt Club, which perpetuated the British traditions associated with fox hunting. The riders brought their horses from Brisbane by special train, and the pack of hounds came on foot from their kennels at Rocklea. Following lunch at a local hostelry or private residence, the ‘hunt’ would take place with the hounds followed not a fox but a pre-laid scent trail across the country, and there was much jumping of fences and other obstacles on the part of the riders. The 1893 flood Flooding of the Brisbane River was a frequent problem at Goodna, and a rowboat was kept available to allow staff of the Mental Hospital to travel to and from work. The 1890 flood caused extensive damage, with many people displaced from their homes and sheltered in the Catholic church. In 1893, the most significant flood on record occurred. At Goodna, the water level rose to 22 metres (5 metres higher than in 1974 and 6 metres higher than in 2011), flooding the Catholic church. The flood destroyed many more of the buildings in the settlement north of the railway line. Even the Railway Station building was partially swept away. Although some buildings were rebuilt on the river flats along the old Brisbane Road, development turned to the higher ground above the railway line. There were seven hills in the area: Hospital Hill, Dingo Hill, Holmes Hill, Brickfield Hill, Meaney’s Hill, School Hill, and Bradley’s Hill. ‘School Hill’, ‘Brickfield Hill’ and ‘Holmes Hill’ were all common Goodna addresses in the 1930s Picture Ipswich Photo Gallery Trove Goodna Articles Plan of the Village of Goodna 1865 Click to view Goodna 1888 Click to view Woogaroo Scrub 1890 Click to view Moreton District, Queensland. 20 Chain Series. Parish of Goodna, County of Stanley 1863 - 1922 Click to view Town of Goodna, Parish of Goodna, County of Stanley. 8 chains to the inch. 1917 Click to view Brisbane Terrace Goodna in 1924 Click to view Ipswich Road - Goodna 1923 Click to view Men inspect repairs to road surface Brisbane Terrace Goodna, Ipswich, 1926. In the distance, you can see the Royal Mail & Railway Hotels Click to view In 1903 Goodna was described in the Australian handbook: Click to view "The Pines" residence was built and lived in by the Law family. The house was situated on Brisbane Terrace with the Blacksmith's shop next door and the Goodna School in the background. Click to view Looking from where today's Queen st roundabout Church St looking down towards the Goodna Jacaranda fields are today. The rail line still goes over, but newest addition is the motorway bridge Click to view Uknown resident, taken on Barram St Click to view Goodna State School 1923 Click to view Cotton Farm - Goodna 1913 Click to view Apiary in Goodna Backyard 1913 Click to view Truck Using Ipswich Road - Goodna Click to view Brisbane - Toowoomba Road at Goodna 1946 Click to view 1 May 1944 Click to view Goodna Racecourse 1919 Click to view 1921 photo Click to view 1925 photo Click to view Goodna Racecourse Click to view PURCHASE OF OLD RACECOURSE 1948 Click to view Goodna, QLD. 1942-06. Click to view Goodna, QLD. 1942-06. Click to view

Bostock House Built in 1885, extended 1901, c1924 Bostock House ( former f emale p atient ward 6) is named in honour of a Brisbane doctor, Professor John Bostock, who was Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Queensland and used to take a great interest in Wolston Park. Today, it stands to the north of Anderson House, set back from and facing Ellerton Drive. It is one of only five buildings on the site surviving from the 19th century. It was erected as part of a major building program on the site during the 1800s. The building was similar to other female wards and provided accommodation for 52 female patients. In 1901, a scullery was added to the northern end and a lavatory at the southern end. Metal fire escape stairs were added in 1910, as were glass observation doors in 19l3 and servery hatches in 1914. Extra bathing accommodation was provided in 1924 by extending the scullery and converting the old lavatory into a pantry. In 1927-8, a sleeping balcony, 14 feet wide, was added to the western side of the building to provide extra sleeping accommodation. The interior was also extensively altered by opening the day room and dormitories into the adjacent passages to increase the area. This required removing a load-bearing partition running the length of the building and inserting a large rolled steel joist and two cast iron columns. The ground floor was replaced. In 1950, part of the western verandah was enclosed to form a laundrette. Extensive repairs were made to Bostock House in 1958. The building retains its open, semi-formal garden setting. In 2026, the building accommodates Rotary and is highly intact. Fire stairs added (c1969) to the rear verandah and over the front verandah (since removed) are not of state-level cultural heritage significance. Bostock House was one of five similar wards constructed between 1878 and the mid-1890s, and is the only one that survives from that period. Chronology: Research Note: The 1924 and 1927 additions should also be conserved. 1884: building construction completed 1901: scullery and toilets were added to the western and eastern ends 1910: fire escape to the northern elevation 1924: additional bathing accommodation 1927: sleeping verandah to northern elevation, internal alterations 1958: original windows replaced by steel frame windows Earliest known photo of Bostock House in 1907 Click to view 1938 photo of Bostock House with the Recreation Hall to the right. Click to view Bostock House 1935 Click to view Bostock House 2024 Click to view Bostock rear Click to view Bostock bathrooms Click to view Bostock rear Click to view Architecture beauty Click to view Night side Click to view Night rear Click to view Old window Click to view Old window Click to view Front night Click to view Front side Click to view Brick and sandstone Click to view Entrance Click to view Door Click to view Inside top Click to view inside bottom Click to view Verandah Click to view Front entrance Click to view Window looking towards old women's Click to view original street sign Click to view Garden Click to view Night side Click to view

Cafeteria Built-in 1954 The cafeteria, also known as the Riverside Ballroom, is a low-set brick building with a hipped roof, located in the centre of the area. It is long and narrow, stretching along the east/west ridgeline and has many windows on its northern side with impressive views across the recreation area’s amphitheatre to the Brisbane River and landscape beyond. Built initially as the communal dining room that could seat 500 patients, along with a servery, wash-up room, preparation room and stores, staff rooms and lavatories and patients' abulations and lavatories. It remains largely intact and, in 2020, serves as the clubhouse for the Wolston Park Golf Club. Minimal alterations include a freestanding, open-sided shelter on the northern side; replacement of the roof cladding from corrugated asbestos sheets to corrugated metal sheets; rearrangement of the ablutions; insertion of folding partitions into the long dining room; and replacement of the folding doors on the northern side of the dining room. Features of the Cafeteria of state-level cultural heritage significance also include Form and layout: long, narrow building with short projecting blocks for ablutions and kitchen; hipped roof; long dining room with views and access out to the north, servery bar and access to the kitchen at the south, large fireplace at the east, and access through to the ablutions at the west Curvilinear paved terrace on the northern side with a brick window and flower boxes. Materials: face brick walls and squat chimney; flat sheet-lined eaves; timber floor in the dining room; original partitions (timber-framed, flat sheet-lined; flat sheet-lined ceilings with timber battens Servery bar Original windows and doors Immediate landscape surround: adjacent lawn areas and a row of three mature bookleaf pines (Thuja orientalis) to the southwest. Research Note Another important building project undertaken by Dr Basil Strafford for female patients at the time was the construction of a dedicated female recreation facility, which commenced in 1951 on an area of approximately 2.5 hectares on the western edge of the reserve, adjacent to the Brisbane River. The principal building within the area was the cafeteria with facilities to serve 500 patients [now Wolston Park Golf Club house]. Patients could spend the entire day in the recreation area without returning to the wards for midday meals. 1950 plan Click to view 1950 plan Click to view First day of operation in 1954 Click to view Ballroom after 1954 opening Click to view Fireplace 1953 Click to view Ballroom 2024 Click to view Rear entrance Click to view Chimney with a curious extension Click to view Curious extension Click to view Looking towards the ballroom from the front Click to view Kitchen entrance Click to view Side entrance Click to view Rear entrance Click to view Gardens and ballroom Click to view Gardens and ballroom Click to view Gardens with louvres Click to view Another entrance at the rear Click to view Location of the toilets Click to view Location of the toilets Click to view Ballroom 2024 Click to view Ballroom 2024 Click to view 161727967_10160697747206521_7856219398783697524_n.jpg Click to view Fireplace with sandstone rock, brick and original timber floor Click to view Fireplace with bricks Click to view Fireplace with sandstone rock Click to view

Female Patients' Recreation Area While male patients had spacious outdoor recreational amenities since at least 1895, most notably the cricket oval, no similar facilities existed for female patients. In keeping with gender stereotypes, the recreational opportunities provided for females were restricted to indoor 'domestic' type activities such as needlework. In 1946, Medical Superintendent Boyce proposed the construction of a special female recreation area. The rationale for such a facility was that it would provide 'a more congenial environment to assist patients towards recovery'. More pragmatically, an area where female patients could spend part of the day. Despite the completion of a new female block with accommodation for 60 residents, overcrowding was still a major problem. The need to fill almost every available space with beds, such as verandahs and corridors, resulted in an even more acute shortage of space for daytime activities. Only a limited number of patients could undertake needlework or work in the sewing rooms or laundry. The remainder were confined to sitting about in an extremely cramped environment. The Director of Mental Hygiene, Basil Stafford, endorsed the idea and, in March 1948, reported that the 'scarcity of a recreation area for a large number of female patients is a considerable handicap in the administration of this hospital'. An area of approximately 2.5 hectares on the western edge of the reserve, adjacent to the Brisbane River, was selected. Pm of the area occupied the site of the original male wards, and ironically, a portion comprised a low-lying area that was originally designated in the 1860s to be laid out as pleasure grounds. Construction of facilities and landscaping commenced in 1951. The principal building within the area was the cafeteria with facilities to serve 500 patients. This building enabled patients to spend much of the day in the area without the need for returning to the ward for midday meals. The building was also used for occupational therapy. Other buildings included a sewing room, storage sheds and viewing shelters. A tennis court and bowling green were constructed, and the lower area levelled to form a large playing field. A landscaping scheme was devised by M Rose, the Acting Superintendent of Institutional Gardens. Existing trees (including several dating back to the 1860s) and shrubs were incorporated into a scheme that included native species such as silver wattles, Brisbane Golden Wattle, and Bauhinias, as well as exotics like Jacaranda and Poinciana regia. A row of palms was planted adjacent to the six-foot-high wire fence along the lower playing field. The grounds were developed by the staff and inmate labour. The Female Patients Recreation Area comprises buildings (a Cafeteria, Bowling Green, Change Room and Stores Shed) laid out along a curved ridge that forms a natural amphitheatre around former playing fields on the lower terrace at the edge of the Brisbane River. A further building (Packing Shed and Patients Shelter) stands southwest of the others. It overlooks the south-sloping ground, historically used for vegetable cultivation. Developed on the site of the former Simpson Residence (1843-44) and the subsequent Early Asylum Site (former Woogaroo Insane Asylum, established 1865, demolished 1890-93 floods), the area now forms part of the Wolston Park Golf Club course (1970s), which contributes to the spacious open grounds and landscape setting of the hospital complex. The work on the buildings and grounds was completed by 1954 and immediately utilised daily. In his Annual Report for 1955, Medical Superintendent Boyce reported the success of the female recreation area and, in particular, the cafeteria. By 1957, more than 200 patients were regularly using the facilities. They enjoyed 'the picnic atmosphere' of the grounds, where they were served a midday meal, and participated in a variety of sports and handcrafts in the occupational therapy centre. The area to the rear of the Riverside ballroom was farmed until at least the 1950s. 24 June 1961 Click to view Croquet being played by a nurse in the late 1950s. Click to view Bowling Green in the 1950s Click to view Bowling Green & Croquet areas in the 1955 Click to view 1987 aerial overhead Click to view Looking across Woogaroo Creek from Brisbane Terrace towards the now Golf Club and former asylum site were once this land was farming. Click to view Former bowling green Click to view Former sports field Click to view A former patient's chair remains at the former recreation area today Click to view The Visual Connection Click to view

Wolston House When Dr Stephen Simpson was appointed Commissioner for Crown Lands for the Moreton Bay District in 1842, the area was first opened up for free settlement following the closure of the penal colony. He was a cultured man, a Doctor of Medicine, a Justice of the Peace, a Police Magistrate and a founding Member of the Queensland Legislative Council following Separation from New South Wales. His first home in the colony was at Woogaroo (where the Wolston Park Golf Club is situated), which was to become the site of the Wolston Park Hospital. In 1851, when the opportunity to buy land in the area arose, he purchased 640 acres (2.6 km2) to the east of his first house on land overlooking the Brisbane River. Wolston House comprises the homestead and garden from the Wolston Estate, a large pastoral property established initially by Dr Stephen Simpson in 1852 and extended during the 1860s by Matthew Goggs. The new property, which included a stockyard, stables, outbuildings and a house and garden, was laid out by surveyor William Pettigrew in 1852. The garden was planned with care. Pettigrew recorded in his diary the planting of fruit trees there, and Simpson was known for his interest in plants and gardening. It is possible that Simpson planted the fig trees at Wolston. The house in which Simpson lived was much smaller than the Wolston homestead that now stands. He had arrived in Brisbane as a recent widower and lived in a way that would have made a significant or formal dwelling unnecessary. He constructed a two-room brick cottage over a sandstone basement. The house was shingled and had a detached kitchen. This cottage now forms the core of the house. Simpson may have added the existing sandstone kitchen that adjoins this section before he sold the house in 1860, or by Goggs. After his wife and child died, Simpson designated his nephew, John Ommaney (for whom Mount Ommaney is named) as his heir. On 11 March 1856, the young man, aged 20, was riding from Wolston station and was thrown from his horse. The horse returned to Wolston, and a search was undertaken. Ommaney was found on the ground insensible and, despite medical attention, died. His body was taken by steamer to be buried in the Church of England cemetery at Paddington . This may have affected Simpson's commitment to remaining in the colony, and a few years later, he put the Wolston estate up for sale and returned to England. According to the auction notice that appeared in the Moreton Bay Courier of 3 January 1860, the estate was by then well established with 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of fenced land, an extensive garden and orchards, 250 head of horses and 400 of cattle. Matthew Buscall Goggs purchased Wolston in October 1860. He continued to operate the estate as a cattle and horse-breeding station and expanded the holding to 100,000 acres (400 km2). Goggs, a farmer's son, emigrated to Australia in 1841 and took up land at Chinchilla with his first wife. He purchased Wolston after his second marriage to Anne Gedge, and they had ten children. Goggs built a sandstone extension to the house in the 1860s to accommodate his family, and in the 1870s, a cedar annexe was added, containing children's bedrooms. Goggs died in 1882 and was buried in a mausoleum that he had built in the grounds of the estate. This was damaged in the 1893 floods, and the bodies of Goggs and two infants were reburied at Toowong Cemetery . Following Gogg's death, his eldest son, also named Matthew Buscall, ran the estate until around 1890, when he moved to Brisbane. A Mr Thomas Matthews is recorded in Post Office Directories as having lived at Wolston between 1890 and 1893 and may have leased the property from the Goggs family. Over the years, the family had bought and sold land, and by 1907, the Wolston property had been reduced to 650 acres (2.6 km2) around Wolston House. Wolston House, 1890 In 1907, the Grindle family purchased the property. They built it up and operated a successful dairy, milking 120 cows a day and selling the milk to Brisbane. They covered the shingle roof with corrugated iron. They rationalised the spacing of the verandah posts, which had previously been irregular, reflecting the stages at which the house was extended. In 1956, the estate was purchased by Robert Hurley. By this time, the property had become run-down, and the house was inhabited by three elderly Grindle brothers who were no longer able to manage it. At the time, this consisted of 117 acres (47 ha) of freehold land in poor condition. The Hurleys rebuilt the property, establishing an intensive dairy business. In 1960, the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock resumed the property to develop a tick research centre. They demolished the farm outbuildings and intended to demolish the homestead as well; however, this was saved following an intensive campaign by the Queensland Women's Historical Association, the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, and the newly formed National Trust of Queensland . In 1965, the house was transferred to the National Trust and became its first property. Sir Raphael Cilento , who was to become the second president of the Trust between 1966 and 1971, and the architect Karl Langer , were prominent in the acquisition of the homestead and in its interpretation. This interpretation rested on the property's occupation by Dr Stephen Simpson, and it was therefore decided to demolish the timber section at the rear, which was clearly of a later date. When acquired by the Trust, the house was in poor condition. In addition to urgent repairs, extensive reconstruction was carried out. Although it reflects the philosophies of the early 1960s, this approach is unacceptable today. The current conservation philosophy, in line with the recommendations of the Burra Charter , favours minimal intervention and interpretation and embraces the whole life of the house and its setting. The Trust has owned Wolston House for more than 30 years. It remains open to the public as a museum, allowing the effects of changes in conservation philosophies and methods over this period to be studied. Description Wolston House is on a rural site between Brisbane and Ipswich overlooking the Brisbane River. The surrounding land is now occupied by Wacol Correctional Centre and the Department of Primary Industries and retains its pastoral aspect. The house is surrounded by a mature garden containing large trees, a well and a pump. The house is constructed of sandstone and brick, with a galvanised-iron roof, and comprises six rooms. Two cellars with attached lean-tos form a half-basement accessed from the rear. The house is one room deep with the rooms disposed along a verandah supported by timber posts. The rooms are accessed through French windows, with no formal entrance. These consist of a large double room divided by folding cedar doors, a bedroom, a dining room, and a kitchen set at a slightly lower level. Much of the joinery is original; however, much of the plaster wall finishes have been reconstructed, and the ceilings, which were thought to have been pressed metal and plaster, have been rebuilt in secondhand timber. To the rear of the house, brick basement walls remain from the 1860s children's wing, which was demolished in the 1970s. Wolston functions as a house museum, and a modern caretaker's residence is situated to one side of the house. There is a modern toilet block behind the house, and a timber railway building has been relocated to the rear of the site to serve as a store. The gate posts and part of the wall shown in 1930s photographs survive, as do elements of original paving. The collection, which was developed to furnish the house, does not pertain to it but includes items associated with individuals who lived or worked on the property. It contains several significant early pieces of furniture and objects. Heritage listing Wolston House was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992, having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. It is also associated with the formation of the National Trust of Queensland and with Sir Raphael Cilento and Karl Langer, who played significant roles in the acquisition of Wolston House as the Trust's foundation property. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. Wolston House is a rare surviving early homestead, primarily constructed in the 1860s, incorporating an 1852 cottage. The materials and workmanship that survive from these stages of building illustrate techniques not commonly found in small rural buildings of this period. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. By its form and the absence of a formal entry, the building demonstrates aspects of the way of life of the district's first European settlers. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance The building's character and its relationship with the landscape have considerable aesthetic appeal and are well-received by the community. The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history. The earliest part of the house is associated with Dr Stephen Simpson (1792-1869), a prominent figure in public life during the early years of Brisbane. It is also associated with the formation of the National Trust of Queensland and with Sir Raphael Cilento and Karl Langer, who played significant roles in the acquisition of Wolston House as the Trust's foundation property. HISTORIC WOLSTON. By F.E. LORD. Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view