Bankfoot House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bankfoot House |
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Bankfoot House, 2007
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| Location | 1998 Old Gympie Road, Glass House Mountains, Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1870s - 1890s (late 19th century) |
| Built | 1878 |
| Official name: Bankfoot House, SEQ-1E 38 | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 11 December 2008 |
| Reference no. | 602702 |
| Significant period | 1868-2002 |
| Significant components | shed/s, ramp, laundry / wash house, garage, cairn, plaque, residential accommodation - farm house, trees/plantings, dairy/creamery |
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Bankfoot House is a special historic home located at 1998 Old Gympie Road, in the Glass House Mountains area of Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1878 and is now recognized on the Queensland Heritage Register since 2008. This house tells the story of early settlers and a busy travel route in Queensland.
Contents
Bankfoot House: A Historic Home
Bankfoot House is a timber homestead, meaning a large farm house, found on the old road that once connected Brisbane to Gympie. The Grigor family, who were the first European settlers in this area, built the main part of the house in 1878. It is likely the oldest building still standing in the Glass House Mountains district.
This house was part of a very important coach stop. This stop began in 1868 on the first main road between Brisbane and Gympie. The Grigor family and their descendants lived here until 2002. Bankfoot House is the only coach change station left from the famous Cobb and Co. route between Brisbane and Gympie. It sits across from the Australian Teamsters Hall of Fame, which celebrates old-time drivers and their teams.
Early Settlement in the Glass House Mountains
Captain Cook named the Glass House Mountains in 1770. However, it took another 100 years for European settlers to move into the area. Before 1860, the land between the Mooloolah and Maroochy Rivers was protected. This was to save the bunya trees, which were a vital food source for Aboriginal people.
After Queensland became a separate colony from New South Wales in 1859, new laws allowed people to settle here. This led to timber cutting and, later, the discovery of gold at Gympie in 1867. These events brought the first white settlers to the Glasshouse Mountains.
The Grigor Family Arrives
William Grigor and Mary Fenwick both came to Moreton Bay on January 19, 1855. They sailed on the ship William Miles. Mary was born in Bankfoot, Scotland, in 1834. She met William, also from Scotland, during their journey. Mary worked as a governess, teaching children, before marrying William in August 1863.
William Grigor worked in the timber industry. He became friends with James Low, another Scotsman. In 1863, Grigor and Low partnered with William Pettigrew, who owned a sawmill in Brisbane. They used a ship called Gneering to transport cut cedar wood from the Mooloolah River to Brisbane. This partnership ended by 1868.
Grigor and Low moved to the Mooloolah River mouth around 1863. They ran a store and a timber depot there. By 1867, they also set up a timber depot, store, and post office on the Maroochy River. This was the first post office between Brisbane and Gympie.
The Gold Rush and New Roads
In October 1867, gold was found at Gympie. This discovery made a direct route to Gympie very important. Grigor and Low quickly cut a track from their Maroochy River depot to Gympie. This gave travelers a new way to reach the goldfields.
The Queensland government decided to build a proper road from Brisbane to Gympie. Tom Petrie was hired to find the best route. He was joined by Hiram Barnes, a driver for Cobb and Co. The new road was rough but usable. In May 1868, the government spent money to make it better for wagons.
Cobb and Co. planned to run a coach service once the road was ready. In October 1868, a Cobb & Co. representative traveled the new road from Gympie to Brisbane. It took 28 hours in a two-horse buggy.
Bankfoot House as a Coach Stop
William Grigor chose 160 acres of land for his home and business. He picked this spot on October 16, 1868. The western edge of his land was along the new main road to Gympie.
The first Bankfoot House was likely built between October and November 1868. It was named after Mary Grigor's home village in Scotland. A ship's carpenter named Mewitt probably built it. The house was designed to offer a place for travelers to stay. It was a long, narrow building with bedrooms, a hall, and a dining room. A large red cedar table, seating 16 guests, was used in the dining room and is still at Bankfoot House today.
Bankfoot House also served as a post office and a lunch stop for Cobb and Co. coaches. It was also a place where horses could be changed for fresh ones. Other buildings at the station included a butcher's shop, stables, and a feed shed.
The location was chosen carefully. It was about halfway between the Caboolture River and Mooloolah River coach stops. The nearby Glass House Mountains were a good landmark. Fresh water from Coonowrin Creek was available for horses. The flat, elevated site was perfect for coaches to pull up.
Cobb and Co. Service
Cobb and Co. started its first coach run on November 12, 1868. Bankfoot House was the lunch stop. The coach from Brisbane, driven by Hiram Barnes, met the coach from Gympie at Low's depot on the Maroochy River. Both coaches finished their journeys the next day. The trip cost £3 10s and took two days to cover about 117.5 miles.
Coach drivers would blow a bugle about half a mile from Bankfoot House. This let the Grigors know to prepare meals for the arriving passengers. The distance between coach stops was usually 8 to 16 miles. Cobb and Co. also held the contract for mail service from 1868 to 1879. The railway line from Brisbane to Landsborough opened in 1890, which eventually led to the end of the coach service.
The road from Brisbane to Gympie was known as the most rugged Cobb and Co. route in Queensland. It became very rough, and by 1871, the English writer Anthony Trollope described it as having "no road" in places, with coaches going "at random through the forest."
Life and Changes at Bankfoot House
By 1874, William Grigor's property had fences, a house, stables, and other buildings. He also had seven acres of cultivated land. The Grigor family ran a dairy herd and a butcher's shop. They also had a store to supply miners traveling to Gympie. A meal, a bed, and horse feed each cost one shilling.
In 1878, business was so good that a new building was added behind the original house. This new part, which is the core of the current house, provided bedrooms for the growing Grigor family and a kitchen for the guesthouse. It was connected to the 1868 building by a covered walkway.
Since there was no school nearby until 1906, the Grigor sons had to ride to Morayfield for school. They lived in a small hut during the week and rode back to Bankfoot House on Fridays with their sister, Clementina.
The Grigors ran the post office from 1868 until 1907. Even after the train arrived, reducing coach travel, the post office kept Bankfoot House busy. Accommodation was still offered, especially for people who came to climb the Glass House Mountains.
William Grigor died in 1907. His youngest daughter, Clementina, continued to live in the house after marrying William Burgess in 1902. Mary Grigor, William's wife, had died in 1900. Three of their nine children died young and are buried nearby. A plaque marks their graves.
The original 1868 building eventually suffered from termites and rot. In 1930, during the Great Depression, the family decided to take down the old building. They reused the timber to add two new rooms to the 1878 house: a bedroom and a dining room. William Burgess and a helper did most of this work. Later, a bathroom was added, and some verandahs were enclosed. Electricity came to the house in 1952.
Clementina lived at Bankfoot House for all of her 85 years, dying in 1963. Her son, William Isaac Burgess, took ownership in 1952. Clementina's daughter, Mary, and her husband, Jack Ferris, bought the house in 1964. Mary, who was born in the house, lived there until her death in 1987. Jack Ferris lived to be 102, passing away in 2002. In 2004, the Caloundra City Council bought the house and all its contents, preserving generations of family history.
Exploring Bankfoot House Today
Bankfoot House sits on a flat-topped rise on Old Gympie Road. It offers amazing views of the Glass House Mountains to the east. The property has several buildings and structures, including the main house, a dairy/laundry, a wagon shed, a garage/shed, and water tanks. There's also a special stone monument with a plaque in the front yard.
Many old tools, furniture, pictures, and other items are found throughout the site. These objects help tell the story of the Grigor family and the house's past.
The Main House
The house is made of timber and stands on low stumps. It has a hipped roof made of corrugated iron. The front of the house faces west towards Old Gympie Road. A gate leads to a path that goes to the house. The house has open verandahs on the west and part of the south sides. Other verandahs are enclosed.
The house has grown over time, with parts added to the original 1878 core. Some timber used in the building was reused from older structures on the site. The inside walls and ceilings are made of beech wood, and the doors and windows are made of cedar.
The house has a central hallway with bedrooms, a lounge, and a dining room. The kitchen and a bathroom are built into the enclosed verandahs. Many original items are still inside, including:
- The old post office letterbox
- Lounge room furniture
- A pianola (a type of player piano)
- Everyday items like lamps and irons
- The large dining table
- A kitchen dresser
A horseshoe hangs over the front door, a traditional good luck charm. The Caloundra City Council is making a full list of all the items in the house.
Other Buildings
- Dairy and Laundry: A short covered path connects the dairy and laundry to the main house. The dairy is a small timber building with a shingle roof. It holds old dairying equipment and saws. Next to it is the laundry, which has two concrete tubs and a fireplace for a copper (a large pot for boiling clothes).
- Wagon Shed: This open, rectangular shed is in the northeast corner of the yard. It has a low roof supported by timber posts. Inside, you can see a bullock wagon and other old farm equipment.
- Garage/Shed: This timber building is south of the house. It has a main section with a hip roof and a smaller lean-to section. It was used as a garage and a shed. Some of the timber here was also reused from other buildings.
Other features on the property include a timber ramp, water tanks, and a trellis. The yard has many trees, including three large bunya pines and two smaller ones. There's also a big fig tree with elkhorn ferns growing on it.
Why Bankfoot House is Important
Bankfoot House was added to the Queensland Heritage Register because it meets several important criteria:
- It shows how Queensland's history unfolded: Bankfoot House is the oldest known building in the Glasshouse Mountains area. It shows how early settlers lived and used the land in Queensland during the late 1800s and 1900s. The Grigor family ran a coach stop, guesthouse, post office, timber business, dairy, butcher shop, and store. All these activities show how the region's economy grew and changed over time.
- It's a rare part of Queensland's heritage: Bankfoot House is special because it's the only known coach change station left from the Brisbane-Gympie route. It's also rare to find a place owned and lived in by the same family for so many generations, from the 1860s until 2002. The way materials were reused and recycled on the property also shows a resourceful way of life that was common long ago but is now rare.
- It can teach us more about history: The documents, photos, buildings, and objects at Bankfoot House can help us learn even more about the house and how Queensland was settled.
- It shows what a historic rural property looks like: Bankfoot House, with its farmhouse, dairy, sheds, and equipment, is a great example of a rural property that changed over time. The family adapted the buildings by reusing materials and adding new parts as their businesses grew. Its location on a flat ridge near fresh water was ideal for a coach changing station.
- It has beautiful scenery: Bankfoot House is a landmark on Old Gympie Road. It sits in a beautiful spot on a rise, with stunning views of the Glasshouse Mountains, especially Mount Tibrogargan. The tall bunya pines in the garden are a distinctive part of the landscape.
