Our Publications

Our Publications

ASHG actively publishes local history books about the areas covered by the former Stephens Shire. Books are available for purchase  from the our History Room, during its opening hours,  and from Annerley Meats, 502 Ipswich Rd, open Monday to Saturday. We also offer these books for sale at ASHG events and stalls. The books are also available for perusal in our History Room, and at Annerley Junction Library. 
Note: Prices listed exclude postage.

 

Memories of Stephens  $25

This book, compiled by Stephen Sheaffe, yet again expands the collection of stories of Stephens, with a diverse array of topics. These include pre-colonisation views of Yeronga, local scouting, railways, local churches, local Chinese people, Tennyson, a remarkable local GP,  World War II stories, graves and cemeteries, houses, state heritage properties and more. Chapters include:

– Yeronga 1823 (Dr. M. Macklin)
– Stephens Army of Boy Scouts (D. Marshall)
– The Wilderness of Tarragind (G. Dove)
–  Dr Lindsey Page Winterbotham (Prof. J. Pearn)
– The Forgotten (d. Hacker)
– From Softstone to Tennyson (J. Wiley)
– Chinese in Stephens (Dr. J. Hanley & J. Richardson)
– Toohey Forrest Land-use History (Dr. W. Metcalf)
– State Heritage Properties in Stephens (G. Sheaffe)

More information about the book can be found here. Press the red “Look inside” button ont he left for contents.

 

 Women of Stephens  $25

This book celebrates the lives and stories of women from all walks of life who contributed to the rich tapestry of the south-side of Brisbane. It is a compilation of the papers delivered at the 16 October 2021 lASHG local history conference. The book is compiled edited by Pauline Peel, Kate Dyson and Denis Peel. Chapters include:

– The headwomen of the Chepara people (K. Wilshire)
– Tracing female convict lives (J. Richardson)
– Nurses of World War One (Prof. L. Shields)
– Jessica Anderson’s Yeronga (R. Blair & A. Hay)
– Calling Paula Gubar a dressmaker …. (K. Forsythe)
– The story of the Fairfield Hat Factory
(S. Monk & L. Hurse)
– The Brisbane Line (Dr J. Powell)
– Four Generations of Annerley-Stephens (G. Dove)
– Annie MacKenzie  (J. Wiley)
– Lady Cilento (S. Sheaffe AM)
– Local women: a designer, an author & a poet (K. Dyson)
– Mabel Alice Love (Kathryn Watters)

 

 Stephens and War $25

This book is an exploration of wartime and its legacy from a local perspective, and it is a revealing chronicle of the people, streets and parklands of Stephens Shire.The papers delivered at ASHG’s 26 October 2019 conference are collected in this book. The book is edited by Stephen Sheaffe. Contents include:

– Yeronga Park (R. Walding)
– Burnett, Qld Aboriginal soldier in the first AIF (R. Pratt)
– Military camps in Stephens (P. Dunn)
– Local History Beyond Appearance (N. Buch)
– War Service Homes (C. Black)
– Interwar housing a Four Mile Swamp ( K. Dyson)
– Annerley Drill Halls on Portion105 (M. Baker)
– Finding the first war Service Homes (D. Peel and K. Dyson)
– The military hospital at Greenslopes (C. Strakosch)

 

 

Echoes of Stories of Stephens $25

Echoes of Stories of Stephens contains 18 vibrant chapters exploring our local history . The book is based on Annerley-Stephens History Group local history conference of February 2019. The book is edited by Stephen Sheaffe. Contents include:

– Stephens Divisional board 1886-1903 (T. McKell)
– The Yerongpan of the Chepara People (K. Wiltshire)
– The Comercial Development of Annerley Junction 1866-1966 (M.Baker)
– Cotton Growing in Stephens Shire during the Americal Civil War (M. Macklin)
– Brandons Shoe repairs (M. Scully)
– Annerley Meats (M.Scully)
– The Stephens Croquet Club (V. Layne)
– Tarragindi Buses (N. Wilson)
The ‘Sunbeam’, Streetscape Heritage in Fairfield (J. Pearn).

Stories of Stephens $25

The Stories of Stephens is the collection of papers about the First Nations People of Stephens, A short history of the Shire, Yeronga, and Fairfield as well as stories of prominent names of Stephens. The papers were delivered at the Annerley-Stephens History Group 2016 local history conference. The book is edited by Stephen Sheaffe. Chapters include:

– A Short history of Stephens (S. Sheaffe)
– Aboriginal Landscape and History in Stephens Annerley (R. Kerkhove)
– Yeronga from Colony to World War
– Annerley’s Original Parkland (N.Buch)
– Junction Park School (J. Lergessner)
– Tramways of Stephens (p. Hyde & R. Thomson)
– Strong and Dunn Families (J. Collins)
– John Leary Cracknell (M. Morris)

 

 


Annals of Stephens $15

This was the very first  collections of stories about Stephens, drawn from the 17 July 1994 Annerley Conference,  organised and curated by Stephen and Glenda Scheaffe.  It represents the history of Annerley from its beginnings as farmland owned by T.S. Stephens to an important inner-city suburb of Brisbane. The book is edited by John Kerr. The contents include :

– The Stephens family (L. Stephens)
– John Soden’s Omnibuses (B. Roberts)
– Five Decades of Plicing in Stphens (B. Rough)
– Growing up in Annerley between the wars (R. Wood)
– Children of the Creek 1935-1940 (G. Jurott)

 

 

Children of Stephens $5

(Class packs available)

Children of Stephens is a delightful booklet written and researched by Jarrah Pearce.  Jarrah recorded several oral histories to compile a collection of activities for primary school children.  Lots of fun, and the booklet brings many insights into Stephens past. Contents include:

– Map of Stephens
– Generations
– Before the Second World War – Game: Hopscotch
– During the War – Game: Beam
– Post-War era – Game: Fly

 

 

 

If you would like the books posted out to you, or want to ask any questions about ASHG activities, please use the contact form below.

14 + 8 =

What local history buffs want – survey results are in

What local history buffs want – survey results are in

The short answer is talks, walks, opportunities to participate in history projects, and good online resources.

ASHG recently conducted a small survey on what history and heritage activities and topics members and locals were interested in. Surveys were handed out at an ASHG monthly meeting, at the Annerley Festival, and at the Memories of Stephen’s conference.

The results of the survey will help us hone our aims with the history room, plan our programs and understand how best to engage people in local history and heritage.

This survey is just a starting point – a guide and point for discussion. From time to time we will check in on how we are doing, or conduct quick online polls.

Activities of interest

People rated their interest in each activity as high, medium and low. Responses were scored 3 for high, 3 for medium, 1 for low and zero if not checked.

Scores were averaged, making ‘3’ the highest possible score. Here are the things you are saying to us:

  • Tell us about the history – Guest speakers at the monthly meetings, and history talks scored the highest for everyone, members and non-members.
  • Walk us through the streets – Heritage walks rated next. ASHG’s first self-guided walk is being published next week.
  • Let us help tell the stories – people are keen to participate in heritage projects. There are many ways people can participate, through activities like:
    • researching on Trove, and other online archives
    • visiting archives – city, state and national archives, state library and specialty archives
    • taking oral histories, telling oral histories,
    • exploring family histories
    • writing about our heritage
    • digital story-telling -sharing stories through video clips, podcasts and posts
    • creating tiny exhibitions in our history room’s storefront ‘curiosity cabinet’.
  • Make our history easily accessible to us through online publications and websites
  • Teach us skills to uncover our history through skills focused workshops
  • Keep up conferences and books
Full survey results for activities – highest possible score is 3.

Topics of interest

The second part of the survey was topics of interest. These were grouped into categories of history approaches, history areas, periods, places and things and social history.

Topics of high ranking are early 20th century, women, oral history, heritage places and First Nations heritage.

Below the topics are ranked in order based on percentages of those taking the survey. Some of the rankings changed to the above as a few topics were introduced after the test survey.

That’s a quick snapshot of what people want. Our new history room at Yeronga will help us to deliver these things – ASHG just received the key!