From all of us at Annerley-Stephens History Group Inc have a wonderful festive season with your family and friends. Thanks for all you support in 2024 and we’ll see you in 2025.
ASHG has had a wonderful year settling into our new permanent premises at History Room in Yeronga Community Centre. We had our last drop in day for 2024 on Wednesday 11 December!!
History room drop in days kick off on Wednesday 22 January!
Join us for History Alive on Monday February 3 2025 at 7.00 after the first Business meeting for 2025.
ASHG is excited to share its program of events for June – November.
The Wednesday morning drop in days will continue providing a relaxed opportunity each week to talk history.
We’re doing things a little differently in the second part of the year with a walk, events at two of our local libraries, the first Saturday afternoon Talking History events and a book launch. Watch out for more information about each event.
On the 10th August ASHG is excited to be back at Annerley library for a morning talk at 10.30 am. Dr Janis Hanley will discuss Ekibin’s Chinese past and explore the extent of Chinese market gardens from the late 1880s to post WW2.
The Memories of Stephens, the compilation of articles from the 2023 conference will be launched by Dr Denver Beanland at the Yeronga Community Centre at 7.00 pm.
On Saturday morning 28th September Lyn Burnett, John Horder and Denis Peel consider Lost Houses and the stories that they tell.
On the afternoon of 26th October Jeff Brunne will be at the Fairfield Library looking at the question Why is Fairfield so Different.
For our last event of the year ASHG is very pleased to host Dr Kevin Rains discussing Cross River Rail Archeology on Saturday 16th November at 2.00 pm.
Monthly meetings are held at 6.00 pm on the first Monday of the month unless it is a public holiday when the meeting is held on a Tuesday.
ASHG is excited to be launching a new publication, Memories of Stephens, compiled by Stephen Sheaffe AM. This is the latest publication produced by ASHG that tells the stories of the Annerley-Stephens area. It brings together the papers from the Memories of Stephens conference held in October 2023 at Our Lady’s College, Annerley. Several extra articles about the area are included.
Memories of Stephens has been edited by Stephen Sheaffe AM in conjunction with Associate Professor Gary Osmond.
The book was launched with guest speaker Dr Denver Beanland AM on Monday 2nd September 7.00 pm at Yeronga Community Centre, 62 Park Rd., Yeronga (enter via Villa Street).
PCopies of the books are on sale at the launch for $25.00.
There are 21 chapters in the fascinating new publication that features stories about the rich history of Yeronga, Annerley, Fairfield and surrounding suburbs. The beautiful cover gives a hint of the richness and diversity of the stories inside.
Expect to find a treasure trove of topics including the early history of Yeronga; the Chinese of Ekibin and Moorooka; local scouts and railways; Churches, families, landmarks and; stories of WW11 and heritage-listed properties.
The book includes wonderful images. Here is a glimpse of just some of the papers and related images. .
The photo below is a section from the Greenslopes State School mural and relates to the Chinese of Stephens written by Dr Janis Hanley and Jan Richardson. The photo is on the front cover.
Jeanette Wiley looks at Tennyson in her paper From Softstone to Tennyson. Below is an early image of the Brisbane River taken from Jeanette’s paper. The image is on the back cover of the book.
Two of the papers consider rail history: Along the South Coast Railway Line (Greg Hallam and Dr Ruth Kerr) and Railway Lines and Stations in Stephens (Railway Lines and Stations in Stephens). The image below is of the 1936 train derailment at Fairfield Station.
Bill Metcalfe takes us through the Toohey Forest Land-Use History. Below is a photo of the beautiful Frog Rock in Toohey Forest.
The launch follows the ASHG monthly meeting which commences at 6.00 pm.
It was standing room only at the Annerley Library on Saturday 10 August, with Dr Janis Hanley presenting a fascinating exploration of the multi-cultural beginnings of Ekibin.
Engaging maps, photographs and other documents presented gave a real ‘feel’ for the area and how it changed over time. A tale of fellmongers, tanneries, wool scours and manure dumps in the catchment that impacted Norman Creek (and gave a certain aroma to the area).
An overview of how Chinese market gardeners used nutrient-rich creek water (from upstream slaughterhouses) to fertilise organically and grow vegetables successfully and productively.
Janis carefully navigated the complexities of antiquated and exclusionary immigration policies and revealed fascinating information about local Chinese residents from official historical documentation.
After the talk the room was abuzz and several descendants of Chinese Market gardeners recalled stories from their childhood.
Dr Janis Hanley provides some interesting narratives using historical maps.
