Historical Village News

BUCHANAN HOUSE

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 22:26:00 GMT

The house that followed it's family

In August 1987, after years of research, Burpengary farmer Cec Buchanan had traced his family tree back 124 years to Scotland.

The Buchanan’s were amongst Brisbane’s early settlers.

James Buchanan was born on April 2^nd, 1857 in Airdrie Scotland and in 1862 came to Australia with his parents Alexander and Martha on the sailing ship Wansfel.

They initially lived in Petrie Terrace, Brisbane and then moved to Jenny Lee Farm in lower Nudgee in the early 1870’s.

At the turn of the 20^th century the family started growing grapes and, at that time, the farm was renamed Courtiller Vineyard.

Alexander and Martha had a family of three boys and five girls.

James Buchanan married Brisbane born Mary Smiley on May 10^th, 1882. At that time Alexander and Martha retired and returned to Brisbane allowing the newly-weds to take over Courtiller Vineyards.

James and Mary had seven children, four boys and three girls.

In 1909 James started farming at Holmes Street, Brighton, with his sons John, George and Alexander. They grew pineapples, citrus fruits and vegetables.

They used two horse drawn wagons to cart their produce from Brighton to Roma Street Markets in Brisbane. This meant leaving home at 4:00am to get to the markets by opening time at 7:30am.

In 1928 James bought a 30cwt Chevrolet truck which took over from the horses. With citrus fruit prices fairly poor at that time the family decided to build fowl yards and start a poultry farm.

Business grew to the extent that by 1932 one truck was unable to cope so John bought a 1925 Dodge utility.

By then the next generation was establishing itself with some taking on Butchering, some building and others market gardening at Brighton, Redcliffe, Deception Bay and a dairy farm at Burpengary.

When Cec did the research in 1987 there were still Buchanans farming in Burpengary.

James and Mary had about 230 direct descendants. This combined with the people they married added up to more than 300 people belonging to the clan.

On the first Saturday in April of each year the clan have been gathering at the Brighton State School where most of the fourth generation of Buchanans were educated.

Buchanan House now sited at the Caboolture Historical Village is steeped in history.

The original house was built in Brisbane in the 19^th century. It was eventually pulled down but then rebuilt on Cec’s property in the 1930’s.

When Cec took over the property in 1935 he decided to renovate the house and build a sitting room between the kitchen and the front rooms. That is where Cec and his wife lived for the next 22 years.

Cec eventually donated the Buchanan House to the Caboolture Historical Village in the 1980’s.

JUST ONE OF THE 70

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:33:00 GMT

The Caboolture Historical Village has over 70 building of historical significance and for displaying over 100,000 individual items.

One such building is Hammond's House.

Hammond's house is the smallest of the many cottages in the village. Once a landmark at nearby Elimbah, it was used as a dwelling for many years before being donated to the village by the Hammond family.

The Hammond family also owned a larger home, next to the cottage, where most of the family resided but as the family grew in numbers the cottage was used for a bedroom for the Hammond boys.

The cottage was relocated to the Caboolture Historical Village in 1980, with the village volunteers and inmates from Woodford Prison Farm being the resources and labour for the relocation process.

Hammond's House was originally erected on Portion 409, Parish of Canning, County Canning in Elimbah by James Campbell. James was born in Enniskellen, Northern Ireland in 1854 and came to Queensland as a young man in 1872. Not a lot else is known about James' life. When he arrived at Elimbah, just before the turn of the century, he had a wooden leg. It is said that he lost a leg when a winch rope broke whilst he was loading cane in North Queensland. James passed away on October 16, 1935 at the age of 81.

'The Hut', as the building was affectionately known, had a galvanised galley attached at the rear and this was used to prepare meals. A water tank on the outside completed the structure. Some years prior to James Campbell's death he sold his land to William (Bill) Hammond senior who also owned the adjoining block. The hut provided the extra room required for Bill's family, Bill junior, Lawrie and Frank, who made it their sleeping quarters for many years, even sharing it with a carpet snake from time to time.

Mrs Jean Hammond moved to Caboolture with her mother and father in 1948. Her father was just out of the Army and was then working for the Beerburrum Forestry. Their house was the only residence on their side of School Road. The school itself was of one room with a verandah and a small playground.

Over the Bruce Highway there was only one house on either corner, the hall and three houses toward the railway. Next to the railway was a sawmill where Mrs Hammond worked in the office. The local Post Office was also at the Railway Station which was fully manned at that time by a Station Master and several night officers.

Mrs Hammond retired from Elimbah State School in September 1997 after 25 years service.

Some details of Hammond House:

Name of Building: Hammond House

Description: Wood chamfer cladding, corrugated iron roof, peak of roof to floor 3.6m

Veranda: Length 6m Width 1.8m

Stairs:
- Length: 0.7m
- Height: 0.45m

Number of Windows: 4

Number of Doors: 2

Floor dimensions
- Length: 6m
- Width: 3.1m
- Area : 18.6 sq m

Building height above ground: 0.35m

Stumps: Timber

Internal height of Building: 3.6m

IT'S NOW EVEN EASIER TO VISIT THE VILLAGE

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:07:00 GMT

From Monday, February 12th, Caboolture Historical Village will have a 12 seater bus to take visitors, free of charge*, to and from Caboolture Railway Station and/or local motel accommodation.

The modern air conditioned bus is fitted with safety belts to ensure a safe comfortable ride for all passengers.

To arrange a pick up just phone the village reception on (07) 5495 4581 and arrange a time to be collected (please allow approximately 30 minutes).

*The bus is for pick up and drop off of paying visitors to the village only.