Past Meetings
February 20th 2025 Aunty Beckie (Rebecca Thomson) gave a WELCOME TO COUNTRY and a very interesting and informative talk about local aboriginal culture, including language, the territories of the local groups and remaining cultural reminders and artefacts such as bora rings and tree scars.
March 20th 2025 Chris Seymour talked about the Moura Coal Mine accident of August 1994, which resulted in the death of 11 miners. Chris returned to Australia after 20 years in the US to lead the company based investigation into the accident and handle the resulting consequences. His presentation is here.
April 17th 2025 The AGM was held at this meeting, and was followed by a dramatic re-creation of a town meeting held on September 26 1897 to discuss the location for a rebuilt Jetty. After the drama, Danny Fitzpatrick and Chris Seymour gave a presentation about the history of Wynnum jetties. Their presentation is here.
May 15 2025 Kay Duke " The Mail Train Murders". When the overnight train from Rockhampton arrived at Central Station at 6 am on April 2nd 1936, the conductor was found horribly battered. Two passengers were found lying in blood stained bunks, one dead, and the other died soon after arriving in hospital. Kay Duke discussed the murders and how the murderer was tracked down after he fled to Melbourne in women's clothing. A report on her talk is here.
June 19 2025 Thom Blake's talk was titled "The House that Mary Built". Mary Dolan came to the Bedourie district in the mid-1880s. She was one of the first white woman to live in this part of Queensland. She experienced numerous hardships but was responsible of the construction of a mud or pise house in Bedourie. This house still stands in the town. Her life in the west was anything but ordinary - instead quite remarkable.Thom Blake is a Brisbane based professional historian and heritage consultant and member of the Professional Historians Association. He has researched and written about a wide range of topics relating to Queensland history and researched the history of numerous heritage places throughout the state. His publication, A Dumping Ground: a history of the Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement won the NSW Premiers History award in 2002. He recently co-authored the publication Yalanya: the life and story of Pastor Don Kawanji Brady. Don Brady was a Methodist pastor who worked in Brisbane in the late 1960s and 1970s and was prominent in the struggle for Aboriginal rights and justice.
July 17 2025 Doug Alexander "Origin and Growth of the Redland Museum". The Redland Museum was founded in 1972. President Doug Alexander chronicled its history and growth over the years.
August 21st Jim Groutsch "The Queensland Services Heritage Band Association". The QSHBA supports five permanent bands. Jim Groutsch gave a history of bands in the Wynnum area, stretching back to 1860.
September 18 2025 Michael Jullyan "Restoration of the Masonic Lodge Hall" The Masonic Hall was built on Tingal Road in
1920. Michael Jullyan explained how he plans to restore it to its former glory.
October 16 2025 Tess Rowley. Author Tess Rowley OAM talked about the Wynnum Choral Society Inc, which is approaching its 100th anniversary. Included in her presentation she recited two of her poems.
November 20 2025 The Johns Family: "SEA & SAND BUT NO SURF! - What an old tiny black & white photo can tell you about a family holiday in Manly during the late 1930s". Christine Johns and her late husband Ron retired to the Wynnum Manly area in 1996. Christine had an abiding interest in history and researched the family history of herself and Ron. One day she found a small black and white photo of Ron as boy holidaying in Manly. Christine's son Christopher told the story on behalf of the family.
February 19 2026 Bruce Pattison talked about the history of the Waterloo Bay Rescue Association and their rescue boat The Dauntless. Bruce is a long-term resident of Wynnum. He attended Wynnum Central State School and Wynnum High School. Leaving school at 14, he worked at Forsyth Rope Works in Mowbray Park. Called up for National service in 1966, he served for two years as an army seaman in Vietnam and PNG. Involved with boating all his life, he is a life member and patron of the Darling Point Sailing Squadron. He served as a crew member and as a skipper on the rescue boat Dauntless.
March 19 2026 Dr Ian Patterson "History of St Helena Island". St Helena Island National Park is a heritage listed island in Moreton Bay, situated off the coast of Wynnum and Manly that has a rich history that includes its transformation from a quarantine station to a penal settlement between 1867 and 1921, to a heritage listed national park in 1992. Ian will look at the early history of the penal settlement when it was regarded as a model prison, to its decline in 1921 when it was reclassified as a prison farm and its eventual closure in 1932. He will also look at the history of several prisoners who were incarcerated at St Helena as a result of the Australian Shearers Strike of 1891.
Ian Patterson PhD was an Associate Professor in the School of Business (Tourism) at the University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus, Queensland between 2001 and 2015. Previously he worked as a Senior Lecturer at Griffith University between 1991-2000. He has published over 100 publications in textbooks, book chapters and peer reviewed journal papers. Co-Editor, Annals of Leisure Research Journal, 2004-2011; Life Membership Australian and New Zealand Association for Leisure Studies (ANZALS) 2015.
April 16 2026 Alan Beswick "Those Old Photos". Alan discussed photographic history. Ever wondered how those old time photos were taken? Certainly not on a smart phone. Their history is littered with dead photographers, dead from mercury or cyanide poisoning. Thankfully, the chemicals used today are now far less toxic. How about point and click? It took five or six decades for the box camera to become a reality, but the highest quality images still required specialist exposure, developing and printing. Join Alan on a fascinating trip through photographic history and the development of cameras, from the huge and cumbersome plate cameras to the super capable camera you have in your pocket.
Alan developed his first photo when he joined the photo club at Brisbane State High in 1961. A combination of art and chemistry appealed to the teenager and it has never left him. In later life, he took to science with post grad qualifications in remote sensing, the very technical manipulation of photos taken from space using satellites. He has given several courses on photography through U3A, always with one eye on the science and the other looking through the viewfinder. On the artistic side, Alan joined the Mt Gravatt Photographic Society, where he rose through the competition ranks to A Grade. With MGPS’s encouragement, he has had several images exhibited in international competitions, but has yet to win a prize at the Ekka.
