Brisbane Historic Homes article in the Queenslander 5 March 1931

It seems almost superfluous at this time to give even a brief "write-up" of a family associated with our colony since its earliest days and whose history is a part of its history, and has also been written up separately at different times by more able pens than mine. But as an interesting story never palls, it pleases me to make some references to the history of the Petries in this, my "write-up" of that old home, Beerwah, on Gregory-terrace, built by one of them, the late Mr. John Petrie, eldest son of the founder of the family in Australia, Mr. Andrew Petrie. As Mr. Tom Petrie, another son of the latter, tells us in his interesting reminiscences, his parents, with, I understand, several children, first landed in New South Wales in the year 1831, after their voyage from Edinburgh in the ship Stirling Castle. Then, in 1837—about 12 years after the foundation of Brisbane—they came to Queensland in the James Watt, "the first steamer which ever entered what are now Queensland waters." The eldest son, the late Mr. John Petrie, was quite a big lad at the time, but his brother, Tom was a small boy. Their father was attached to the Royal Engineers in Sydney, and was chosen to fill the position of superintendent, or engineer of works, in Brisbane.

THE family was obliged to live in a place that had formerly been used as a female factory for several months until their house was built at the corner of what are now Wharf and Queen streets. Hence we have the name of that part a little further on by the River, "Petrie Bight." The late Mr. J. J. Knight, in his "Early Days," says: "The year 1837 marked two important events in the early history of Brisbane—the arrival of the Petries and the first steamer which ploughed the waters of Moreton Bay." In describing Queen-street, when he arrived in Brisbane first in 1854, Mr. Nehemiah Bartley says, in his "Opals and Agates ": "There was nothing more of note on the left side of the road (he has mentioned Mr. R. A. Kingsford's two-storied brick drapery store last) until you came to old Andrew Petrie's house—blind, but intelligent, Andrew." Then, again, when speaking of Mr. John Petrie, the builder of Beerwah, in his other book, "Australian Pioneers and Reminiscences," Mr. Bartley says: "When I first knew him he was young Petrie, for old Andrew, his father, the foreman of works under Colonel Barney, was the family head—sightless, but clever, old Andrew. Other sons there were, not to name the ancestral cockatoo, rival of Grip the Raven, who lived for 40 years with the Petries, and was only excelled by the 70-year-old 'sulphur crest' who domiciled with the Sydney Wentworths, patriarchs these, like the Petries were here. . . . Young John Petrie was then only 25 years old—no gray hairs, and an honest 'sonser' Scotch face, redolent of the build of the Auld Land, where generations full of hard work and self-respect had prepared a race fit to battle with the labours and problems of a new country."

IT was in the late 'seventies that Mr. John Petrie built Beerwah, and I believe that the foundations alone cost £2000—foundations strong enough to support a house of several stories. Beerwah is only of one story, but large and commodious, built of plaster-faced bricks, on which is stamped the name "Petrie," with a high main roof and a gable at each side, all covered, at the present time, in corrugated iron. A conspicuous feature of this old house is its high twin chimneys at each end of the main roof. The original house contains about fourteen rooms. A hall runs through from the front veranda to the back, with an archway dividing it towards the front. The back verandah joins that of the kitchen wing on the left, the end room of which has a gabled roof. Both the side and front verandahs of the house are enclosed with lattice, and in recent years a room has been built at the corner. The opposite side of the house has not a verandah; hence, the rooms on that side all look pleasantly out on to the garden there.

All the rooms, as in most of these old-time houses, are large and lofty, the main ones all containing fireplaces, some with marble and the others with cedar mantelpieces. And the rest of the fittings are of cedar also, of course. The large room in the gable part, seen from the road (Brunswick-street), with the bow window beneath it, used to be the dining-room, I understand, but is now the drawing-room.

After the death of Mr. John Petrie here on December 8, 1892, the family were obliged to leave the home that he had built for them, and which they loved, as, through no fault of his, but another's, he left to them "in wealth (only) a well-spent life." His wife died four years later at Oakden, opposite the General Hospital, and owned by the late Hon. Wm. Brooks.

A SOLID stone wall, with iron railings above it, still encloses the gardened and grounds of Beerwah. The gateway (which directly faces the Exhibition Building), with its globe topped stone pillars, on which the name "Beerwah" is plainly engraved, is imposing, and the garden is a pleasant place with its grass plots and its shrubs and palms; and there is still a spacious square of ground at the back. But in the Petries' day the grounds consisted of 10 or 12 acres, a goodly portion of which was taken up by the gardens, both vegetable and flower; and there was a charming bushhouse. The stoneworks of Mr. Petrie were situated on another part of the property. Although but a few steps bring one on to the front verandah through the gabled porchway, the house is of quite considerable height at the back.

The first of the modern additions to Beerwah were attached to its back verandah opposite the old kitchen wing, and the space between, with the old set of cement-covered brick steps leading up to the back verandah, is a cool and pleasant part, beautified by plants. The newer wing opposite comprises the present kitchen, the dining room, and pantries, and on to that again, within the last year, or perhaps a little more, has been built the two-storied brick addition seen to the right of the old house in the accompanying photographs. Another wing has also recently been added to the back of the old kitchen wing, as, since the Petries left Beerwah, it has been conducted as a boarding-house.

All the rooms in the new additions contain modern labour-saving conveniences, and sinks in the bedrooms in the older parts have taken the place of wash-stands and sets formerly in use there. Otherwise these rooms still retain their old-time style.

The present owner, I understand, is Mr. Fittis, of South Brisbane, but the proprietress is Miss Taylor, a sister of the late Mr. Edward Taylor, whose conspicuous and esteemed figure was removed from our community by the hand of death within recent months.

Across the yard of Beerwah at the back is the old brick stable building, built, according to the old style of building of such edifices, with gables: and it testifies to the refinement of the work put into it that this one time stables has been converted into quarters for the Beerwah maids. About twelve are accommodated there at the present time. I have not been told so, but undoubtedly, as Mr. John Petrie's brother, the late Mr. Tom Petrie, had settled in that other historic home, Murrumba, at North Pine (now Petrie), on the North Coast, within sight, almost, of the noted Glasshouse Mountains there, he (the late Mr. John Petrie) named his home on Gregory terrace after one of the largest of the mounts, Beerwah.

"Now let grateful praises ring

To the heroes of the past;

With our heart and voice we sing,

As the visions gather fast

Of the men who thought and wrought,

And the women who, 'mid strife,

Hope and inspiration brought

To the work of daily life." =

"BEERWAH" ON FIRE

Article from The Western Champion newspaper Saturday 20 October 1923:

Every visitor to Brisbane in the last 40 years must have noticed "Beerwah” which is at the corner of Gregory Terrace and Bowen Bridge Road. It is right opposite the Brisbane Exhibition Building and is the very best of the earliest houses erected in Brisbane. It was erected by John Petrie, first of the name locally, and it was faithfully built.

It remained the home of the Petrie family for several generations, then passed to the Chauvel family of present military fame. and now belongs to Mrs. Jackson of Ascot. It is now a residential establishment. The other evening it was found on fire, but the prompt action of the fire brigade subdued the flames after they had got a pretty good hold. The premises were all shingle roofed originally, when the shingles became dilapidated an iron roof was put over them. When the fire fastened on the old shingle roofing it took considerable time and much trouble on the part of the firemen to put it out. The shingles are said to have been smouldering for three days before the discovery of the fire.