264 Flinders Parade, Sandgate

This house was likely built circa 1886 by local contractor and mayor of Sandgate William John Farmer Cooksley, who obtained the site in 1885. Cooksley, a skilled carpenter, had arrived in the Moreton Bay district in 1858. Although almost penniless, he went on to become one of Queensland’s most successful pioneers. He built some of Sandgate’s earliest buildings and was its second mayor. Cooksley died in 1892 and the house was held by his trustees until it was sold in 1909. Later named ‘Iona’, the house was a rental property and seaside home for its twentieth century owners.