A.G.H. Rossiter House

One of the earliest residents in Morningside was Edmund Rossiter who arrived in 1875, acquiring Portion 206 parish of Bulimba, containing fourteen acres, three roods and twenty perches of land. Prior to this Edmund Rossiter and his wife, Isobel had owned and operated the Enoggera Hotel on the Great Northern Road, Kelvin Grove in the 1860s and early 1870s. 

Edmund’s daughter, Elizabeth married Thomas Boasley in December 1874. ‘Boasley Brothers’ operated a tannery at Kelvin Grove 1885. In March 1880 the Brisbane Courier reported from Sydney that E. Rossiter of Bulimba had won third prize at the International Exhibition for rugs and mats made from marsupial skins. Rossiter was first mentioned in the Post Office Directories as carrying on a tannery in Cleveland Road in 1885-86. From 1891, the tannery appeared as the Keralgere Tannery, which was said to have been an Aboriginal word for the chain of waterholes on which it was built. From around 1892 Rossiter Brothers operated the Keralgere Tannery. Initially intended for marsupial skins, the business grew large enough to accept any hides. The tannery was very important in Morningside as one of the first established industries in the area. 

 

In 1890, Edmund Rossiter subdivided the remaining property amongst his sons, George, Alfred, Charles and Robert, all of whom worked in the business, but retained the subdivision on which his house stands. In 1890 a one rood block of land was transferred to Edmund’s son, A. G. H. Rossiter. By 1893 he was recorded in the Electoral Rolls on this portion of land, suggesting that the house was built between 1890 and 1892. A.G.H. Rossiter was listed as being a tanner. 

A.G.H. Rossiter was an important member of the Morningside community and his Obituary, featured in the Courier-Mail in October 1937, stated “Mr. Albin George Henden Rossiter, one of Morningside’s pioneer residents, died yesterday in his home in Rossiter Street…He was a foundation member of the Morningside Church of England and chairman and member of the old Balmoral Shire Council”1.  As chairman of the Balmoral Divisional Board from 1898 to 1899 and active member from 1895 to 1901, A.G.H. Rossiter played a role in the local governance of the district. He was the only Rossiter brother to remain on the original Rossiter estate after the destruction of the Keralgere tannery in 1906. The timber house retains many of its original features.

1. The Courier Mail, Friday 29 October 1937, p20

2. Historic Titles, Department of Environment and Resource Management

3. Queensland Post Office Directories

4. Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Survey Maps

5. Queensland Electoral Rolls

6. History of the Bulimba Electorate 1859 - 1959, Bulimba Electorate Centenary Committee, 1959, pp.19-20

7. The Brisbane Courier, Friday 7 December 1906, p7

8. The Brisbane Courier, Saturday 20 December 1930, p19