Cameron Rocks Reserve

The first known settlement in the area was the establishment of Eagle Farm in 1829. During 1829-30 the present main thoroughfare, Hamilton Road (now known as Kingsford Smith Drive), was hewn from rock along the riverside linking the convict women’s gaol at Eagle Farm with the city settlement.

Land in the area was cleared by convicts and by the 1840s wealthy free settlers were attracted to the area by the elevated hilly country which offered river views and sea breezes. However, rough and swampy roads deterred settlement generally and residential development in the area was slow. In 1899 the tramline was extended from Breakfast Creek to Ascot and heralded an influx of settlers.

Cameron Rocks was gazetted as wharf reserve R576 in 1885, but was utilised for park purposes while being crown land under trust to BCC until 1982, when it was declared a park.

The site was named after John Samuel Cameron Snr (1834-1902), of John Cameron & Sons Auctioneers. Cameron was listed as residing directly opposite the park during 1885-86 in his home ‘Greenbank’. His son John Samuel Cameron Jnr resided at ‘Lochiel’, on the corner of Toorak Road and Hillside Crescent, from 1899 until his death in 1917.

By 1904 the locality was known as the Town of Hamilton and the “Rocky Wharf” area was soon renamed ‘Cameron Rocks Reserve’ in memory of John Cameron Snr. 

In 1924 the Hamilton Town Council proposed erecting a memorial to those who had served in the 1st World War. Donations had been received, but funding was not adequate to begin construction at this stage. Montague Stanley prepared plans for a pagoda in conjunction with Lange Powell, but this did not eventuate. 

Although no opening date for the memorial has been discovered it appears to have been built in the period 1927-36. Though 1927 sewerage maps do not reveal the structure it is clearly visible in 1936 aerial photographs of Hamilton. 

In 1933 Council received a submission from the Brisbane Skiff Club for permission to build a Memorial stone in honour of the late A Whereat in Newstead Park. This site was refused, however permission was given to establish the memorial at Cameron Rocks. Although no longer present, the memorial was still visible in 1986, consisting of a six-foot tall concrete cairn that vaguely resembled the park’s War Memorial. In poor condition, it was missing any inscription or identification by this date.

  

In 1949 Council minutes noted that the wooden carriages of the cannon in Cameron Rocks had deteriorated. The Parks superintendent stated that due to the possibility of the Harbours and Marine Department resuming the site for wharves in the near future, that the cannon be transferred to the QLD Historical society. This did not eventuate, and they were removed to Gibson Island.

These cannon were part of a shipment of twelve 24-pounder guns brought to Brisbane in 1862 aboard the Clifton. Consisting of a smooth bore with oak carriages and metal trucks (wheels), these muzzle-loading fortress guns were relics of the Napoleonic wars. In Brisbane, they were used as a saluting battery in Queens Park at the lower end of Edward Street until 1879, when one discharged prematurely killing two of the gunnery officers. After this incident the saluting battery and its guns were dispersed, with two guns dated 1800 and 1806 being selected for display in the park. Today, only the mounting platform for one gun remains with a bench seat attached. 

A flight of concrete stairs from Kingsford Smith Drive arrives at a sombre sandstone cenotaph reminiscent of the Lutyens monument in Whitehall, London. Supported on a quarry-faced porphyry base, the monument stands on a stepped concrete surround defined by low quarry-faced porphyry corner walls with dressed stone cappings. There is a metal balustrade infill between these walls to south, east and west. The north face of the monument bears a bronze plaque bearing the inscription with a bronze wreath above. The south face bears a solitary bronze wreath. A large flagpole stands to the southwest and a palm to the southeast.  

A small square stepped concrete slab stands in the middle of the reserve. Presently a seat stands on this slab. This was the base for one of two Napoleonic War era 24-pounder guns mounted on oak carriages. They were installed in the park as display pieces after being decommissioned in 1879, and were removed to Gibson Island in 1950 due to poor condition.

The reserve is generally in good condition. A brief visual inspection reveals that the monument is in fair condition. It shows signs of weathering and some stone edges are chipped. There is some cracking to the concrete surround.

1. Brisbane City Council Minutes

2. Brisbane City Council Sewerage Maps

3. Brisbane Post Office Directories

4. Courier Mail, 9 January 1924

5. Environmental Protection Agency. Queensland Heritage Register Entry 601965 Lochiel

6. Lest We Forget A Guide to the Conservation of War Memorials, Judith McKay and Richard Allom for the Returned Services League 1984

7. Heritage Trail Hamilton, Series No. 9 3rd edition, Brisbane City Council Heritage Unit

8. Royal Historical Society of Queensland Journal, Vol XI no.3, 1982, pp.127-46

9. 1936 aerial photographs