66 Markwell Street, Hamilton

George Markwell, a solicitor, was the son of John and Georgiana Markwell. Baptised in 1854, he was established as a solicitor with premises at 149 Queen Street by the 1870s.

By 1893, George Markwell had acquired over an acre of land between Eldernell Avenue (now Killara Avenue) and Markwell Street, which at that time did not extend all the way down the slope to Wyenbah Road. (This occurred at some time prior to 1916). McKellar’s 1895 Map of Brisbane and Suburbs  shows an estate marked across this land as Edalmar. This was the name of George Markwell’s residence in the 1880s in the vicinity of Perry Park at Bowen Hills and is likely to be the name of his new residence at Hamilton. According to one owner of the property, the house was originally called Mooee. 

The Markwell family appears to have had another residence named Tamar in nearby Riverview Terrace, where various members of the family, including George, lived at different times. From 1902, postal records give Eldernell Avenue as the residential address of Walter Markwell, a partner in the firm of “commission, land and estate agents”,  Markwell Bros. Alternatively, Walter Markwell may have lived in a second house also in the vicinity of Markwell Street as he continues to have this address after George’s property was sold to Charlotte Moore, a widow, in 1904.

At the turn of the 20th century, Hamilton was  a very desirable address which attracted some of Brisbanes’s wealthiest families and most prominent politicians and members of the professions. The views of the city and the river and the cooling breezes on the hills of Hamilton made the area one of the city’s most sought after suburbs. At this time, some of the larger 19th century estates were being subdivided to allow new housing to be built. It was however, still the pattern of development for new houses to be substantial, often architect designed and usually set in large grounds.

After the death of Charlotte Moore in 1915, the house and some of the surrounding grounds were sold to Florence McTaggart, wife of Daniel McTaggart, and was used as their family home until 1927.  The house changed hands again in 1934 and it was at this time that the grounds were reduced slightly to the present allotment of some 2800 square metres. It is believed that the house was renamed Berrimilla at this time.

The house includes a wing on the western side which was used as servants’ quarters. This wing, separated from the main house by an “L” shaped verandah is shown on a 1920s sewerage detail plan of the site and is significant for the evidence it provides of the way of life of Brisbane’s wealthy families at the turn of the 20th century.  A tennis court to the south west of the servants’ quarters is also shown on the 1920s detail plan. This area was later sold and built upon.  A later verandah behind the servants’ wing is not considered to be of heritage significance. Similarly, an addition to the rear of the main house (probably an extension approved by Brisbane City Council in 1980) is also excluded from the heritage significance of the property. The new tennis court is also not considered to be of heritage significance. 

Other original features of the residence that are considered to have heritage significance and that should be retained in any future changes to the property include the brick fireplace (which should not be moved), the pressed metal ceilings and timber panelled dados on the walls of the two front rooms, and the wide entrance hallway. Also significant are the two porphyry gate posts at the Markwell Street entrance. Although the house appears to address the east with two bay windows, the entrance was probably in Markwell Street due to easier access.