The Priory

Foxton was born in Melbourne on 24 September 1849, the son of an accountant and former naval officer, Captain John Greenlaw Foxton and Isabel, nee Potts. After a private school education at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School and a period of jackerooing in Queensland, he was articled to J. M. Thompson of Ipswich. Foxton was admitted to the Bar in 1871. After a short period of practice in Stanthorpe, he established himself in partnership with Thompson in Brisbane in 1878. According to an historical article about Indooroopilly published in the Brisbane Courier in 1931, Foxton occupied the house of E. M. Long also on the riverbank of Indooroopilly prior to building The Priory. 

From the 1880s until his defeat in 1910, Foxton enjoyed a successful political career in both State and Federal politics. He was MLA for Carnarvon from 1883 to 1904 and served as secretary for public lands from 1896 to 1898 and again in 1903 and Home Secretary under Dickson and Philip from 1898 to 1903. From 1906 to 1910, Foxton was the Federal member for Brisbane.

Foxton was involved in several significant pieces of Queensland legislation, such as the Land Act of 1897. He initiated the Factories and Shops Act of 1900 which regulated workplace practices and child labour and the 1901 Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act which introduced policed missions for Aboriginal people and stopped some female exploitation. Foxton was a supporter of State rights and a fervent anti-socialist. He had an association of over 30 years with the militia, ending his military career as commandant of the Queensland Brigade of the Field Artillery in 1912.

Foxton’s contribution to the social fabric of Queensland included serving as the grand registrar of the United Grand Lodge of Queensland, helping to found the Historical Society of Queensland and acting as president of the Queensland Cricket Association.

 

The Priory was Foxton’s home until around 1912 when he moved to Bulimba. He died at South Brisbane on 23 June 1916 and was buried at Toowong Cemetery. His wife, two sons and a daughter survived him.

Of note is the large fig tree located near the eastern boundary of the property. This fig tree, dated between 120-140 years old, may well have been planted as part of the original garden at the time, or shortly after, the house was constructed.

A 1995 article in the Courier Mail claims that The Priory once had a shingled roof and that the property includes a ‘timber coach house’ and ‘former stables’. Extensions to the house include an additional wing. The article also describes features of the house such as ‘three cedar arches lining the wide hallway....elaborate pressed metal ceilings, marble fireplaces, hoop pine floorboards, cedar architraves and bay windows with French doors’. An internal inspection would be necessary to determine which features of the house are original.

1. Brisbane Courier, 15 Aug 1931

2. Courier Mail, 9 Sept 1995

3. Nairn, Bede and Geoffrey Serle, (gen. eds.). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol.8 1891-1939. Melbourne: MUP, 1981

4. Queensland Certificates of Title

5. Queensland Post Office Directories