Glendalough

At the time of purchase, Antonini was a farmer already living at Nudgee. The district   had received a major boost when, on 11 May 1882, the Nudgee Railway Station and Goods Shed opened. The station ensured a regular transport service for the local residents, most of who were small farmers. Their crops of oats, corn, grapes and pineapples could now be more quickly gotten to markets and the station also ensured a better mail service for the district. Already, James Robinson had subdivided part of his farm and sold them off as 16 and 20 perch housing blocks. Robinson’s land sale was aimed at “Mechanics, Working Men and persons of limited means” who were asked to place a deposit of ₤2 and pay monthly instalments of ₤1.1 Robinson’s housing estate created three unnamed roads that were the first streets of the new Nudgee Township. These would later be named Hayden, Oakmere and St Achs Streets. Antonini followed his neighbour’s example, and subdivided his land in 1884. Commencing on 12 December 1884, Antonini sold 86 small allotments, with subdivisions 43, 44, 65 and 66 (26 Oakmere Street) selling on 6 April 1886.        

The buyer was George Hamilton, of Brisbane. Hamilton only held the land for a short time for, on 8 May 1888, he transferred the property to John Corbett. Corbett had to finance the purchase by taking out a mortgage of ₤30 through William Bulcock Robinson, who was a member of the large Robinson clan that operated farms all the way across to Aspley. On 16 February 1889, Corbett gave up the land to another member of the clan, Henry Walton Robinson. Robinson also financed his land purchase through a mortgage (₤100), which he acquired from James Nuttall. Henry Robinson also only held the land for a short time as he ownership to Albert Taylor on 24 August 1889.

Taylor mortgaged his land for ₤180 on 13 December 1889. It is assumed that he used this money to finance the building of a large residence on his 1 rood and 24 perches of land. Construction of the house must have taken some time, for Albert Taylor does not appear as a resident at Nudgee until the 1892-93 edition of the Queensland Post Office Directories. As these directories were compiled in the year prior to each publication, then Taylor must have completed his residence by 1891. Taylor’s occupation was listed as a carrier. this meant that he made his living off the railway by collection goods from Nudgee Station and delivering them by horse and cart to the local farms and businesses, such as Wrafter’s Monumental Masons (established at Nudgee in 1880). Taylor’s residence was built in what was then known as Lucy Street, the name not changing to Oakmere Street until the 1950s.

Taylor did not enjoy his new home for very long because he disposed of his property to Martin Thomas Critchley, of Brisbane, on 14 September 1892. Soon after, Martin and his wife Margaret Mary Critchley moved from Brisbane town out to the house in Lucy Street, Nudgee. Perhaps for tax purposes, Martin Critchley transferred the title deeds into his wife’s name on 8 October 1897. When Margaret Critchley died on 26 November 1922, her estate passed to her spinster daughter, Mary Anastasia Josephine Critchley. 

The Critchley family’s 53-year involvement with the house at 26 Oakmere Street, ceased on 19 February 1945, when Mary Critchley sold the property to Sigma Muriel Winifred Jameson. Sigma and her husband Norman Jameson were already renting the residence and after buying the property, they wanted to establish a wood working industry on the site. But on 14 October 1945, the Brisbane City Council refused to grant permission for Jameson’s business to be established at 26 Lucy Street. As an old street containing a considerable number of residences, Lucy Street was not considered a suitable location for such a noisy and dusty industry as woodworking. With more families moving into the area, the Jamesons took advantage of the post-war housing boom to sell-off part of their large block of land. Their property was resubdivided and, on 22 September 1948, 32 perches were sold to Viola Cartmill. This left the Jamesons with a 32 perch block that contained the 1891 house built for Albert Taylor. 

On 8 March 1951, Herbert Gregory Dent and his wife, Winifred Agnes Dent purchased 26 Lucy Street from the Jamesons. They financed the purchase through a mortgage obtained from William Fatton and his wife Loraine Elizabeth Caroline Fatton. On 21 June 1957, the property changed hands twice in one day. First, Kenneth Alexander Smith and his wife Ann Caroline Smith bought the place but then transferred the title deeds to Hugh John O’Connell and his wife Lexie O’Connell. The Smiths provided the O’Connells with a mortgage on the property on the day of purchase. Subsequently, the O’Connells took out two further mortgages, one on 1 June 1964 and the other on 15 March 1967. After the death of Hugh O’Connell, the property at 26 Oakmere Street, transferred solely to his widow Lexie O’Connell.

1. John Oxley Library, Suburban clippings file - Nudgee

2. Brisbane City Council, Properties on the Web, post-1946 building approval cards

3. Brisbane City Council, 1946 aerial photographs.

4. Department of Natural Resources, Queensland Certificates of title and other records.

5. Queensland Post Office Directories, 1868-1949