Dunalister

In October 1899 Dr Henry Alexander Francis purchased one acre, three roods and 34.3 perches of land from James Honeyman. Henry Alexander Francis was the son of Arthur Francis, an early pioneer in the district. The Francis family arrived at the western side of Corinda in 1862, purchasing  21 acres of portion 120, along with 33 acres of portion 98 on the Oxley Creek side of Corinda. They also co-owned portions 119 and 117, and built the third sugar mill in the district, on Oxley Creek. When Arthur Francis’s baby son, Clement, died in 1863, the Francises buried him on an acre of land on portion 120 which was known as ‘God’s Acre’. Several other members of the Francis family are buried in the reserve, now known as ‘Francis Lookout’ which was resumed by the Brisbane City Council in 1934. The family’s eldest son, Richard, studied at Balliol College, Oxford, and returned to teach at Brisbane Grammar, but Dick died of pneumonia after the 1893 floods, having saved several locals from the water.  

Henry Alexander Francis, (known as Alex), studied at Brisbane Normal School, before studying medicine at Cambridge. He returned in 1890 and set up practice as an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. He also spent time in Ipswich, Barcaldine and Dalby. In the 1897-1899 POD he is listed at Wickham Tce, but in the 1900 POD he is listed as a surgeon in Sherwood. Alex and his second wife, Lillian, had moved into the house that year. In  his book “Then and Now- The Story of a Queenslander”, Alex noted that “Our new house was…strangely different in architecture from English houses. It had a twelve foot veranda on its north and east sides to get the sea breeze, which invariably sprang up between three and four in the afternoon, and very large airy rooms; while it had a blind side in the west as protection against the west winds in winter…” He added that “Curiously, it was almost on the spot where stood the giant “stringy bark” tree around which, when we were small children, there was a clearing in the dense forest, which provided us with our first playground”.

In 1901 he sold the house and land, which fronted Sherwood Rd, to Dr William N. Robertson. William had entered into a partnership with Alex, and continued the practice while Alex visited England. In 1906 the large property and the house ‘Dunalister was the venue for a rally of the latest models in cars. Robertson was also a founding member of the Oxley Sailing Club, and was the Chancellor of the University of Queensland from 1926-1938.

In 1927 subdivision of the land began, the house and one rood, 27.16 perches was transferred to Agnes McKeon and Katherine McKeon, who had already been running the house as Sherwood Private Hospital. From 1940 to 1945 ‘Dunalister’ was leased to Annie McGarrigal, who then, along with Gladys Gersekowski, purchased it in 1945. The old home then served as a guesthouse, Sherwood House. In 1989, due to the fact that its original Sherwood Rd orientation was impractical due to newer housing, ‘Dunalister’ was rotated 90 degrees to front Lilly St, and restored as a residence.

1. Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Queensland Certificates of Title

2. Walter Taylor South Character and Heritage Study, BCC Heritage Unit, 1997

3. Queensland Post Office Directories

4. Brisbane’s Suburban Beauties, Brisbane Courier, 1906

5. Brisbane City Council Water Supply & Sewerage Detail Plans

6. McKellar's Map of Brisbane and Suburbs. Brisbane: Surveyor-General’s Office, 1895

7. Francis Outlook Conservation Study, Ivan McDonald Architects

8. The Streets of Olde Sherwood, Ralph Fones 1995

9. Sherwood-Corinda Walkabout, Ralph Fones, 1995