Hillside

In 1885, Gray subdivided Portions 45, 46 and 47 into two allotments, with the smaller allotment of Subdivision 1 being drawn the land in Portion 45. The larger allotment, designated as Subdivision 2, Gray sold to John Potts and Gustavus Caesar Horstmann in January 1885. The remaining 3 acres and 1 rood of land of Subdivision 1 were sold, by Gray, to William Alexander Wilson in March 1885. Potts and Horstmann resubdivided Subdivision 2 into smaller blocks and eight of these were subsequently sold off to Wilson during 1885 and 1886. 

Wilson also dabbled in resubdivision, when, in April 1886, he had Subdivision 1 converted into Allotments 147 and 148.  His multiple land holdings in Hill End were a reflection of his success as a grocer and owner of several stores in the area. Wilson had been born in the West Indies where his Irish father was a teacher. William Wilson had learnt the grocer’s trade at Enniskillen in Ireland before immigrating to Sydney in 1863. In 1873, he moved with his family to Brisbane where he set up shop in George Street. By 1886 he had moved his business to shops in Hill End and had expanded his interests to include a partnership in a local lumber firm, the West End Sawmill and Steam Joinery Company. In that year Gray had his family home, which he named ‘Wanda Walha’ built next door to the land currently occupied by 9 Gray Road.

There is some confusion as to the architect who designed ‘Wanda Walha’. The Queensland National Trust suggests that it was “probably designed by Arthur Morry, whose own home ‘Nassagaweya’ stands nearby.” But the book Queensland Architects of the 19th Century gives credit for ‘Wanda Walha’ to architect George Cotton Clark. Clark (also known as Clarke) had been commissioned to design two dwellings at Hill End. ‘Wanda Walha’ as erected first at 15 Gray Road and the Clark began work on the nextdoor house at 9 Gray Road. This residence was ‘Hillside’. The use of timber to build both ‘Hillside’ and ‘Wanda Walha’ was still unusual for large Brisbane private homes in the 1880’s but it would become the norm by the turn of the century. The deciding factor for the choice of building for both of these homes was probably the easy accessibility of timber from Wilson’s nearby West End Sawmill. 

‘Hillside’ was completed by 1888 and Wilson had probably intended to offer it for lease, as he was having other, smaller wooden homes built nearby for a similar purpose. But in May 1888, Edward Cook Pritchard and his wife Mary Ann purchased 9 Gray Road. While the Pritchards were undoubtedly the first occupants of ‘Hillside’, Edward C. Pritchard’s occupation remains a bit of a mystery. In the dual 1889 Post Office Directories, he is listed as both the Reverend Pritchard and as the manager of the Mutual Temperance Life Insurance Company. The Pritchard’s time at ‘Hillside’ was only brief for in March 1889, the property was sold back to William Wilson. Thereafter Wilson rented ‘Hillside’ out to professionals such as Lewis Phillips, an auctioneer.

By the early 1890’s, Wilson had also placed ‘Wanda Walha’ on the rental market. But the rental from ‘Hillside’ and his other properties were not enough to save Wilson from financial difficulties. In 1910, Wilson put ‘Wanda Walha’ up for sale but with little success and, in 1912, all Wilson’s land was repossessed by his mortgagee, William Beit. Beit had the land containing ‘Hillside’ and ‘Wanda Walha’ resubdivided and sold. The block containing ‘Hillside’ was reduced to its existing size of 32.4 perches and in June 1912, the property was sold to John Sutherland. Frances Lilian Wilkins, wife of Frank Wilkins purchased ‘Hillside’ in April 1916. Frank Wilkins worked as an indenture agent for shipping interests and his family became the longest continuous owners of ‘Hillside’. After Frances Wilkins death in 1962, the property was shared amongst 10 family members: Frank Wilkins, George Maxwell Wilkins, Frank Geoffrey Wilkins, Stanley Alan Wilkins, Roy Wilkins, Leonard Watson Wilkins, Vida Francis Lewis, Clarice Rosalind Cunningham, Nancy Lilian Wheeler and Myra Caroline Sutherland.  

The Wilkins family relinquished control of ‘Hillside’ in February 1965, when they sold the property to Robert and Eileen Lawrence. Prior to this sale, in September 1964, Robert Lawrence had gained Brisbane City Council approval to convert ‘Hillside’ into 10 flats. Reflecting the poor, run-down image that South Brisbane had at that time, ‘Hillside’ had a rapid turnover of owners in the 1960s and 70s. The Lawrences sold the property to Dereck Leslie Rintel in June 1966 and he, in turn, passed ‘Hillside’ onto Demitrios Katsadoros and Zampeta Catsadoros in February 1968. Katsadoros enclosed the house’s verandah in order to create even more rooms for rent. In September 1972, George and Vespina Petavrakis purchased ‘Hillside’. In April 1973, a proposal to convert the property into a four-storey block of eight units never got beyond the planning stage.

In September 1975, Kieron Owen Timothy Quinn purchased ‘Hillside’ and began restoring it to its original condition. Tim Quinn was elected as Alderman for The Gabba Ward of the Brisbane City Council in 1985. In 1997, he became the Deputy-Mayor of Brisbane.

The front door is most ornate door to the house. It is low waisted with a pair of rectangular panels above and below the waist. The door is framed by glass sidelights with fanlights above. Glazed french doors with fanlights open onto top and bottom verandahs.

1. Brisbane City Council Building Approval cards

2. Brisbane City Council Water Supply and Sewerage Detail Plans

3. Brisbane City Gallery, Biographical Details on Brisbane City Councillors, 1994

4. Commonwealth Electoral Rolls for the Subdivision of Brisbane South – 1917

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

6. Hogan, Janet, Historic Homes of Brisbane, National Trust of Queensland, 1979

7. Hogan, Janet, The Elite Brisbane House

8. Queensland Heritage Register File No. 600228 – ‘Wanda Walha’

9. Queensland Post Office Directories

10. Queensland Trustees Review – July 1910

11. Watson, Donald & Judith McKay 1994, Queensland Architects of the 19th Century, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia