Shottesbrooke

‘Shottesbrooke’ reflects the prestigious residential development of Yeronga at the turn of the century following the opening of the South Brisbane rail line to Corinda in 1884 and Yeronga Railway Station in 1885. As early as 1906 Yeronga was attracting fulsome praise as potentially ‘one of the best residential areas in Southern Queensland’ with ‘delightful residential nooks’ and houses.

The land on which the house was built was  part of the Killarney Estate  advertised in the Brisbane Courier as ‘the Village of Killarney’ in the 1860s. The Killarney Estate was bounded by Park Road and Yeronga Park along the eastern side, the railway line to the west, Killarney Street and portion 148 along the southern side and undivided Portion 150 at the northern end. The name ‘Killarney Estate’ was used in the 1880s building boom years to designate a single portion of land – about 3.6 hectares – which was offered for auction in subdivided lots.

 

In 1889 George William Dodwell, businessman, purchased two subdivisions from Patrick Crowe, a land and mining agent who owned a substantial amount of the Killarney Estate. A family birth notice in the 

Brisbane Courier in September 1862 indicates that the Dodwell family had a previous house in Brisbane also called ‘Shottesbrooke’.

The land at Yeronga on which ‘Shottesbrooke’ was built was transferred from George Dodwell to Alexander Vaughan and Robert Hammont Dodwell in 1897. Alexander became sole owner in 1900 and took out bank mortgages in 1901 for £350 and further advances with the Commercial Bank of Australia and £1,000 with the Royal Bank of Queensland in 1905.

According to Post Office Directories, A V Dodwell was listed as living in Yeronga from 1903 to 1906 before being listed at New Farm. 

He was the Managing Director of the Canada Cycle & Motor Company and was reputed to be one of the first residents in Yeronga to own a motor vehicle. A photograph of family members sitting in their Darracq parked outside ‘Shottesbrook’ was reproduced in the Brisbane Courier in 1906. As motor transport was only in its infancy at this time, few roads were surfaced. The Canada Cycle & Motor Company went into liquidation in the financial crisis of 1929.

The property was transferred to Leslie Hassall Dodwell in 1935 and remained in the Dodwell family until 1955 when it was transferred to Franz and Hilda Brus.

The streets of the Killarney Estate around Yeronga Station are particularly narrow with distinctive Irish names – Dublin, Cork, Killarney – as well as having a number of substantial late nineteenth century houses with mature garden trees which support the identity of the area. Yeronga-Yeerongpilly became characterised by large homes of the well to do like ‘Shottesbrooke’.

The wrought-iron finial on the house’s entrance pediment and the flat-topped double chimney are also typical features of the era. The more recent picket fence is modern but built in the original style.

The house, occupying a prominent corner location, is a good example of its type.

1. Courier, 16 September 1862

2. Department of Natural Resources, Queensland Certificate of Title records

3. Brisbane City Council Properties on the Web

4. Queensland Electoral rolls, 1892-1912

5. Brisbane City Council Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Detail Plan No 1545, 1949

6. Brisbane Post Office Directories, 1903-1947, John Oxley Library

7. Applied History Centre, Department of History, Character Study of Killarney Estate, Yeronga, December 1994

8. Heritage Unit, Stephens District: Character and Heritage Study, Heritage Unit, Brisbane City Council, 1995

9. Brisbane Courier, 21 July 1906, p 12. (features a photo of the Dodwell homestead with Mr and Mrs A V Dodwell in their new Darracq car)

10. Brisbane Courier, 30 April 1913