Cooksley House

This grand home, first called ‘Cairnsville’, was built by owner William Cooksley in 1887-8. Cooksley, a skilled carpenter, had arrived in the Moreton Bay district in 1858. Although almost penniless, he went on to become one of Queensland’s most successful pioneers. He built some of Sandgate’s earliest buildings and was its second mayor. Cooksley had also represented the Toombul division and ‘Cairnsville’, named after Cooksley’s wife Catherine, was the second home he built in the Hamilton area. It was the Cooksley family residence until 1910, though Cooksley himself had died in 1892. Like many other large residences, ‘Cairnsville’ was converted into flats in the 1940s to cater for the growing demand for accommodation. ‘Cairnsville’, an unusual brick and sandstone residence featuring cast zinc verandah columns and iron lace railings in old Vienna pattern, also demonstrates the development of Hamilton, particularly its appeal for wealthy residents in the late nineteenth century.