Addresses
Type of place
House
Period
Victorian 1860-1890
Style
Queenslander
This is an image of the local heritage place known as Residence 'Bayuda'
Bayuda
Addresses
Type of place
House
Period
Victorian 1860-1890
Style
Queenslander
This elegant house was built circa 1890 for solicitor Charles Bertram Lilley, son of Sir Charles Lilley, a former Queensland Premier and Chief Justice. ‘Bayuda’ is significant as a fine example of an upper middle-class residence that demonstrates the pattern of development in the Ascot/Hamilton area during the late nineteenth century. It is also significant for its strong aesthetic value and for its association with the Lilleys, one of Brisbane’s prominent families at this time.
Lot plan
L1_RP33658; L2_RP33658; L3_RP33658; L4_RP33658
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Roof: Corrugated iron;Walls: Timber
People/associations
Lilley family (Occupant)Criterion for listing
(A) Historical; (D) Representative; (E) Aesthetic; (H) Historical associationInteractive mapping
Lot plan
L1_RP33658; L2_RP33658; L3_RP33658; L4_RP33658
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Roof: Corrugated iron;Walls: Timber
People/associations
Lilley family (Occupant)Criterion for listing
(A) Historical; (D) Representative; (E) Aesthetic; (H) Historical associationInteractive mapping
History
The allotments on which Bayuda is situated were once part of a 13 acre parcel of land deeded by Crown grant to Joseph Rossiter in 1856. From 1886, it was subdivided for residential development by Lawrence Cusack. At this time, some of the wealthy estates of Hamilton established in the 1860s such as Toorak and Eldernell, were also being subdivided for new homes, as Brisbane’s elite chose the fashionable locality to establish fine residences for themselves. The 1880s were a time of immigration and rapid population growth for Brisbane with a resulting building boom in the city and the suburbs.
In 1886, Charles Bertram Lilley purchased 7 allotments measuring over 80 perches on the corner of Windermere Road (then known as Hillside Road) and Killara Avenue (then Eldernell Avenue). He is first shown in postal records as a resident of Hillside Road in 1890, suggesting that his home was built by the late 1880s. At this time, Lilley was a partner in the firm of solicitors, Lilley and O’Sullivan, which had offices both in Queen Street and in Ipswich and was newly married to Ann Martha Goggs. He mortgaged his new property for £3 500 in 1888 and for lesser sums in 1889 and 1894.
In his choice of career, Charles Bertram Lilley was following in the footsteps of his father, Sir Charles Lilley, who trained in law in London before arriving in Brisbane in 1856. In 1858, Charles Lilley married Sarah Jane Jeays, the daughter of Brisbane architect, Joshua Jeays, with whom he had a large family. After a political career that included a stint as Queensland Premier from 1868-1870, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1879 and knighted in 1881. Sir Charles Lilley died in 1897, and was survived by his wife, eight sons, including Charles Bertram Lilley (born 1860), and five daughters.
Charles Bertram Lilley lived at Bayuda until the late 1890s when he moved to Cairns. He re-established himself there as a solicitor, becoming a partner in the firm of Lilley and Murray, “solicitors and notaries”. He sold Bayuda in 1900 to Friedrich Oscar Grmowski, a civil engineer. The property sold again in 1902 to William John Harlin Moore, a grazier, before passing to Charles Blume in 1926. A BCC sewerage detail map dating from 1923 shows that the property at this time also included additional land to the western side of the house on which a tennis court was sited. Bayuda remained in the Blume family until 1955 and has since had several owners. The house currently sits on only 4 of the original allotments.
A newspaper advertisement for the house in the late 1990s described many features of the house, including original brass bells for summoning servants who lived in the servants’ quarters at the rear of the house.
Statement of significance
Relevant assessment criteria
This is a place of local heritage significance and meets one or more of the local heritage criteria under the Heritage planning scheme policy of the Brisbane City Plan 2014. It is significant because:
References
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Brisbane City Council Sewerage Detail Maps
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Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Title Deeds
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Gibbney, H.J. Australian Dictionary of Biography, Douglas Pike (Gen. Ed.), Vol.5 Melbourne: MUP, 1974
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Queensland Pioneers Index 1829-1889
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Queensland Post Office Directories
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Unidentified newspaper article, BCC Heritage Unit site file
Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised June 2022)