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Dutton Park

History of Brisbane's Dutton Park

Dutton Park's history has been compiled as a part of the BRISbites community history project.

Aboriginal history

Two groups, the Jagera and the Turrbal inhabited the Brisbane Area. The main Aboriginal camp in the area was at Woolloongabba. During certain seasons and for some ceremonies, the area could become the gathering place for hundreds of people. The tribes would travel on pathways, many of which traversed the ridges of the area.

The land from South Brisbane to West End was called Kurilpa in the Indigenous language, which means 'place of rats'.

Everyday life for the tribe consisted of hunting and gathering food, with time for games and other social and spiritual activities.

Urban development

The suburb we now know as Dutton Park area was named after Charles Boydell Dutton, the Minister for Lands in Queensland from 1883 until 1887.

Originally the area was not popular with new settlers because of early plans for the construction of the South Brisbane Cemetery and the gaol. Despite this, the area found favour due to its proximity to the city and the development of public transport and other services.

In 1884, the South Coast Railway was built through the district and a station was built at the present suburb of Dutton Park.

Subdivisions of the land for building came quickly after the tramline was laid in 1908.

Notable residents

Charles Boydell Dutton was Samuel Walker Griffith's Minister for Lands from 1883-87. The 1884 Dutton Land Act was named after him. This act allowed for large pastoral leases to be resumed for agricultural purposes, which favoured more intensive land use. The act also favoured leasing land which would keep it as an asset of the state.

Mrs Jane Hocking lived in Montague Road and ran a drapery business at the corner of Albert and Queen Streets. She has the honour of being the first person to be buried in the South Brisbane Cemetery, now located in Dutton Park.

Landmarks

Located at Annerley, the State Prison for Women is a heritage-listed site that opened in 1903. The women's prison was begun in 1901 and built in the next year by A.Lind and Son. It was the first prison built specifically for women. It contained eighty cells and remained a prison for women until 1921. Later, the prison housed maximum-security male prisoners until its closure in 1989.

Boggo Road Jail began as the South Brisbane Gaol in 1863 when the 24 acres were surveyed by H.C. Rawnsley. Robert Porter built the first building. It was approximately 100 metres by 85 metres, with six metre high walls and contained 57 cells. Much of the material came from the demolished Petrie Terrace Jail and the bricks were made from clay dug from a nearby property. The first prisoners arrived in 1863.

Boggo Road Jail was originally built in 1881. It bears the original name of its district and street, which was renamed Annerley Road in 1905. By 1888, the jail was already seriously overcrowded, despite the addition of two new wings. Although Brisbane had ceased to be a penal colony 30 years earlier, Boggo Road had more in common with the convict jails than with modern penal institutions. Sanitation was poor, with sewage draining into a paddock at the rear and facilities for washing almost non-existent. Floggings still took place and prisoners were sentenced to hard labour, building roads or gardening. One third of the prisoners were in jail for minor offences. Those serving longer terms were only held there until they could be transported to St Helena Island. The other group of convicts there were those sentenced to execution, as the executions took place here.

The South Brisbane Cemetery had been reserved for a cemetery on early plans. However, it was not until August 1870 that the first burial took place.

Harmony Gardens, located at the eastern end of Dutton Park, has become a contemporary landmark because of its unusual play equipment and butterfly-shaped paths.

Reference: BRISbites, 2000

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