The Bribie Islander

Most readers know the major street names on Bribie but may not know how or when they were named. Everyone knows FIRST AVENUE, which was built in 1923 as a sand track for basic visitor transport from the Jetty to Ocean Beach 110 years ago. Bribie was developed as a Company Town, and the first road was originally named Campbell Avenue after the Director who paid for a Toll Road to be built. It was later renamed First Avenue.

WELSBY PARADE
This Bongaree foreshore street is named after Moreton Bay historian, politician, sportsman, and author who had a long association with Bribie and a holiday home here in his later years. He was a renowned fisherman, President of the Amateur Fisherman’s Association, and author of seven books on Fish and History. His last book, written in 1934, was about a fictitious character, “Bribie the Basket Maker”, a convict who he said lived with an Indigenous woman on Bribie …..but he later agreed it was not true.

AVON AVENUE
The main road at Banksia Beach is named after an old coal-carrying hulk named AVON, which was deliberately scuttled in Pumicestone Passage opposite Dux Creek in 1915 to protect Oyster leases from southerly weather. Many Oyster leases in the passage belonged to James Clark, who owned the whole of what is now Sandstone Point. Mud worms wiped out the Oyster industry, but the rusted Avon wreck is still visible at low tide as a reminder.

BANYA STREET
When the new settlement of Bongaree was surveyed in 1912, it was suggested that it be named BANYA after a nearby aboriginal Oyster Camp. The Lands Dept. did not adopt this name, but it decided to call it Bongaree to honour the Sydney aboriginal who first came to Bribie with Matthew Flinders in 1799.

FOSTER STREET
It was named in the first Bongaree subdivision for Fred Foster, a Dugong fisherman who camped on the nearby creek in the 1880s. There, he processed Turtles and Dugong for oil and blubber.

GOODWIN DRIVE
The road from the main shopping centre to the new Satellite Hospital. After the Bongaree Jetty was built in 1912, it was twelve years before the first road was built to Woorim. The only place to buy alcohol for the first 27 years was at the restricted Bowls Club license or on the Steamship Koopa when it came to Bribie. The Hotel Bribie was built by brothers John & Patrick Goodwin in 1939, which is where Goodwin Drive comes from. The architect designed a modern Hotel with its own Powerhouse and water supply. When Bribie became a military base in World War 2, the Hotel was occupied by the Women’s Army Service, and the liquor license was moved to a small cottage named ASCOT on the corner of Banya and Foster Streets, which is no longer there. John Goodwin was later appointed Caboolture Councilor and worked hard to get town water and electricity to the island. When the Tug Co. stopped running the Koopa to Bribie in 1952, John formed the Moreton Bay Development Co. to keep the Koopa operational, but it soon failed. The Hotel was later renamed Blue Pacific.

RICKMAN PARADE
This runs behind the sand dunes north of Woorim and was named after Joe and Doreen Rickman, who bought land in 1957 and came to live in 1960.

Joe Rickman was an airman who had flown the skies over Bribie calibrating aircraft instruments and went on to tun an electrical contracting business in Melbourne. In 1960, the Rickman’s moved to what was then “The Esplanade” at Woorim. In those days, there were major problems with shifting sand dunes blocking the road and the house. The Rickman family home was raised up to escape the encroaching sand using salvaged telegraph poles after the phone line had been put underground. Doreen sponsored many aboriginal children to enjoy a holiday with them and spent 15 years on the School Committee and the Ratepayers Association campaigning to stop sand mining on Bribie. Joe Rickman became a member of the Shire Council, and the Esplanade was renamed Rickman Parade to honour their service and achievements.

SOLANDER ESPLANADE
Several streets at Banksia Beach foreshore relate to the voyage of James Cook on the Endeavour in 1770. However, Cook did not come anywhere near Bribie Island and was way out to sea when he sailed past here. A developer chose the street names, and Daniel Solander was an assistant botanist working for Joseph Banks, who had many things named after him. Daniel Solander was born in 1733 in Sweden, the son of Rev. Carl and Magdelena Solander.

COTTERILL AVENUE
Lilly Cotterill was Alfred Hall’s niece, a Grocer in Brisbane who opened the first shop at Bongaree in 1918 with Artie Bestman. Hall and Bestman both have streets named for them. Wilfred and Lilly Cotterill and their daughter Muriel, aged 8, came from Nottingham, England, in 1924 and initially set up a small shop at Woorim. Wilf then managed Hall and Bestman’s farm on what is now Cotterill Avenue. He was known as the Melon King, growing vegetables and raising fowls and ducks for sale and eggs.

The family turned to dairy and pig farming, which proved very successful. They thrived and supplied the island with milk, meat, fruit and vegetables. A lot of produce helped stock the Hall & Bestman store. Wilfred eventually purchased Hall’s share of the land and ran the property with up to 50 cows, but Dingoes were a big problem, and calves had to be penned when firstborn. Wilfred delivered fresh milk by horse and cart. By 1930, Hall and Cotterill held the lease, and Wilf cleared more land and erected buildings. During World War 2, he supplied fresh milk to the military forces stationed on Bribie Island and Toorbul Point. By 1950, the lease was converted to freehold, and Wilf Cotterill became the sole owner. The remaining land was subdivided and became the Cotterill Estate. The original Cotterill farmhouse remained on a block of land between Cotterill Avenue and Hall Avenue until 2008, when it was demolished to make way for units.

BOYD STREET
Boyd Street at Woorim is named for Geoff Boyd, a shareholder in the Brisbane Tug & Steamship Co., a prominent citizen and owner of Motel Bribie. The new Motel idea involved several small houses on land bordered by First Avenue, Blaik Street, Oxley Way and Boyd Street. A large weatherboard house and several fibro huts, with typical prewar cladding. Geoff Boyd was active in the Ratepayers Association, Chamber of Commerce, Bribie Succession Movement and Chairman of the Appeals Committee. Television transmission started in Brisbane in 1959, and Bribie got excellent reception, so Geoff Boyd bought two TV sets to hire for his Motel guests. Soon after, he was summoned to appear in Caboolture court for not having TV viewing licenses. Boyd, with the support of Shire Chairman Frank Unwin, fought and won the case on the basis that the Federal Government had no such rights, and soon after, the Government discontinued TV viewers’ licenses.

MORE BRIBIE HISTORY
Historical Society meetings are on the second Wednesday of each month at 6:30 pm at the RSL Club, and visitors are always welcome. The first meeting for 2025 will be on Wednesday, 12 February. See more stories & photos of Bribie’s history on the website Bribiehistoricalsociety. org.au and Blog http://bribieislandhistory.blogspot. com. or contact us at bribiehistoricalsociety@gmail. com