Simon and I caught the train up to Caboolture today and cycled back via Wamuran and Dayboro.
The aim was to explore an old historical road in our area and have fun while we were doing it.
“The Old North Road” is a historic road which was established in 1843 by The Archer brothers (David, Thomas and John) and Evan Mackenzie as a quicker way to travel from Brisbane to Durundur Station and Kilcoy.
Parts of it remain to the North West of Brisbane (where it’s known as “Old Northern Road”, and up near Wamuran on the D’Aguilar Highway where it’s still known as “Old North Road”.
One of the pleasant surprises we found along the way was Zillman’s Crossing. It’s a causeway where The Old North Road crosses the Caboolture River in Rocksberg. This delightfully picturesque spot belies its history where horses, carts, and later cars would have a terrible time getting over the crossing.
We also crossed Gregors Creek, an old dirt track at the southern end of F.Lindsay Road. This was originally part of the Old North Road, but became disused over the years. Click on the video for a superb demonstration of prowess as Simon shows how to cross a creek on a bike.
As this newspaper article from the Moreton Bay Courier (October 24 1846) reports, Gregors Creek was site of a gruesome murder.
A little further south, and The Old North Road passed below Franz Mountain in Moorina. It overlooks a secluded valley which follows the banks of Burpengary Creek. Today the road is called “Franz Road” and passes south-east through some private property towards Narangba.
One of the beautiful old properties close to Franz Mountain is “Mary Ann’s Cottage“. This delightful cottage was built around 1880 by the son of one of the Moravian Missionaries, Maurice Schnieder and his wife Mary Ann. An outstanding native fig tree (Ficus Virens) stands proudly on the property, and is believed to be over 500 years old.
Meg Thomas, owner of Mary Ann’s Cottage has a fascinating collection of documents detailing the history of the property:
We’ll try to complete the northern section of The Old North Road next week, from Moorina to Whiteside.
But to cap this leg of the journey off, we decided to follow an old dirt “short cut” up the side of Mt Mee. Exceeding a grade of 25% over a couple of kilometres, this has to be the steepest road I’ve ever tried cycling up. But the views were spectacular, and the exhilarating journey down the mountain after the summit made it a worthwhile climb.
[...] Along the Old North Road (Part 2) Last week Simon and I road from Wamuran to Moorina along the historic Old North Road. [...]
[...] 1880’s he surveyed much of the Blackall Ranges and Glass House Mountains, proceeding via The Old North Road. On that journey he probably crossed Mosquito [...]
Hi,
I read your article with great interest and especially noted the photograph of Gregors Creek and footage. I am trying to finish a book about Brisbane and the outskirts in the 1840s and 1850s and one segment concerns the deaths of Andrew Gregor and his servant Mary Shannon on 20 October 1846 in the vicinity of Gregor’s Creek which presumably runs off the North Pine River. I would be grateful if I could publish your photo of the creek. You may be aware that on 22 January 1848 Gregor’s brother, Reverend Gregor,drowned at a waterhole at Nundah (German Station) – some believed it was suicide. My Great Great grandfather (Johannes Gotfried Wagner) was one of the handful of German Missionaries who established German Station (Zion’s Hill) in 1838. He and others trekked out via the Pine River to the Bunya Mountains in 1842. They were told of the conflicts between aborigines and whites – undoubtedly catalysed by the so-called Kilcoy Massacre of aborigines. By all means contact me via julian_wagner [at] hotmail (dot) com or at work (07) 3229 2355. Best regards,Julian Wagner 13 December 2010.
G’day Julian
Please feel free to use any photos you need. And please let us know when your book is published, I’d love to buy a copy.
Regards
Neil
Hi,
I read with interest your musingsalong the North Road. My mother is Vera Franz and she grew up at the Franz farm at Moorina. I remeber holidays there. I was particularly interested to see the photo of Mary Ann’e cottage. Maurice Schneider was the son of My great great grandmother. She was pregnant with him on the voage to Australia. Her husband Moritz Schneider died from typhus contracted on the journey and she later married my great great grandfather Friedrich Leopold Franz. He was one of the first free settlers at the German station in Nundah and his son later moved to the Caboolture area. I am working on the family tree and notice that you have some other photos related to the cottage. I was wondering if you had any information about who the people were and whether I could get a copy, if they are related
Regards
Yvonne
G’day Yvonne
Thanks so much for your comments.
Mary Anne’s Cottage is now a lovely Bed & Breakfast operated by Meg Thomas. She has collected an impressive array of memorabilia about the cottage and its inhabitants over the last 170 years. I’m sure she will have a lot of the information you’re after. You can get her phone number from her web page at http://maryannscottage.com.au.
The Bauer family now lives at the old Franz farm on Franz Road. They’re in the white pages – the only “Franz” in Franz Road Moorina.
You’ve got some illustrious ancestors! Julian, who left a comment on this post earlier is a descendant of Johannes Wagner – one of the other German missionaries at Zion Hill / Nundah. Would you mind if I pass your information on to him?
Best wishes
Neil