Milton House Isometric View
Milton House is one of the oldest houses in Brisbane. Today it is owned by the Kings Row Corporation which has restored this building as part of it surrounding development providing serviced offices. The building now serves as a function and meeting place within the development.
Fifty-nine years ago today (as we post this image) we first dated when Marg was a student resident here in what was then a student hostel. So, this is a moment to mark an anniversary and to recall some of the significant events and phases of our lives melded into a great marriage.
But the story of Milton House is much longer than our 59 years. Its story begins in 1851, when Ambrose Eldridge, a chemist, purchased the land with the intention of creating a cotton farm. He called his farm, "Milton". In 1852, he retired from his professional pursuit and built this house and focused on an attempt to successfully grow cotton to export to England. His cotton growing was a success, so he sold Milton and moved to larger acreage down river at Eagle Farm.
It was bought by a pastoralist, John McDougall. Later residents include public leaders and politicians Arthur Manning, William Walsh and James Crombie.
From 1954, the Symonds family rented the House from the Presbyterian Church, while Mr Symonds was General Secretary of the YMCA. Then, it became a student hostel for women and was owned and run by the Presbyterian Church of Queensland. The many student women who resided in Milton House came from all parts of rural Queensland to study either at Kelvin Grove Teachers College, University of Queensland or other tertiary institutions. Many of those young women have subsequently had distinguished careers, as tertiary education opened the way for women to serve in professional and public life.
As a hostel it had three residential wings to the west, south and north and communal bathrooms, all of which have since been removed.
The matron of the hostel, Deaconess Edna Bishop (later Mrs Young) had her living quarters on the upper floor, while the cook lived off-site.
Many of the student women, as in Marg's case, met their future husbands while tertiary students residing at Milton House. In those days there were strict curfews for the girls, and two flashes of the garden lights meant the girls who were saying good night to their boyfriends in the gardens would dutifully retreat into Milton House and the young men would then depart into the dark of the night to head for their lodgings suburbs away.
Milton House Isometric View
Milton House is one of the oldest houses in Brisbane. Today it is owned by the Kings Row Corporation which has restored this building as part of it surrounding development providing serviced offices. The building now serves as a function and meeting place within the development.
Fifty-nine years ago today (as we post this image) we first dated when Marg was a student resident here in what was then a student hostel. So, this is a moment to mark an anniversary and to recall some of the significant events and phases of our lives melded into a great marriage.
But the story of Milton House is much longer than our 59 years. Its story begins in 1851, when Ambrose Eldridge, a chemist, purchased the land with the intention of creating a cotton farm. He called his farm, "Milton". In 1852, he retired from his professional pursuit and built this house and focused on an attempt to successfully grow cotton to export to England. His cotton growing was a success, so he sold Milton and moved to larger acreage down river at Eagle Farm.
It was bought by a pastoralist, John McDougall. Later residents include public leaders and politicians Arthur Manning, William Walsh and James Crombie.
From 1954, the Symonds family rented the House from the Presbyterian Church, while Mr Symonds was General Secretary of the YMCA. Then, it became a student hostel for women and was owned and run by the Presbyterian Church of Queensland. The many student women who resided in Milton House came from all parts of rural Queensland to study either at Kelvin Grove Teachers College, University of Queensland or other tertiary institutions. Many of those young women have subsequently had distinguished careers, as tertiary education opened the way for women to serve in professional and public life.
As a hostel it had three residential wings to the west, south and north and communal bathrooms, all of which have since been removed.
The matron of the hostel, Deaconess Edna Bishop (later Mrs Young) had her living quarters on the upper floor, while the cook lived off-site.
Many of the student women, as in Marg's case, met their future husbands while tertiary students residing at Milton House. In those days there were strict curfews for the girls, and two flashes of the garden lights meant the girls who were saying good night to their boyfriends in the gardens would dutifully retreat into Milton House and the young men would then depart into the dark of the night to head for their lodgings suburbs away.