Herston

This inner Brisbane suburb is named in honour of two of our early residents, these being Robert Herbert and John Bramston, who jointly owned a residence which was situated around the site of the present University of Queensland Medical School building.

Herston, the residence of Robert Herbert and John Bramston

Both men were prominent citizens of early Brisbane, Robert Herbert, Queensland's first Premier and John Bramston, a lawyer, who later became Attorney-General. The residence and farm they established was given the name "Herston" being a combination of the first and last parts of their surnames, and which became the name for the wider area.

Robert Herbert

John Bramston


One of Herbert's surviving letters, written to his sister in the 1860s, describes them "catching quantities of magnificent prawns in the creek which surrounds Herston", which is most like to to have been Breakfast Creek, and continues to describe the method employed to catch them, thus, "we have boxes covered with canvas, with a funnel shaped entrance, into which they walk, splendid large fellows, four or five inches long and most delicate in flavour".

I wonder if there are still prawns in that area of Breakfast Creek, and what the eating quality would be?

The two most prominent landmarks in the area are probably the Royal Brisbane Hospital and the Exhibition Grounds, although the large infrastructure of the new busway is now also a major landmark.

Over the next couple of days, I'll put up posts looking briefly at the history of both the hospital and the Exhibition Grounds.

Another significant site in Herston is Bowen Park, which is a remnant of the probably little remembered Acclimitisation Gardens which once extended well beyond the present Bounds of this park.

I'll also cover the history of this early gardens in a future post.