An Elegant Queenslander in Auchenflower
My earliest memories revolve around a house on the corner of Ridley and Harriet Streets in the inner western suburb of Auchenflower. Mrs Blakey, a widow whose husband had passed in circumstances no one referred to, occupied the front half of the house, which had been converted into two living spaces by putting a wall across the former living and dining room. The Hughes family occupied the rear of the premises, which included a bedroom that might once have been the servant's quarters.
While the house itself is long gone — it was demolished to make way for one of the suburb's first unit developments — it remains an object of fascination sixty years later. I always believed it had belonged to someone significant. While the original owner might not have been someone from Queensland society's upper echelons or some captain of industry, it certainly presented as a building meant to impress lesser mortals. It certainly impressed me.
As it turned out, Number 18 was originally Tyneside, built by a colliery owner named Norman Meredith Davies.
