Mount Alford, Queensland

Mount Alford is a locality and town in the Scenic Rim Region of South East Queensland, Australia.[2][3] At the 2016 census, Mount Alford recorded a population of 268.[1] A store, school and church in the area were first built in the late 1880s. A cemetery, war memorial and other churches were established later.

Mount Alford
Queensland
Paddocks to the north east of Mount Moon
Mount Alford
Coordinates28°4′8″S 152°35′41″E
Population268 (2011 census)[1]
Postcode(s)4310
Elevation120 m (394 ft)
LGA(s)Scenic Rim Region
State electorate(s)Scenic Rim
Federal Division(s)Wright
Localities around Mount Alford:
Moogerah Charlwood
Bunjurgen		 Wallaces Creek
Moogerah Mount Alford Coochin
Moogerah Croftby Croftby

Geography
Mount Alford General Store

Mount Alford is a typical scenic Rim community surrounded by rich agricultural land. Teviot Brook passes just to the east of the town. Downstream is the Wyaralong Dam. Erosion along Blackrock Creek has prompted the Scenic Rim Regional Council and SEQ Catchments to implement on-farm infrastructure and land management practice changes to reduce sediment runoff and improve water quality.[4] In the south west of the locality the land slopes upwards towards Mount Moon. Directly to the north and west of Mount Alford is Moogerah Dam and the Moogerah Peaks. The larger settlement of Boonah is located nearby with main roads linking to Ipswich and Beaudesert.

History

Mount Alford was previously known as Reckumpilla.[5] It was renamed after Thomas Alford who managed Coochin Coochin station from 1868 onwards. A general store opened in the town in c1888 by August Anders. The building was rebuilt in 1913 upon sale by the Anders family.[6]

School
War memorial at Mount Alford State School, 2016
St Peters Church of England, circa 1919

Mount Alford Provisional School opened on 4 April 1888. On 1 January 1901 it became Mount Alford State School.[7][8] A monument to those who served and who were killed in World War I was unveiled at the school on Saturday 25 May 1918 by John Douglas Story, (Undersecretary for Education in Queensland).[5][9] It is the smallest "digger" statue on a war memorial in Queensland.[10]

Anglican church
Memorial for Gertrude Augusta Bell, Bowman Park, Mount Alford, 2017
Plaque marking the location of St Phillip's Anglican Church and cemetery, Mount Alford, 2917

From 1898, Anglican church services were held at the school, led by A.J.C. Rivett. In April 1914, Mrs Gertude Augusta Bell of Coochin Coochin donated £30 to commence a building fund for an Anglican church in Mount Alford.[11]

On 16 November 1918, Bishop Henry Le Fanu laid the foundation stone for the Anglican church on the northeastern corner of Reckumpilla Street and Cavanagah Street (28.0655°S 152.5952°E / -28.0655; 152.5952 (St Phillip's Anglican Church, Mount Alfred)).[12] Tenders were called for a builder in January 1919;[13] it was built by Mr Kelleher.[14]

St Peter's Anglican church was dedicated on Saturday 25 November 1919 by the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane St Clair Donaldson.[15] The church was made from wood with a shingle roof and all its furnishings were made from silky oak. It was 46 feet long and 26 feet wide with a chancel of 12 feet by 8 feet.[15] The cost of the church was about £900 of which £150 remained unpaid when the church was opened.[14]

An Anglican cemetery was established with its first burial (Gertrude Augusta Bell) on Sunday 11 August 1946.[16][17]

The church held its last service on 25 December 1969.[18] On 11 December 1873 it was decided to sell the church building for removal.[14][19] In 2017, Bowman Park occupies the site of the church and cemetery. A plaque commemorates the church and a memorial commemorates the Bell family members who were buried there.[14]

Lutheran Church
Former St John's Lutheran Church, Mount Alford, 2005

The first Lutheran services in Mount Alford were held in the School of Arts by Pastor Christian Wilhelm Seybold.[14] On 23 October 1908, a meeting was held that decided to build a church. Mr Wissemann offered an acre of land. By December 1908, local Lutherans had raised £120 towards a church building.[20] The church was built by the Behrendorff family (Ambrosius Victor, Wilhelm Carl Johann, and Carl) using sawn timber for the Behrendorff sawmill. The finished church was 30 feet long and 24 feet wide and cost £155 (including the fence).[14]

The Lutheran church in Mount Alford was opened and dedicated on 7 May 1909.[21] The original trust for the church stipulated that only married men and widowers could be trustees (but not bachelors). An English Sunday School commenced on 26 August 1911 (most Lutheran churches conducted their activities entirely in German until World War I at which time many switched to the use of English to avoid suspicion about their loyalties).[14]

The first baptism in the church was W. Behrendorff. The first couple to be married in the church were Wilhelm Labuschewski and Mary Louisa Kaden on 27 September 1911.[14]

The church building was lined in 1936 for its 25th anniversary. A bible was presented by Mr and Mrs J. Gesler in 1943. In 1956 Charles Behrendorff made a baptismal font and a new altar was built in 1959.

The pastors of the church (until 1988) were Christian Wilhelm Seybold, Rudolf Monz, Anton Hiller, Martin Frederick Prenzler, Alfred Hugo Schubert, Gerald David Dahlenberg, David Frederick Siegle, J. Perkins, R. Goldhardt, and K.D. Kotzur.[14]

The church subsequently closed and is in use as a private residence, but a notice over its doorway says "St John's Lutheran Church – Estd 1909".[22]

Methodist/Uniting church

The Methodist church opened in December 1921.[23]

Demographics

Mount Alford has a population of 268 at the 2016 census. The locality contains 123 households, in which 47.5% of the population are males and 52.5% of the population are females with a median age of 53, 15 years above the national average. The average weekly household income is $1,218, $220 below the national average.

3.0% of Mount Alford's population is either of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. 75.6% of the population aged 15 or over is either registered or de facto married, while 24.4% of the population is not married. 21.3% of the population is currently attending some form of a compulsory education. The most common nominated ancestries were English (32.1%), Australian (27.1%) and German (15.6%), while the most common country of birth was Australia (88.3%), and the most commonly spoken language at home was English (94.4%). The most common nominated religions were No religion (32.9%), Anglican (20.8%) and Catholic (12.5%). The most common occupation was a labourer (21.9%) and the majority/plurality of residents worked 40 or more hours per week (36.4%).[1]

Heritage listings
Mount Alford School of Arts established 1906

Mount Alford has the following heritage-listed sites:

  • 889 Reckumpilla Street: Mount Alford School of Arts [6]
  • 898 Reckumpilla Street: Mount Alford General Store [6]

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Mount Alford". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  2. "Mount Alford (entry 46153)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  3. "Mount Alford (entry 22965)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  4. "Making a difference to Teviot Brook: Verena and Todd Joyce's creek project". SEQ Catchments. Archived from the original on 4 June 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  5. Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland) (2000). Heritage Trails of the Great South East. State of Queensland. p. 33. ISBN 0-7345-1008-X.
  6. "Local Heritage Register" (PDF). Scenic Rim Regional Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  7. Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN 978-1-921171-26-0
  8. "History". Mount Alford State School. February 2013. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  9. "APPRECIATION OF SOLDIERS". The Brisbane Courier (18, 833). Queensland, Australia. 29 May 1918. p. 8. Retrieved 30 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. "Mount Alford War Memorial". Monument Australia. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  11. "Our Mount Alford Letter". Queensland Times. LVI (8980). Queensland, Australia. 1 April 1914. p. 6 (Daily). Retrieved 30 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. "RELIGIOUS NOTES". The Telegraph (14, 346). Queensland, Australia. 16 November 1918. p. 10. Retrieved 30 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. "Tenders Invited". Queensland Times. LX (10, 254). Queensland, Australia. 4 January 1919. p. 2 (DAILY.). Retrieved 30 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. Oppermann, Margaret (1988). Mount Alford memories : Mount Alford State School Centenary 1888–1988. Mount Alford State School Centenary Committee. ISBN 978-0-7316-2395-2.
  15. "RAILWAY PROPOSALS". The Brisbane Courier (19, 278). Queensland, Australia. 1 November 1919. p. 15. Retrieved 30 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. "Family Notices". Sunday Mail (851). Queensland, Australia. 11 August 1946. p. 11. Retrieved 4 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. "Cemeteries and Churches". Visit Scenic Rim. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  18. "Closed Churches". Anglican Records & Archives Centre. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  19. Unidentified (1919), St. Peter's Church of England, Mount Alford, ca.1919, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, retrieved 30 May 2017
  20. "BELOW THE RANGE". The Brisbane Courier. LXV (15, 892). Queensland, Australia. 17 December 1908. p. 2. Retrieved 30 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. "BELOW THE RANGE". The Brisbane Courier. LXV (16, 013). Queensland, Australia. 8 May 1909. p. 6. Retrieved 30 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  22. "St John's Lutheran Church – Former, Mount Alford, QLD, 4310". Australia's Christian Heritage. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  23. "METHODIST CHURCH NOTES". The Telegraph (15, 312). Queensland, Australia. 24 December 1921. p. 14 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved 5 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.

Further reading
  • Oppermann, Margaret (1988). Mount Alford memories : Mount Alford State School Centenary 1888–1988. Mount Alford State School Centenary Committee. ISBN 978-0-7316-2395-2.

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