What Ipswich’s post-war homes and Nolan’s Corner have in common
01 February 2021
At the height of the Second World War, as the fighting came ever closer to Australian shores, our parents and grandparents were being sold a dream of tomorrow.
That dream was the ‘Post-War Home’: land, a house, and all the modern conveniences electricity could provide.
Ipswich recovered well following the war.
There were new collieries and the Moreton field remained the largest producer of Queensland coal, yielding 47 per cent of the state’s output in 1949.
Along with mining, came other industries and an influx of new residents.
To cater for these new residents, Ipswich expanded eastward, from Booval, to Ebbw Vale, Riverview and Redbank – the new estates following closely the railway line.
The houses of these new suburbs were at first modest structures.
Continued rationing of building materials limited the size of new homes.
Gone were the wrap around verandahs of the classic Ipswich Queenslander, and the building material of choice became fibrocement.
The next Ipswich Libraries Chasing Our Past At Home: Mid-Century Ipswich webinar, will explore the austerity period of the immediate post-war years and into the 1960s, a time when our houses underwent some radical design changes.
Register for Chasing Our Past At Home: Mid-Century Ipswich which will be held over Zoom on Tuesday, 2
February from 6pm until 7pm here, registrations close at 9am on the day.
Nolan’s Corner is an iconic building at the top of the Nicholas Street Precinct.
This building has been at the centre of retail in the Ipswich CBD for almost a century.
But before it was Nolan’s Corner, it was Greenham’s Chamber.
The Greenham family, who arrived as assisted immigrants in late 1855, consisted of husband John, wife Maria,
and fourteen-year-old son John.
They came on the ship Conrad, disembarking at Moreton Bay before finding employment the following week and making their way upriver to Ipswich.
Ipswich provided just the opportunity for the family.
Their legacy can be found around the city which owes much to them and its many other hardworking and committed settlers.
Margaret Henty is a direct descendant of John Greenahm and she will explore the history of the Greenham family in Ipswich as part of Ipswich Libraries’ Chasing Our Past At Home Series – The Quest for the Greenhams in Ipswich.
Register for Chasing Our Past At Home – The Quest for the Greenhams in Ipswich which will be held over Zoom on Tuesday, 16 February from 6pm until 7pm here, registrations close at 9am on the day.