Community Events

Rosewood History

Sir Matthew Nathan conducting a Scout inspection parade in Rosewood, 1924.
The Rising Sung Hotel is in the background and the School of Arts can be seen on the right.

10th August 1873 – The Wesleyan Methodist Church opened at Lanefield.

24th May1875 – The Congregational Church opened in John Street on an acre of land donated by William Matthew. The building cost £125. The occasion was celebrated by the residents with a tea meeting.

17th May 1880 – The opening of the new Wesleyan chapel at Tallegalla on Monday brought together a large crowd of residents in the scrub as well as visitors from Ipswich and Brisbane. The opening services were conducted by the Rev. Mr. Robson, the circuit minister, from Ipswich, after which the inevitable tea meeting was held in the church. Addresses were delivered by Messrs. Robson, Allen, Meston, and others, who congratulated the residents of the district on their successful efforts in opening the church free of debt. Sports and amusements for the young folk brought a very pleasant day to a happy ending, and all parties separated highly delighted with the day’s proceedings.

12th September 1880 – The new church, erected for the Primitive Methodists, was opened by Mr James Foote, former member.

16th December 1882 – Hon. Samuel Griffith visited Rosewood

7th March 1897 – The first Harvest Festival run by the St Luke’s Anglican Church was held. The church was nicely decorated by the lady members of the congregation with maize, sheaves of oats, panicum, millet, &c., fruit, flowers, and vegetables. The rector of St. Thomas’s (Ipswich), the Rev. A. Davies, conducted the service, which was very bright and hearty.

1898 Rosewood Lodge held the first Church Parade (annual) (Success of Rosewood Lodge, P.A.F.S.O.A.)

27th July 1905 – Opening of the newly built Rosewood State School.

23rd September 1907 – The new Police Court was unofficially opened.

26th January 1912 – The School of Arts was opened by the Minister for Public Instruction, the Hon. K. M. Grant.

26th January 1912 – The opening of the Rosewood-Marburg railway line.

1915 Memorial Parade. On Sunday 1st August the local cadets under Sergt. Major Findley and Lieuts. B. J. Binnie and T. Haines held a Church parade, to the Catholic Church and the Church of England. At the Catholic Church the parade was in the nature of an in memoriam to the late Private M. J. O’Sullivan and the late Private T. J. Courtney, who were killed at the Dardanelles. The Rev. Father Corrigan officiated, and delivered a very impressive and appropriate sermon. At the Church of England, the service was in memory of the late Lance-Corpl. Banks who was also killed at the Dardanelles. The Rev. Hely-Wilson officiated, and referred to the number of young men who, like Lance-Corpl. Banks, had gone from this district to fight for the Empire. There was a large congregation, and the address was attentively listened to.

27th July 1920 – The train conveying the Prince of Wales stopped at Rosewood.

8th October 1921 – The Rosewood A. & H. Association held its first annual Flower Show.

9th January 1922 – St Brigid’s Convent School was opened & blessed by Archbishop Duhig.

23rd September 1922 – (Q.T.) The Eclipse. Great interest in yesterday’s glorious phenomenon was taken by the residents of Rosewood. The weather conditions here were almost perfect, and the topic of conversation from early morning was the approaching eclipse. Instruction on the subject was imparted to the school children by their teachers, and the schools in the district closed at 3 p.m. The business houses relaxed efforts during the period of the eclipse. The Rosewood sawmill, according to regulations concerning work in the dark, ceased operations at noon. The residents generally were thus free to obtain a continued view of the phenomenon. With the aid.of blackened glass an excellent view of the progress of the shadow crossing the sun was obtained from its commencement some minutes after three o’clock, until it had almost reached totality. At this period the effect over the district was delightful, the country being beautifully shaded, and a delightful freshness was in the air. On the shadow passing off again, bright sunshine prevailed.

25th April 1923 – The War Trophies were unveiled in Anzac Park.

7th February 1925 – Celebrations for the Golden Jubilee of Rosewood State School.

28th March 1925 – The C.W.A. Restroom was officially opened.

22nd, 23rd, 24th May 1925 – Rosewood Congregational Church Jubilee was celebrated.

5th September 1925 – The C.W. A. held its first Flower and Baby Show in the Farmers’ Hall.

6th April 1927 – Hundreds of people assembled along the Rosewood railway station to see the Duke and Duchess of York passing through.

23rd July 1927 – Rosewood’s Jubilee Show opened.

14th April 1928 – First Grand Annual Camp Draft

5th April 1930 – The new Church of England was dedicated to St Luke by his Grace, Dr Sharp, Archbishop of Brisbane.

2nd May 1931 – Rosewood’s Great Day of Music – Rosewood’s biggest Eisteddfod was held in aid of raising money for the Show Society. Among the 159 entrants were competitors from all parts of the district. Performers also came from as far as Brisbane, Laidley, and Boonah; and possibly the majority of them were from Ipswich. It was expected that nearly £100 would be raised. ROSEWOOD’S DAY OF GREAT MUSIC THE DAY’S CONTESTS

2nd December 1934 – The Duke of Gloucester visited Rosewood.

30th January 1936 – Special combined services were held in honour of the late King George V at the Farmers’ Hall.

30th June 1939 – Opening of the new Majestic Theatre.

18th June 1944 – V.D.C. Pre-Reserve Parade – Prior to the company going on reserve, C. Company, comprising Rosewood, Laidley, and Marburg platoons of the V.D.C., under Capt. T. W. Former, O. C., took part in a parade from Rosewood School of Arts to the showground for inspection by the Group Commander. Lieut. Colonel Hutton took the salute. Representatives of Group Headquarters attended the winding-up parade to thank V.D.C. members for their services.

1945 The Fourth Victory Loan 4IP Amateur Hour contest was held in Ipswich District. Its purpose was to raise money for the war effort. Rosewood’s trial winners were Dawn Imrie (706 votes) was first, Beryl Pocock (366) second, and Kevin and Elsie Thomas and Eva Zahnow (336) third. They competed in the finals in Ipswich Town Hall on 29th October. It was broadcast on radio 4IP. Dawn sang “Tit for Tat.” Beryl Pocock gave a vocal rendition of “The Last Rose of Summer,” and the “Hill Billy” number, “The Birds Were Singing Anew,” was presented by Kevin and Elsie Thomas and Eva Zahnow.

In the finals, Miss Coola Flaskas of Toogoolawah, who sang of “Back to Surrender” in Greek won her 1739 votes and first place. Miss Dawn Imrie of Rosewood, who sang “Tit for Tat” was second with 1628 votes and Misses Shirley and Olwyn Nielsen of Aratula, were third with 1156 votes for the duet “Mississippi”.

26th November 1948 – The Recreation Footwear Ltd Choir, under the baton of Mrs. R. Edwards, sang in Solo, Duet and Concerted items, on radio 4IP Ipswich at 9.30 a.m..

7th May 1949 – A street carnival and Centenary Ball was held to celebrate the Centenary of the Rosewood district.

27th March 1950 – BIG CROWD AT ROSEWOOD BARBECUE [Queensland Times, Tuesday 28 March 1950, page 4]
The barbecue, arranged by the Rosewood A. and H. Association, was held in the showground under ideal conditions on Saturday night, and the size of the crowd which attended exceeded expectations.

All arrangements were carried out to schedule under the leadership of the association President (Mr. Geo. Johnson) and a band of willing workers. Preparations began with the slaughtering of a beast at McGeary and Grant’s slaughter yards by Mr. McGeary.

A large fire was started in the fireplace on Friday after noon at 6 o’clock. Preparations to hang the carcass in the fireplace were carried out by Messrs. Geo. Johnson, G. McGeary, P. Freeman, J. R. Reid, J. Yarrow, and R. Brooks. A pole passed through the body rested on supports over the fireplace, and with a wheel attached to the end the turning of the carcass was made a simple job. The roasting of the bullock, which began.at 3 a.m. on Saturday was carried out by a band of assistants under the instructions of Mr. H. B. Kerner, of Ipswich.

Members of the committee throughout the day worked hard to have all in readiness for the opening which took place at 7.30 p.m. A large crowd which exceeded expectations was present, and the grounds surrounding the roasted bullock presented a scene of gaiety. The Rosewood Citizens’ Band, under the leadership of Mr. Geo. Embrey, opened proceedings, and during the night played selections. At 8 o’clock, Mr. Kerner, with Messrs. L. Doig and H. Benson as assistants, commenced cutting the bullock into slices, and a ladles’ committee comprising Mesdames P. E. Freeman, G. Johnson, R. Brooks, R. Wass, M. Lovell, H. Boughen, G. McGeary, and Miss V. Grant made the slices into sandwiches ready for the public. The bullock which weighed 5691bs., was nicely cooked, and the sandwiches were eagerly sought.

A “knockem” stall conducted by Messrs. W. Smith and J. Wanka and a chocolate wheel conducted by Messrs. A. E. Maxwell, J. R. Reid, R. Brooks, A Smith, and E. Weigand were well patronised. The soft drink stall conducted by Mr. and Mrs. J. Wyatte and Miss B. McGuire sold out of supplies early.

Entertainment was also provided by Mr. and Mrs. Stan. Moller with piano-accordion and guitar, Mr. and Mrs. Ron. Pocock, with piano-accordion and mouth organ; and unrehearsed items were given by Mr. J. Hayes with a mouth organ.

A “Hill-billy” contest resulted in a win for Robin Stewart, who is 12 years of age. His item was “My Cobber Jack,” sung unaccompanied. Judging was carried out by the crowd voting by acclamation, and Robin received a wonderful hand for his act.

A challenge was issued by “Mandrake” and his team to pull any other men, eight in number, in a tug-o’-war. The challenge was taken up by members of the Rosewood Band who won the pull.

Mr. Geo. Johnson, who welcomed the crowd, said that preparations for the barbecue required a lot of hard work, and he thanked his committee and all who in any way assisted to make the evening such a success. The announcement that Mr. H. C. Mort, of Franklyn Vale, had donated the bullock free of cost to the association was received with a round of applause. Mr. Johnson also thanked the Ladies’ Committee members for the work they had done in making the evening a success.

Dancing commenced at 10 o’clock in the pavilion. Music being provided by the Rosewood Band; Mr. and Mrs. Stan. Moller, Mr. and Mrs. Ron. Pocock, and Mr. Merv. Lack. Mr. J. Roache was M.C.

Mr. Johnson said that the evening had exceeded the expectations of the committee, and as a result the funds of the association would benefit considerably.

1st February 1953 – A stump capping ceremony was held on the site of the new Congregational Church. A war, the depression, and building restrictions had delayed the construction of the new church for years.

4th June 1953 – The biggest procession ever seen in the town was held for the Coronation celebrations.

27th March 1954 – A new church building was opened on the site of the original Congregational Church.

20th May 1955 – A Grand Opening Ball was held to celebrate the opening of the Rosewood Memorial Hall (R.S.S.A.I. L.A. Rosewood Sub-branch) by Sir Raymond Huish C.B.E.

10th December 1959 – There was a Queensland Centenary Parade in Rosewood.

15th March 1975 – Rosewood State School Centenary celebrations were opened by State Treasurer, Gordon Chalk.

24th & 25th May 1975 – The Rosewood Congregational Church’s Centenary celebrations.

21st December 1993 – The electric train service came to Rosewood.

18th July 2002 – Rosewood Detention Basin was opened by Wilson Tucket M.P.

24th September 2011 – A replica Cobb & Co coach was installed at Cobb & Co Heritage Park.

25th July 2020 – The Rosewood Library (cost $8 million) was opened by Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe and Ipswich City Mayor Teresa Harding. The first sod was turned with a golden shovel in May 2019.

24th February 2024 – The Australian Cultural Library officially opened at 66 John Street, Rosewood.

Published 07/02/2024