HISTORY
FLEE TO BRIBIE FROM PANDEMIC 102 years ago.
T
his article tells about pioneer families who came to Bribie in the early days of settlement.
In 1919, the Spanish Flu pandemic shocked the world, killing tens of millions of people worldwide, and before that the 1900 Bubonic plague had killed hundreds of Queenslanders. 100 years ago, with a resident population on Bribie of less than 50 people, life was very basic. It slowly grew with a growing number of visitors on Steamship excursions from Brisbane, when a Jetty was built at Bongaree in 1912.
THEN & NOW
Today the world is in the grip of a Covid-19 Pandemic, and here in Queensland and Bribie Island we have come to appreciate the value of isolation, and the ongoing risk of global infection and community transmission. The population of Bribie is now growing rapidly and people come here from many places. I wonder how history will reflect on the Bribie Island of 2021, in 100 years’ time, and what people and events of our life today may still be visible and remembered. Some of the pioneer family names like Crouch, Ormiston and Brennan are still
visible in street and place names, and some of their descendants remain active in the community today.
I would wander in between the tents, talk, and meet many other children who I played with.
The following is a summary of the written memories of Pam Smith (nee Crouch) who gave a memorable presentation to the Historical Society a few years ago.
CROUCH FAMILY by Pam Smith (nee Crouch)
My mother, Eileen Ormiston, came to Bribie Island in 1919 with her parents, Elsie Rose (nee Sullivan) and James Alexander Ormiston as a 3-year-old with an older brother, Jimmy. They moved to Bribie from New Farm, Brisbane, in 1919 to escape an Influenza pandemic brought back by our poor soldiers returning from World War 1. Thousands of people were infected and the hospitals were overcrowded. My grandfather later related when he heard outside his house “bring out the dead”, he decided to leave New Farm for Bribie Island. My grandparents travelled to Bribie Island on the steamship Koopa to set up one of the first permanent homes here. At first, they camped on the foreshore and they lived on fish, crabs, yabbies, prickly pear fruit (which I have also eaten) and small animals such as goanna and snakes. Bread was brought over from Toorbul Township once a week. My grandfather made a living by picking Boronia, and other wild flowers, and sold them to the day-trippers. He made tent pegs from trees and sold them to the holidaymakers who camped on the ‘hill’ where the library is today. They also camped along the foreshore, left and right of the jetty, and where the Bribie Caravan Park is today. I loved the school holidays as
42 www.thebribieislander.com.au
By Barry Clark Bribie Island Historical Society
The Bribie Islander
Later, when we moved into a cottage, my grandfather grew vegetables and had ducks and chooks. My grandfather also established a grocery store in 1920 called ‘Ormistons’, situated close to where the Bongaree Hot Bread shop in Toorbul Street now stands. Eventually Elsie and James had five children and they all worked hard from a young age in their father and mother’s businesses.
In 1924, the first school opened on Bribie and my mother, Eileen and her two brothers, James and Eric Ormiston were
