Bulimba District Historical Society | Does your street have an interesting past?

Author // Shannon Edwards, Place Bulimba

With his ancestors being one of the first to arrive in the area in 1853, President of the Bulimba District Historical Society, Norman Love, has a long rich history with Bulimba.

Norman, or Norm as he’s affectionately known, spent his childhood here with his parents buying their first home just after World War 2 and having found a love for the area Norm built his first home in 1981.

Norm welcomed us to that very home, where we sat down and discussed the wonderful history of Bulimba and the changes it has seen over the years.

Sharing this history is the Bulimba District Historical Society, Norm shared the importance of the society and how it brings a sense of community.  

Photo Credit: St John Baptist Church from Bulimba History Group

Can you tell me about the Bulimba District Historical Society?

Originally I was working at Friends of Balmoral Cemetery and had lots of photos and reports on the history of Bulimba, I thought “I really should do something with all this stuff.”

I got a few of my friends together who were all old Bulimba boys to see how we could get these stories out to the community.

From there the Bulimba District Historical Society was born, it started 4 years ago and we now have 40 members.

We hold a number of meetings a month where we do talks on the history of the area and chat about what we’ve discovered.

Our job is to record, document and share the great history of this area whether it be how it developed, how the names of streets changed and why or the families who lived here before us.

Sharing this history is really important as it makes people proud of their neighbourhood and generates a sense of community.

Photo Credit: St John Baptist Church from Bulimba History Group

Can you tell me a bit about the society’s members?

Each of our members have an interesting story and long involvement with the Bulimba district.

There’s a really sweet lady who’s in her late 90’s and as you can image she has a lot of memories to share about her time in Bulimba.

We have two gentlemen who do special talks with different schools and associations around the place, educating about the history of the suburb.

There’s one gentlemen who comes here, his name is James Johnston, and his ancestor was one of the first residents to ever live here.

He loves coming to our meetings because he has so much knowledge about Bulimba’s history.  

Photo Credit: Bullock Family from Bulimba History Group

I imagine the area of Bulimba was very different from what it is today, what can you tell us?

You look around now and there’s luxurious houses all over the place, but back in the beginning there was nothing here but a few trees, dirt and grass.

There were about five families that lived in the area who came over with Dr. Dunmore Lang.

The area was owned by a handful of people and it grew from there.

We had a Pink Sports Newspaper from 1932.

It had a strong focus on sailing, as back then living on the river was affordable and most families had their own boat and would participate in sailing every weekend – how glamorous.

We have an aerial photograph from 1937 once the area was a little more built up, in the photo we can see over 30 tennis courts in people’s backyards, whereas today almost every house has a pool.  

This helps demonstrate the lifestyle that people lived back then - tennis was a very big sport.

An ancestor of mine had his own ferry service before the government and was the first ferry driver. Back then, that was a very popular way for people to get around town.

Photo Credit: Bulimba Pre War from Bulimba History Group

What has kept you in the area for so long?

To be honest, I’ve never really thought about that before and I sure haven’t thought about leaving.

I guess it’s because I have a strong historical family tie to the area and have been here myself all my life.

When I first came to Bulimba myself the area didn’t have the greatest reputation, but I’m glad that I came, and that I stayed.

These days there is a beautiful community feel here and over the years I have only seen the area develop and improve.

Bulimba is truly my home.

Photo Credit: Campbell Family Photograph Bulimba History Group

What are your hopes for the society in the future?

It’s my hopes that the society only continues to grow.

We would love to see some younger members join who can share the stories they know from their ancestors.

We wish to continue to educate school children in schools as it is so important, and very special to know the history of your local neighbourhood.

We hope to restore the memorial plaques in Bulimba Memorial Park and to place as many plaques for veterans in the park as possible.