While we appreciate and admire the historic houses of our area, we probably rarely think – or know much – about those who lived there. Let’s peek into the lives of some of the residents of one such house, Spes Bona, in Bevington Street (previously known as Charles Street and, later, Alfred Street), Sandgate.
It is not clear when Spes Bona was built, but the earliest newspaper reference to it is in 1889 when a Miss Hendren notified her pupils in the Moreton Mail of the imminent reopening of her school at Spes Bona. Who was Miss Hendren? She was one of the four daughters of William Hendren, an Ipswich businessman and Member of the Legislative Assembly. In 1891, Spes Bona was the venue for the wedding of the youngest Miss Hendren, Annie, to Mr Robert West Kingsford, the wedding officiated by the groom’s father, Rev John Kingsford.
The house then accommodated, successively, several families: in 1897, Mr and Mrs J Krefter announced the birth of a daughter there. In February 1900, Mrs E Harlen of Spes Bona advertised for a “general servant”, and later that month, she and Mr Harlen announced the birth of their daughter. The following year, they also had a son, William, who, sadly, died in 1902 at the age of eight months.
A Home of Hospitality, Family, and Quiet Legacy
We now jump to 1910 when a Mrs L Smith (Proprietress) advertised Spes Bona as “a superior home for visitors”. The following year, Mr and Mrs G Armstrong were living there and they, too, announced the birth of a daughter. In 1918, a Mrs Hobbs offered accommodation at Spes Bona: “good table … handy to station and beach, terms moderate”.
The 1920s saw Spes Bona once again a family home, that of Mr James Furness, a railway worker and officeholder of the Sandgate Masonic Lodge. The family were active members of the Methodist Church and hospitable folk, if accounts of the parties held at Spes Bona over the years are to be believed. In 1923, there was a “successful florin evening” in aid of the church, with over 100 guests enjoying musical items, games and competitions. Over the next few years, several similar festivities were reported: a daughter’s pre-wedding party (again a large attendance); a 13th birthday party for another daughter; and a kitchen tea for a Miss V Woodward.
With these jolly occasions, Spes Bona passes from the written record, although it still stands. Are the lives of its inhabitants, some of which we have fleetingly glimpsed through newspaper items, imprinted in its timbers? If only walls could talk!
Read more stories from the Sandgate Guide print magazine here:
- Bramble Buzz: Updates from the Community
- Organic Gardening in August
- Coffee culture in Australia
- Ride Into Ekka Fun With Family Savings
- The Hidden Cost of Not Deciding
- Community Concert Band Brings Big Sound To Sandgate
- Shorncliffe the Scene of the Crime in Local Author’s Debut
- Local Designer Heads to Cannes Fashion Showcase
- Yeeha! The Country Comes to the Bayside
- Raise a glass to these award winners
- Tracing the History of Fitzgibbon
- Wax Lyrical with Local Poets
- Flinders Parade Guided Walk
- Fly Into Painting Fun These School Holidays
- Ready to Rock at Festival
- Spotlight Shines on Sandgate’s Talent
[With thanks to the Sandgate Historical Museum (opening hours: Sunday and Wednesday, 9am to 1.30pm. Adults $5, children $3, membership $20/$30)].
