Bellbowrie is a western riverside

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

in the

City of Brisbane The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of Greater Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. The LGAs in the other mainland state capitals ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , Bellbowrie had a population of 5,495 people. Bellbowrie is on the northern side of the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River (Turrbal language, Turrbal: ) is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia. It flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the ...

and lies west-southwest of Brisbane's city centre. It is a rapidly developing semi-rural area due to Brisbane's growth heading in a westwards direction.

Geography

The suburb is bounded to the north by Pullen Pullen Creek and to the east by the Brisbane River with two of its reaches: * Pullen Reach (downstream ) *Goggs Reach (upstream )

Moggill Road Moggill Road is a major road in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It commences at High Street at Toowong and terminates at the Moggill Ferry in Moggill, Queensland, Moggill. It is part of State Route 33. The road carried an average of 39,305 vehi ...

, which bisects the suburb, is a main thoroughfare for traffic passing from

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

to central

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. Commuters may use the

Moggill Ferry The Moggill Ferry is a cable ferry crossing the Brisbane River between the suburbs of Moggill, Queensland, Moggill in Brisbane and Riverview, Queensland, Riverview in Ipswich, both in Queensland, Australia. The iconic ferry is owned by Stradbrok ...

to gain access to Moggill Road as an alternative to the

Centenary Highway The M5 (Centenary Motorway) is a motorway in the western suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. It starts at the terminus of the A5 Centenary Highway at Springfield, and ends at Kenmore where it changes its name to the M5 Western Freeway. It fe ...

. Neighbouring suburbs include: Moggill, Pinjarra Hills and Anstead. The streetscape in Bellbowrie benefits from the provision of underground power and there are few power poles to be seen. Bellbowrie is part of the Pullenvale Ward for

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC, also known as Council) is the local government of the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The largest local government in Australia by population, BCC's jurisdiction includes 2 ...

Elections as well as the seat of Moggill for state elections and the seat of Ryan for federal elections.

History

The name ''Bellbowrie'' is an Aboriginal word (possibly from the

Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...

area in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

) meaning ''flowering gum'', possibly referring to the red gum. It was named on 4 November 1972 and bounded on 11 August 1975. The Moggill

bora ring Bora is an initiation ceremony of the Aboriginal people of Eastern Australia. The word "bora" also refers to the site on which the initiation is performed. At such a site, boys, having reached puberty, achieve the status of men. The initiation ...

is at 102 Riversleigh Road (). It is a raised earthen mound about high and about in diameter. It was used for ceremonies in which Aboriginal boys became recognised as men. The Bellbowrie subdivision took place in 1972. Development slowed in the aftermath of the

1974 Brisbane flood In January 1974 a flood occurred in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia after three weeks of continual rain. The Brisbane River, which runs through the heart of the city, broke its banks and flooded the surrounding areas. The cyclone that produced t ...

which saw much of the eastern, lower-lying areas of the suburb badly inundated with water. Since the construction of the

Wivenhoe Dam Wivenhoe Dam is a rock and earth-fill embankment dam with a concrete spillway across the Brisbane River in South East Queensland, Australia. The dam takes it names from the local Wivenhoe Pocket rural community. The dam wall is located abou ...

in the 1980s the fear of floods was reduced and development increased. Many acreage owners are subdividing their properties and as a consequence, significant areas of bushland are being cleared. The boundaries of the suburb were extended on 13 December 1990 to include land previously in Anstead. The Bellbowrie Swimming Pool was built in 1974. Several new housing estates began development in 2001 on land that used to be pineapple farms. In the

2011 Brisbane floods Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleven'' ...

, the Brisbane River rose significantly and some small areas of Bellbowrie were flooded. However, of greater concern was the inundation of access roads to the area, isolating a number of suburbs including Bellbowrie including the loss of electricity and telecommunications and a shortage of food with the supermarket inundated. The Uniting Church acted as an evacuation centre for those whose homes were flooded and as a communal food bank which received supplies of necessities via helicopter. Following the 2011 floods, the Bellbowrie swimming pool was rebuilt to be more flood-resistant based on a design by Bureau Proberts Architect. It won the Horbury Hunt Award, for the best commercial project utilising clay brick.

Demographics

In the , Bellbowrie had a population of 5,413 people. In the , Bellbowrie had a population of 5,462 people. In the , Bellbowrie had a population of 5,495 people.

Education

There are no schools in Bellbowrie. The nearest government primary schools are Moggill State School in neighbouring Moggill to the south. The nearest government secondary school in

Kenmore State High School Kenmore State High School is a government secondary school in the suburb of Kenmore of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It has been accredited by the Council of International Schools (Australia). History The school opened in 1972 as a Year ...

in Kenmore to the north-east.

Amenities

Bellbowrie Tavern is on the south-east corner of Moggill Road and Birkin Road (). Bellbowrie Plaza shopping centre is in Birkin Road (). The

's mobile library service visits its carpark once a week. Bellbowrie Community Church (formerly Kenmore Community Church) is at 3077 Moggill Road. A number of community groups are active in the area, including: * Rural Environmental Planning Association Inc. * Rural Environmental Planning Association Inc. * Moggill Girl Guides * Moggill Scout Group Bellbowrie has an off-leash areas for dogs to play in. Bellbowrie is part of the Tyakunda Scout District, ''Tyakunda'' being an Aboriginal word meaning ''land of the rolling hills.'' The local Scout group is called "Moggill Scout Group", and is named so as Moggill was the original name of the area and meet at 17 Mahonia Street. The Moggill branch of the

Queensland Country Women's Association The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) is the Queensland chapter of the Country Women's Association in Australia. The association seeks to serve the interests of women and children in rural areas in Australia through a network of loca ...

meets at the Bellbowrie Community Church at 3077 Moggill Road.

Sporting clubs

The Bellbowrie Sports & Recreation Club Inc., known locally as the "sports & rec" or "the club", located in Sugarwood Street, is the

home ground In sports, home is the place and venue identified with a sports team. Most professional teams are named for, and marketed to, particular metropolitan areas; amateur teams may be drawn from a particular region, or from institutions such as sc ...

of several sporting clubs: * Bellbowrie "Strikers"

Hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

Club Inc. * Moggill

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Club Inc. * Moggill

Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

Club * Moggill "Mustangs" Junior

Australian Football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

Club. Bellbowrie swimming pool is at 47 Birkin Road (). It has an 8-lane 50-metre outdoor pool and a 25-metre heated covered pool. There is also a wading pool and water play area for children. The Bellbowrie Swimming Club trains there.

Moggill Cemetery

Moggill Cemetery is located on the eastern side of Moggill Road, Bellbowrie in subdivision 2 of portions 7 & 8, County of Stanley, Parish of Moggill (). In March 1851, the original land owner, Joseph Lewis, purchased portions 7 & 8. It is believed portions 7 & 8 was used as church

graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

, circa 1855, only clues remain as to the exact location of the associated, possibly

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

. George Mounser, who accidentally drowned at Moggill on 4 March 1855, is assumed to have been the first person buried in the graveyard. In 1865, the land was sanctioned as a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

. In June 1921, the

Queensland Governor The governor of Queensland is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the state of Queensland. In an analogous way to the governor-general at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial func ...

, Sir

Matthew Nathan Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Matthew Nathan (3 January 1862 – 18 April 1939) was a British soldier and colonial administrator, who variously served as the governor of Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Hong Kong, Natal and Queensland. He was Under-Secre ...

, ordered that the cemetery be permanently reserved and placed under the control of trustees: John Anstead, John Bird, Maurice William Doyle, Norman Charles Robert Sexton and Frederick Charles Sugars. In February 1922, the land was resumed by the Crown. In July 1930, the Governor, Sir Thomas Herbert Goodwin, passed control of Moggill Cemetery over to the

References

External links

* * *
Moggill Historical Society Inc. Web Archive

State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...

. Historical society for Moggill district including Bellbowrie. *
David Stokes 2011 Bellbowrie and Moggill Flood Film 2011
State Library of Queensland {{Suburbs of Brisbane City Council Suburbs of the City of Brisbane