Complete History
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Gailes Golf Club - The First Fifty Years - 1925 to 1974 Foreword This year, 1974, the Gailes Golf Club is celebrating its Golden Jubilee. To commemorate the event, the Committee is happy to be able to publish this booklet recording many of the developments that have occurred during the first 50 years of the club's history. However, this would not have been a possibility without the unselfish work of one of our members, Vince Daly. Some years ago, Vince took upon himself the task of compiling the club's history. The result of his efforts is this history you are now reading. It contains reports of many events and happenings at the club which, until now, have lived on only in the memories of the early members or in press cuttings available only to a limited few. Without a record such as this, they would, within a short time, have passed forever from the thoughts of current members. The club is deeply indebted to Vince for the time and effort he so generously gave in compiling this work. It involved discussions with foundation and early members, searches of club records, private scrap books and library references, and in fact unearthed many interesting sidelights not recorded here for the sole reason that space would not permit. On behalf of members I sincerely thank Vince for his history and I commend it to you as a valuable memento of your club. Brian McCarthy President September 1974 Goodna Before the Beginning The first European on what is now Gailes Golf Club was probably the explorer, John Oxley. John Oxley was commissioned by Governor Brisbane in 1823 to investigate Moreton Bay as a possible site for a new settlement. He discovered the river with the help of three shipwrecked cedar cutters he had found living with the local aborigines. Oxley explored the river (which he named the Brisbane River), and reached what he called Termination Hill at 2.30pm on the 3rd December, 1823. Termination Hill is now in the groundsof the Wolston Park Hospital, and at its foot the catchment pit of the club's new irrigation scheme has now been erected. Oxley landed at Prior's Pocket on the northern bank, and leaving his men there to rest, crossed the river and, according to his diary, "ascended a low hill arising about twenty-five feet above the level of the river". From there he "walked two or three miles to the south-east". This would take him to the much more elevated Dingo Hill. The main buildings of the hospital now stand on this "low hill", and when he walked down the slope, John Oxley went through the land on which, one hundred years later, a fine golf course would be well on the way to completion. When free settlement came in 1842, an English Doctor of Medicine, Stephen Simpson, was sent to be the first Land Commissioner. From 1842 to 1846, he had under his control a body of men known as "The Border Police" and they were housed in barracks on the rise near Termination Hill. Dr Simpson's Border Police were the first official occupants of the Gailes Golf Course, the locality being known as "The Commissioner's Camp". The district immediately attracted settlers, and Dr Simpson himself built up a vast private estate. Woogaroo developed as an important stop for Cobb and Co. coaches, and quickly grew into a thriving community. In 1864, the Hospital for the Insane was established on the site of the former Commissioner's Camp. The railway past the course opened in 1874. Goodna and Wolston (renamed Wacol in 1927) were original stations but Dingo Hill, now Gailes, was not. Dingo Hill was established about 1920 as an unmanned siding near the railway gates. The Founder The founder of the Gailes Golf Club was Dr H. Byam Ellerton, and Dr Ellerton alone. Henry Byam Ellerton was born in London in 1871. On graduation in 1894, he went to Nottingham County Asylum, Radcliffe-on-Trent, England, for a short spell as a locum tenens but he remained eight years. He once confided to Dr C. R. Boyce that his pleasure in finding at Radcliffe ample opportunities for cricket was not without an influence on his choice of a career in psychiatry. In 1902 he became Senior Assistant Medical Officer at Leavesden Asylum, Hertfordshire, England, a large institution of 2,130 beds, and it was from this hospital that he came to Queensland. In 1908, the Queensland Government called applications in England and Australia for an Inspector of Asylums, and Medical Superintendent, Hospital for the Insane, Goodna. Dr Ellerton was selected from 25 applicants. Then 37 years of age and a bachelor, he took up duty at Goodna on 21st January, 1909. The references from his superiors which the Government sought prior to his appointment mention his keen pioneering interest in what was the infant science of Occupational Therapy. His confidence in this form of treatment was later to be of immense value to the Golf Club. Florence Hunter Caldwell was born in 1880 at Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Her brother, one of Dr Ellerton's staff doctors, was seriously injured when his horse fell in Barram Street, Goodna. After months in hospital, Dr Ellerton took him into his own home privately arranging the extensive nursing still required. Dr Caldwell's sister, Florence, came to Queensland to assist, expecting to take her brother home in due course. Dr Caldwell lingered for almost two years but did not recover. Henry Byam Ellerton and Florence Hunter Caldwell were married at Oxley on 27th May, 1916. Dr Ellerton was slightly built and had a permanent spinal disability, a legacy from his University Rugby days. He wore glasses from his youth, and was a non-smoker and strictly teetotal. Forthright and dominant, he exuded an aura of authoritativeness that brooked no contradiction. He did not tolerate opposition and any that arose was quickly annihilated. In this respect, no one was exempt, not even Premiers and Cabinet Ministers. Practical designing, a field in which he displayed marked ability, interested him and this, together with his firm belief in the medical value of Occupational Therapy enabled him to transform his surroundings. He meticulously planned the many major projects he undertook at Goodna and took persona1 charge of each. He freely sought expert advice but was intolerant of any other. With the huge labour resources at his disposal, he could reach for the sky and did. His fanatical interest in cricket and his approach to that sport demonstrated his character. Within a few years of his arrival at Goodna, he had converted a swampy depression to the left of what is now the seventh fairway into the then finest cricket oval in Queensland. He did this by drainage and the transportation of many thousands of yards of fill in drays and wheelbarrows. He then turfed it all and added pickets, sight screens and a handsome pavilion to complete a playing field that was the envy of every visiting cricketer. Himself a batsman of moderate ability, Dr Ellerton built around himself a Goodna team which was the best in Queensland. He had his own method and it never failed. He offered suitable employment at the hospital to any outstanding cricketer who could be interested and his side included several interstate players and some internationals. To prepare his wickets, he had interstate representative, Jack Farquhar. Afterwards, Jack went on to a long career as the Curator of the Brisbane Cricket Ground. The Doctor was still playing cricket in 1917 when his age was forty-six years but it was about this time that he bowed to failing eyesight. He then turned to golf, joining the Brisbane Club. To play, he travelled by hospital cab to Goodna, train to Corinda, and then another train connection to Yeerongpilly, walking the final mile. The travel was irksome and to a man of his temperament, an appalling waste of time. In addition, once a week play was far from his idea of sport. It was Mrs Ellerton who suggested that he should build his own course. It took a little prodding but eventually he started. The only land available was the uninviting waste outside his garden fence. He walked until he knew every tree and hollow and by 1922, or perhaps early 1923, he had what he wanted. He would build a course. Naturally, it would be of championship standard and the best in Queensland. The Beginning Of his friends at Brisbane Golf Club, the Doctor asked advice of two only. These were Mr W.F.R. Boyce and Mr T.B. Hunter. Solicitors and partners, they were pillars of early Queensland golf. The Doctor's opening gambit was to invite Frank Boyce and his son, Clive (who had won two Queensland Championships) to dinner. They arrived early and were taken on a prolonged tour of the wilderness. After the advisory session was over and after a pause to remove the burrs and grass seeds, the guests played shots to small cleared areas. For this demonstration, the Doctor mustered all of his staff that he could, hoping to interest them in the game still unknown at Goodna. This part of his plan did not succeed as no one was impressed, but the Doctor did not let his disappointment deter him. Officia1 permission was essential so, early in 1923, the Doctor went to the Premier and the Home Secretary and characteristically, the arguments he presented were compelling. The basis of his plan was the medical value to selected patients of the Occupational Therapy.