Bankfoot House collection highlights
The Bankfoot House collection records the development of the Glass House Mountains region
The Bankfoot House collection records the development of the Glass House Mountains region of the Sunshine Coast from 1868 to 2002, when the last resident of the house, Jack Ferris, passed away aged 101.
From 1868 three interrelated families – Grigor, Burgess and Ferris – resided in the house. In 2004 Sunshine Coast Council purchased Bankfoot House. All items in the Bankfoot House collection were in the possession of members of the three families.
William and Mary Grigor (nee Fenwick) married in 1863 and built Bankfoot House in 1868. Mary lived in Bankfoot House until her death in 1900, and William until he died 1907. Their youngest daughter, Clementina, married William Smith Burgess in 1902 and resided at Bankfoot House until her death in 1963. William Smith Burgess died in 1946. John Charles ‘Jack’ and Mary Ferris (nee Burgess) married in 1925. Mary was born at Bankfoot House and lived there until her marriage in 1925. Jack and Mary Ferris returned to live at Bankfoot House in 1966. Mary then lived at Bankfoot House from 1966 until her death in 1987, and Jack until his death in 2002.
Search the Heritage Collections database for items in the Bankfoot House collection. A selection of the Bankfoot House photograph collection is available for viewing on Picture Sunshine Coast. Cataloguing of these collections is an ongoing project.
Bankfoot House collection highlights
Kitchen Dresser
This dresser was made for the original house from pit-sawn beech timber cut on site. The hutch held the everyday crockery, and cutlery was placed in the drawers, along with a small box of cutlery for quick removal to set the table. Foodstuffs were stored in the cupboards. An oilcloth trimmed the dresser and in Mary Ferris’s day two mosquito net curtains hung from a curtain rod to keep insects and dust off the crockery. ‘Paper lace’ was used as a decoration in the kitchen, and the lace in this image was made by Ethel Burgess, Mary’s niece.
Tasma Radio
The Tasma six-valve cabinet electric radio was purchased second-hand by Jack and Mary Ferris on 20 December 1945 for their Newstead home in Brisbane, and was brought to Bankfoot House in 1966. The original receipt for the purchase of the radio from L Johnson is in the Bankfoot House collection.
Settee
While the origin of this piece has not been established, the scroll end settee may have been purchased in Australia or brought from Scotland with the Fenwicks (Mary Grigor’s family). The settee is in a photograph of Clementina Fenwick (Mary’s sister) at the Fenwick’s Spring Hill, Brisbane house, c. 1885.
