By Sonia Isaacs
A CENTURY after their father was born at the Beerburrum Soldier Settlement, siblings Graham and Janelle Brown retraced his first journey last Monday, July 28, returning to Mount Beerburrum to mark what would have been his 100th birthday. “It was 100 years ago that our father Peter Brown was born at the hospital on the mountain, Mount Beerburrum,” Graham said.
Joined by their uncle Robert and aunt Phyllis, the siblings made their way through the scrub to the site where the hospital once stood.
Today, only “some lumps of concrete, maybe a drain or stumps” and a simple sign remain as reminders of the building that welcomed their father into the world.
The family’s centenary pilgrimage began at the Beerburrum Post Office, where staff were delighted to discover they were recreating a moment from history.
One hundred years earlier, the same post office had handled the telegram announcing the baby’s birth to relatives. The Browns said staff were “buzzing” to be part of the rare anniversary and see history come full circle. From there, the family continued to the former hospital site on Mount Beerburrum, reflecting on the journey their father began a century earlier.
As a newborn, Peter travelled home “in a horse and cart to the family farm at Coonowrin Road, which is still in the family”.
The property was once a pineapple farm before later becoming an avocado farm. It is now being wound down by Uncle Bob, who remains connected to the family land. Growing up around the Glass House Mountains, Peter worked on local farms before joining the Navy in 1946. He spent much of his working life on the water, mastering survey vessels and dredges in the Brisbane River before later driving ferries to Stradbroke Island.
Peter died in 2016, just weeks short of his 90th birthday. Reflecting on the milestone, Graham said the centenary was something special. “When you think it’s 100 years, that to me is awesome,” he said.