Anna Campbell

My Favorite Things

March 2024 – Miegunyah Museum in Brisbane

I had a really delightful morning this week, visiting Miegunyah in Bowen Hills in Brisbane, which is both a historic house museum and the headquarters of the Queensland Women’s Historical Association. I enjoyed a lovely cream tea before joining a guided tour of this magnificent old residence.

Check out that beautiful iron lace on the verandas. Gorgeous, hey? The name Miegunyah means “my home” in one of the local Indigenous languages.

This gracious home was built in 1885 by successful ironmonger and merchant, William Perry, for his two sons, Herbert and George. It was later the marital home for Herbert and his wife Leila née Edmondstone. After they passed away, the house was sold and subjected to a number of indignities unsuitable for such a lovely old lady, including being converted into several flats.

In 1966, the QWHA saved it from demolition in the nick of time through a fundraising campaign that allowed them to purchase it and restore it to its original elegance.

The house is crammed with fascinating objects, over 15,000 of them, related to Queensland’s history. Quite a lot were supplied by the granddaughter of the first governor of Queensland, Sir George Ferguson Bowen (1821-1899). Bowen was governor from 1859 to 1868, after which he was promoted to become Governor-General of New Zealand.

Something I found fascinating – and rather romantic! – is that when George was in the diplomatic service in the Ionian islands, he married a noblewoman from Corfu called Diamantina di Roma, daughter of the islands’ poet laureate. Diamantina had a river named after her, not to mention a town in western Queensland called Roma. That’s her in the lovely portrait above the sideboard below. George is the next painting along. And hey, nobody forgot George! He’s remembered in quite a few places in Queensland, including Bowen Hills which is where Miegunyah currently takes pride of place.

I suspect Diamantina made a rather exotic addition to the uncivilized surroundings of Queensland in the mid-19th century. I’d love to have had the chance to talk to her about her impressions of my home state in its colonial beginnings! Apparently she cried buckets when she and her husband left Queensland, so she must have found some happiness in this isolated outpost of the British Empire.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. Isn’t that a beautiful bay window? And I love that lantern painted with sunflowers that used to hang over the front porch. Check out the gorgeous silver dressing set and the paraphernalia on the dressing table. You can just imagine a romantic heroine using those brushes or that manicure set before she emerges to dazzle the crowds at a ball, can’t you?

My favorite item at Miegunyah features in the last two photos. It’s a piece of beautifully constructed campaign furniture, a wine box belonging to Colonel Charles George Gray that he had with him at the Battle of Waterloo. Wow! Talk about something reaching right back to my Regency roots.

If you’d like to read more about Miegunyah, there’s a nice article on Wikipedia. You can also read more about the fascinating Diamantina here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamantina_Bowen