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St Thomas' Anglican Church is a heritage-listed church at 69 High Street, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley and built-in 1877 by Henry Pears. It was also known as St Thomas' Church of England. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.[1] Description St Thomas' seen from Jephson Street, 2008 St Thomas' Church of England is situated on a prominent triangular site at the corner of High and Jephson Streets, Toowong. The site comprises a brick church surrounded by established plantings and trees and containing early retaining walls, fences, gates and stairs.[1] The southern, entrance end of the church addresses the corner of the two streets, where three substantial gate pillars with an iron palisade gate provide a principal entrance to the grounds of the church. Two sets of concrete stairs containing memorial gate posts and memorial plaques give access from the church grounds to the streets flanking the site.[1] The church is a bi-chrome brick building with a seven-bay nave, chancel and a very steeply pitched gabled roof clad with diamond-patterned fibrous cement shingles and terracotta ridge capping. A small decorative timber-framed fleche at the southern, entrance, end of the church surmounts the apex of the gabled roof and has a steeply pitched pyramidal roof with an iron cruciform finial. Generally, the church is constructed from a dark brown brick and has cream brick detailing, in the form of window surrounds, arched window heads, quoining, and string coursing. The church sits on a two-course sandstone plinth, the lower course comprises rock-faced blocks and the blocks in the upper course is sparrow picked and margined. The plinth at the northern, most recently constructed, end of the church is constructed from smooth rendered concrete.[1] The southern, entrance facade has an almost triangular facade due to the overhanging eaves of the steeply pitched roof and squat sidewalls. This elevation is dominated by a centrally located tripartite window comprising three lancets filled with stained glass and with stuccoed sills and heads and all embraced by a cream brick pointed arch. Flanking the principal window are smaller lancets, with similarly detailed heads and sills.[1] The bays of the nave are defined on the eastern and western external facades with angle buttressing, which also lines the southern facade. The buttressing features a tapered head of rendered concrete, from which the timber eaves brackets spring. Diagonal buttressing braces the chancel of the church. Centrally located within each bay is an operable lancet window, filled alternately with figured and grisaille stained and colored glass panels. At the southern end of both sides, elevations are steeply gabled porches, which are the principal entrances. These are flanked by buttressing which supports the timber framing of the roof structure. The gabled ends are open, with a small triangular timber panel near the apex. The porches provide access to double-pointed arched timber doors featuring ornate and overscaled iron strapwork hinges.[1] The northern end of the church comprises a chancel and two transepts. The chancel is a square planned, gable-roofed structure abutting the body of the church to which it is similarly detailed although subordinate in height to the principal building. Flanking the chancel are smaller, square planned abutments with hipped roofs, which are in the form of transepts but are, in fact, small rooms, a vestry, and a store.[1] Internally the church is arranged around a central rectangular nave dominated by dark stained timber boarded ceiling, on the underside of a steeply pitched roof. Supporting the roof and defining the nave bays internally are a number of dark stained timber, king post roof trusses. At the northern end of the nave is a chancel, separated from the body of the church by a pointed chancel arch. Internally the walls of the body of the church are rendered and scoured to resemble ashlar stone work. Though externally the church seems to have transepts, these projections, in fact, house a vestry to the west and a store room to the east with entrance to the rooms through timber doors flanking the chancel arch.[1] The chancel is boarded to about 2,100 millimetres (83 in) with timber panelling, featuring carvings of pointed arches with foiled heads. This panelling steps higher on the rear, northern, wall. On this wall and above the stepped panelling is a tripartite group of stained and coloured glass featuring images from the Adoration of the Magi and housed in a pointed arched recess.[1] A number of stone, marble or brass plaque memorials line the internal walls of the church and commemorate various figures in the history of the parish of St Thomas, including RL and A Drew and Sarah Frances Zitella Clark. Many of these memorials were carved by Toowong stonemason, William Busby and bear his signature. As well most of the stained and coloured glass, windows thought to be executed by William Bustard are memorials to parishioners. The tripartite stained glass window in the sanctuary depicts a scene of the Adoration of the Magi.[1] Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Thomas%27_Anglican_Church,_Toowong

Uncle John the composer I have several times referred to Ireland’s Uncle John Henry Nicholson, the older brother of the composer’s mother Annie. John emigrated to Australia and became known as a teacher and writer. However, he also turned his hand to a certain type of composing, namely patriotic songs. Several were published, with John providing words and melody only, one of the most commercially successful being Sons of Britannia. This song was much reviewed and very popular, praised for its inspiring sentiment, sonorous ring, and ‘valuable addition to what may be termed the literature of Anglo-Saxon unity’ (Brisbane Observer, 15 December 1898). This unity is seen in the splendid cover created for the song. Described as a ‘federation song’, it was ahead of its time, as the official Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act was only formalized on 1 January 1901. Other songs in a similar vein included Rouse, Australians! and Sunrise. Source: johnirelandmusicpeopleplaces.wordpress.com/tag/john-henry...

My Grandmother and Great Aunt are the two female workers in the foreground of 'A Munitions Factory' by Fred Elwell, which hangs in the National War Museum. Lovely image of him at work, thanks for sharing.