From a grain merchant to the 18th Premier ofQLD. He refused a knighthood. His family refused a state funeral. Get to know Digby Denham, the man who named Annerley.
Boggo Junction. Ekibin. Richmond. Ipswich Road. These are just some of the names by which the area we now know as ‘Annerley’ has been known over the years. It got so confusing that Hon Digby Denham, who led the Stephens Division Board and went on to become the 18th Premier of QLD, finally decided to name the district “Annerley,” after a township in Surrey, England.
Who is Digby Denham?
Mr Digby Denham from Somerset, England arrived in South Australia in 1881 and went into business with John Melliday & Co. as a produce and grain merchant. He owned the first house built in Annerley when he expanded the business to Brisbane in 1886.
Photo Credit: State Library of Queensland
Known as Ingleside, the house along 391 Annerley Road, located in a prominent and elevated area, was where Mr Denham and his wife, Alice Maud, raised their three children. He lived in this home until his death in 1944.
Photo Credit: Australian War Memorial
Photo Credit: State Library of Queensland
Life in Public Service
Mr Denham became a well-known businessman in Brisbane and started other money-making ventures with companies in Rockhampton, Clifton, and Warwick.
In 1893, he became a member of the Stephens Divisional Board which functions as the local government to provide public services. Mr Denham chaired this board for four years and then he was elected into the Legislative Assembly in 1902.
He heavily opposed the state income tax proposed by then-Premier Sir Robert Philp. Yet when Mr Denham became the premier from 1911 to 1915, his views on taxes changed and believed they should be higher.
As a public servant, Mr Denham also served as the minister for agriculture, public works, railways, and for public lands at various times in his career. He was the home secretary under the Philp administration and succeeded William Kidston as the premier.
Mr Denham’s major work was the 1910 Land Act which streamlined the legislation of the past 50 years to lessen the confusion. He refused a knighthood in 1913 and his family also refused a state funeral when he passed away. Instead, the Denhams held a private memorial at their family home in Annerley.
The House of Digby Denham Today
After Denham’s term, Annerley, formerly farmland, experienced a property boom that saw many housing developments in the suburb.
Photo Credit: State Library of Queensland
Meanwhile, Ingleside became the home of other families over the years. It went up for sale in 2018 for $1,325,00. Its former owners, Don and Lesley Berkman, lived in the house for nearly three decades.
But after Don passed away, his daughter, Kathryn Berkman, said that the family decided to sell the heritage-listed house where they made many happy memories. The Berkmans took great care of the property and only made renovations to the lower level, with the modern kitchen.
Ingleside, however, still retains much of its original features, including the L-shaped verandah, the antique fireplace, and the high ceilings.
