Solving the Mystery of Brisbane's Street Names

There's a Felix Street, but who was Felix? There's a Charlotte Street, but there were three different royals from that era all called Charlotte. This video is an attempt to uncover how Brisbane's CBD streets got their names.
#brisbane #walkingbrisbane #brisbanehistory

[@muddyboots007]

According to a Queensland Historical Society publication I have dated 1953, Turbot St was named because convicts would catch a flat fish on a sand bank in the River adjacent to Turbot St.They thought the fish was the British fish known as a Turbot.

[@user-rc4nw6xy5p]

The term Rex Felix Et Munificus: The King as Guarantor of Prosperity and Abundance. So it fits in with the time that Brisbane was have street names added. And it fits the time of the British monarch reigned. And Brisbane was being developed. So Felix Street - is linked to the British Monarch.

[@honkytonk25]

Thank You Rob,,these videos are fantastic!

[@jamescolindaley]

wow, i can't believe the old dental school is gone , the whole lot gone , your right though brisbane does have a tendencey to just bulldoze , they smashed down cloudland in one night that place was amazing and huge they flattened it in one night

[@jayfielding1333]

The heritage building remains. Only the brutalist one went.

[@kevinmahernz]

Thank you for this, a very informative walk around the CBD!

[@bigrobbie1843]

Creek Street was an open drain, Brisbane's sewer in fact. Ugh! Still today, there is an underground drain carrying stormwater and comes out to Brisbane River not far from the fig tree. Obviously they cleeaned their act up and used convict labour to build that drain to replace the creek.

[@lukeamery6516]

Brilliant work nice video mate

[@gordongee5062]

The old dental hospital is on the corner of Albert and turbot street to the left of the construction site. The construction site was a 1970s modern anex to the dental hospital.

[@RM-mm4jr]

Good to see you back butttt I so enjoyed "my/your" holiday. Very very interesting. Thx for taking us along. 💖

[@cpbricks927]

Henley house about 10yrs ago had a coffee shop / cafe, on the corner. Keep up your interesting information about Brisbane, thanks for sharing.

[@shellebelle53]

Wow that brought back memories of my late teens working in the city in Little Edward Street. I used to walk all over the city back then in stilettos...crazy 😂

[@bushpig6837]

Very interesting. I agree, Brisbane City council seem hell bent on bulldozing so much of the city's historic buildings. So sad, once they're gone they're gone.

[@brisfocus3648]

Turbot is the Latin name for turbo-hence named after the fast cars of the era!

[@psbose1]

Rob, you've been doing a great job, so much to learn!. Take care.

[@walkaboutwithrob]

@psbose1 thanks for watching and your feedback. Glad some people like my work 🙂

[@ronsmith2241]

Very Interesting. Thanks. I worked at The Riverside Centre in Eagle St for many years. After heavy rain you could clearly see all the water that flows under Creek St and then out into the Brisbane River. Good video.

[@walkaboutwithrob]

@Ron Smith thanks indeed, really glad you enjoyed it. There's a few water outlets emptying out into the Brisbane River from the CBD. What work did you do there Riverside Centre?

[@Capt_Samba]

could be wrong but I believe the Henley Family were influential in (albion) north Brisbane in 1800's and Henley house Market St was head quarters built by them

[@mrGEE____1]

Did you get a definitive answer on Felix and Turbot Street at all? Great vids mate, keep em coming.

[@FlyingBeardMan]

Thanks Rob. I wish I'd known this information when I used to wander those streets when I escaped my old office job during lunch breaks.

[@dianagiles9467]

I can’t wait till you do Arana hills and Stafford heights

[@jamescolindaley]

actually i did think the named george street after the king goerge the third rrrr well

[@australianwatercraftregist3890]

About knocking things down, consider doing a video on the Dean Bros, who demolished everything protected :),

[@AnarchyEnsues]

I went to the dean bros house in oxley a few years ago. They have some artifacts of their demolition activities, they have an old service station roof, the ones that looked like a UFO, as their bbq area for their family gathering.

[@jennyleslie9323]

Welcome back Rob. Thank you for sharing your research. There's lots of historical buildings along Wickham Terrace, some are heritage listed. Would love you to do a video of them.

[@walkaboutwithrob]

@Jenny Leslie thanks! If I can find a story to tell that includes those buildings I will certainly look into it :-)

[@elizabethroberts6215]

@@walkaboutwithrob……United Service Club at 183 Wickham Tce is Heritage listed…………it has a very interesting history………

[@24inchchromes]

Great video, Rob. Very interesting and insightful.

[@walkaboutwithrob]

@Liam P Really appreciate you support and feedback. Thank you for watching!

[@wendybrealey8368]

Wow you’re back already. Feel like you just left but guess you had 4 months away. There is so much to see and experience that you only ever scratch the surface in the UK visits I find. At least this trip you covered your roots well. Meanwhile back ‘home’ an interesting vlog and I keep seeing public art in the background that I have either never seen or walked past oblivious. Next free day I must go for a wander with that focus!

[@walkaboutwithrob]

@Wendy Brealey on each walk around Brisbane I keep finding new little bits and pieces, all of them hiding in plain site. I didn't expect to be back so soon and am hoping to return to the UK at some point.

[@wendybrealey8368]

@@walkaboutwithrob Sorry you had to return earlier than you hoped. Thank you for taking us along on your explorations overseas and here. Always something to look forward to!

[@t-rocks1960]

Hey Rob, Great work Mate, I had scripted a Vid Like this but not shot it yet, yours was much better than mine was going to be anyway. I loved the old portraiture. I did a wheat creek Vid about six months ago andI know how long that takes. Much appreciated.😁

[@walkaboutwithrob]

@T-ROCKS thanks very much, glad you liked the video. I like to make my videos fairly quickly; about five days research, shoot for one day then edit over about three days time permitting, then upload.

[@reecewebster3958]

That sculpture at 17:13. I fucking love that thing. See it all the time everytime I do I wanna steal it.

[@lesley2493]

I love your history walks Rob. Thank you so very much

[@walkaboutwithrob]

@lesley thank you indeed for watching!

[@1247rimini]

My grandmother Alice would often announce she was related to the Royal family so Alice street was named after her. When I would ask “are we related to the Queen, Gran?” she would reply not you dear just me 😂 imagine my surprise when you explained the origin of Alice Street.

[@walkaboutwithrob]

@Wendy Fry I hope your Gran won't be too disappointed in knowing she ain't royalty. Let her down gently

[@Sem5626]

ah you're back, i live in the valley so whenever you do one of these walkabout vidoes in the city i'm on the eye out to see if i am walking around in the background of one of your shots as i do a lot of walking myself one day i might make a cameo

[@123drpat]

Love a bit of local history. Thanks

[@uzetaab]

Another great video! thanks.

[@stoicsveganage]

Welcome home to Beenleigh Rob! Sort or sad yet also glad your back and with an intriguing new post.

[@walkaboutwithrob]

@Stoics age thanks! Nice to be back but missing the UK. Hope you like my latest vid.

[@paulw4090]

Love your Brisbane videos 😁 full of lots of information and colour local and personal. I live in the CBD and our building was behind you in several shots. BTW did you cover Mary St twice and ascribe it to Queen Mary (of William and Mary and the Glorious revolution) and some other obscure German minor royal called also Mary?

[@walkaboutwithrob]

@Paul W thanks indeed for your feedback, glad you like my work. No, I only featured Mary Street once (though mentioned it briefly earlier). From my research it is likely though currently unproven that Mary Street (as I outline in the video) is named after Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh.

[@jessdean5500]

Me to I was born in Brisbane back in the days before Redlands had its own hospital so info on Brisbane and Redlands I always appreciate.

[@EmmaAppleBerry]

Love this content. Would be great to see more historical buildings and such about brisbane. Oldest resturants and landmarks like the windmill or i cant remember the name but there used to be this big queenslander hotel that sinatra i believe stayed at but it got torn down. Oh you could actually visit the hertiage building society listed buildings. Theyre sooo beautiful.

[@benwinter2420]

Really liked those earlier walk arounds of random bush towns & checking them out for nightlife or lack & back roads in town etc . . shits me to tears with travelling around shows Oz that total cut out the small town bits , when a scenic lookout is a pretty postcard static . . humans are social animals & curious about affairs organised in small shows & byways in roughly reachable area's . . trips oversea's are unfortunate going to be a reach around for most shortly

[@julieschipplock9439]

Nice to see you walking back in Brissie!

[@pr0engineer873]

A lot of that was driven by Sir Joh and his government as well as some of the earlier lord mayors in an attempt to modernise Brisbane to grow the economy. Sir Joh said something like "A city with cranes is a healthy city". (paraphrased)

[@lorenzomagazzeni5425]

In Canberra there is an absolutely lovely looking British section, named DIXON.

[@mariegilliland2843]

Loved your UK videos but great to see some familiar sights. Welcome home 😊

[@walkaboutwithrob]

@Marie Gilliland thank you most kindly. Certainly nice to be back but already itching to see other places!

[@brisfocus3648]

Creek street changes its name to freak street every Friday and Saturday night

[@myunknownland9272]

😅

[@nippoland]

I came here to find out the origin of Felix Street because I couldn't work it out. At least I suppose I can leave knowing I'm not alone!

[@divarachelenvy]

I love these videos..

[@peterjohnston8116]

Turbot is also a fish.

[@Diggles67]

Proportionally, Sydney (and Melbourne) knocked down just as many old buildings as Brisbane. It’s not a far comparison. Sydney was a much bigger, grander and richer city in the 19th century. Brisbane was a small town in comparison. Sydney just had a lot more buildings to lose.

[@Vass122]

Joh Bjeilke-Peterson made sure he did his best with Dean Bros :)

[@rogerjamespaul5528]

That was an entertaining event for many of us but seriously, that cloud lands building was an eye sore. The man who kept to his word, not too mix the ideals of religion with politics.@@Vass122

[@SteveMack]

👍

[@jerichothirteen1134]

Felix means luck more rhan happiness I think.

[@ShaneO-nm2hh]

Streets with men’s names go one direction and streets with women’s names go in the opposite direction, in Brisbane city.

[@walkaboutwithrob]

@@ShaneO-nm2hh yes I know

[@ShaneO-nm2hh]

@@walkaboutwithrob I realized you mentioned it in the video, after I wrote the comment 🤦‍♂️

[@Sunflower.aussie]

i thought roma st was from roma diamantina?

[@walkaboutwithrob]

@Lavishka yes it was, and I explained that at 15:12 in the video.

[@Sunflower.aussie]

@@walkaboutwithrob wasnt the town of roma also named after her? Or was that different. My ancestry is mainly qld and roma. So i have heard her name a lot over my years. I love your videos also. Always love finding fellow boffins.

[@walkaboutwithrob]

@@Sunflower.aussie Yes, the town of Roma was also named after her. Very glad you are enjoying my videos; I certainly enjoy making them! Planning my next one right now.

[@lorenzomagazzeni5425]

Diamantina was the name of a Governor wife.

[@elizabethroberts6215]

@@lorenzomagazzeni5425.…Governor Bowen………

[@colinbrowne281]

If we become a republic do we need to rename the streets? And King George Sq?

[@benwinter2420]

Every small town back roads Oz has a mystery or murder or two , most sane people unless they have ties there , don't venture into current big cities due to traffic confusion not the least

[@brisfocus3648]

Roma was a misspelling from the word Roam eg to roam around brisbane

[@rogerjamespaul5528]

Just maybe it was a Roman name: In ancient Roman religion, Roma was a female deity who personified the city of Rome and more broadly, the Roman state. She was created and promoted to represent and propagate certain of Rome's ideas about itself, and to justify its rule.

[@Diggles67]

No it wasn’t. Roma Street was named after Countess Roma Diamontina, Greek born wife of the first Queensland governor George Ferguson Bowen. Bowen was previously governor of the Ionian Islands (Corfu), which was a British possession at the time. The Bowens met in Corfu. Roma in Western Queensland is also named after the Countess. Countess Street is also named after Roma Diamontina.