Ashgrove, Queensland

Demographics

The 2011 census recorded 12,916 residents in Ashgrove, of whom 50.1% were female and 49.9% were male. The median age of the population was 34; 3 years younger than the Australian median.

79.8% of people living in Ashgrove were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 69.8%. The other most common countries of birth were England (3.7%), New Zealand (2.7%), the United States (0.7%), Scotland (0.6%), and India (0.6%). 90.1% of people only spoke English at home, while the next most commonly spoken languages were Italian (0.9%), German (0.4%), French (0.4%), Hindi (0.4%), and Mandarin (0.4%).

History

Ashgrove's native name is 'Kallindarbin' and was originally inhabited by the indigenous 'Turrbal' or 'Duke of York clan'. The main thoroughfare, Waterworks Road, was built on a Turrbal pathway that led to Mount Coot-tha, a place of the 'Honey-Bee Dreaming' and to the Enoggera Reservoir. The first sales of freehold land commenced in 1856, and ceased in 1875 when all available land was sold. Soon after sale of land stopped, the first school (the Ashgrove State School) and post office was established.

The area remained primarily a farming district until the end of the 19th century, when growth accelerated with the sale of land which housed one of the first homesteads in the area, the 'Granite House' in the area still known as St Johns Wood. In 1920, the tram line was extended from Red Hill, Queensland to Ashgrove, along Waterworks Road, connecting the suburb with the rest of Brisbane. The tram line closed on Monday 5 August 1968.

In 2006, Ashgrove celebrated 'Ashgrove 150', an event organised by the Ashgrove Historical Society to commemorate 150 years of Ashgrove (1856–2006).

Locality amalgamation into the suburb of Ashgrove

Dorrington (originally named the suburb of Oakleigh until 1946) and St Johns Wood were suburbs in their own right until they were absorbed into Ashgrove in 1975. To this day these locality names are still in common use, as many residents still associate their residence locations with these former names.

Heritage listings

Ashgrove has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Facilities

Ashgrove contains the neighbourhood of Ithaca, which is the home of the Broncos football club. The suburb contains a variety of multicultural restaurants (Thai, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Modern Australian), numerous cafes, various shopping amenities (including Coles, Aldi and Woolworths supermarkets) and a public library.

Transport

Bus – Ashgrove is serviced by multiple council buses including the 350, 352, 372, 373, 377, 378, 379, 380, 381 and 384 (pre-paid; express) running along Stewart and Waterworks Roads into the central business district. Ashgrove is also a stop on the route of the cross-town Great Circle Line (598/599) which links the four major shopping malls of Brisbane.

It also hosts the northern terminus of the route 61 Maroon CityGlider which is one of two high profile, frequent, and long span "CityGlider" services strongly promoted by the Brisbane City Council. This service provides a cross town function linking Ashgrove with Paddington boutiques and cafes, Suncorp stadium, Caxton Street food and pub precinct, King George Square in the City Centre, Southbank Parklands and cultural district, 'The Gabba', Woolloongabba dining and antique district and Stones Corner cafe strip and outlet shopping.

Cycling – Ashgrove contains two major bike shared paths via Ithaca and Enoggera Creeks which provide a pleasant, mostly flat, off-road and backstreets commuter route to the Royal Brisbane hospital and onwards to the City Centre via the inner northern bikeway. Much of the route winds through pleasant treed parklands.

Education

1940 saw the start of Marist College Ashgrove, with its first headmaster, Brother Ignatius. Other local schools include Ashgrove State School, Mater Dei Catholic Primary School, St Finbarr's Primary School, Oakleigh State School and Mt St Michael's College. Mt St Michael's has an interesting history. In 1925, the Sisters of Charity ventured to Queensland from New South Wales to open a school in Ashgrove. Mt St Michael's College was founded by women of faith in response to the need for Catholic education for the young women of the area. Originally named Grantuly, after the spacious house which housed the school and Convent, the college became known as Mt St Michael's College in 1941.

Clubs and sports

The best known club in the area, GPS Rugby Football Club (known as 'Jeeps'), is one of the oldest established clubs in the area and plays at the Ashgrove Sports Ground, which dates back to 1887. The club has contributed 29 players to the Wallabies.

The ground also hosts the Valley District Cricket Club, which has provided both Queensland Sheffield Shield players and Australian players, including Matthew Hayden and Allan Border, and the Ashgrove Lawn Bowls Club. As well as this, there is a large Scouting group in St Johns Wood.

Ashgrove cricket club has had a long history as a club and in 2015 celebrated its 100th year. Ashgrove cricket club is part of Qld cricket and is part of the Qld sub district association. In the history of the club, home grounds have been at Gibson park Red Hill which is now the home of the Broncos Rugby League club. Other grounds included Dorrington park and The Gap high school was one of the most recent venues up until 2014. Now Ashgrove Cricket home ground is at Everton District AFL situated at Mott Street Enoggera. Players of average to very good are encouraged to participate in a friendly and competitive competition that runs every Saturday from the end of August through March with semi finals and grand finals to round out the competition. Flexibility of availability is a good option for players and can work around those who can play but not every week. Multiple grades cater for ability and availability.

Notable people from Ashgrove