5. Dowse Lagoon

One morning, not long ago, I received an early and unexpected phone call on our landline, which is unusual because we have an unlisted number and it’s only occasionally used by family and close friends.

My immediate thought was that something bad had happened to someone in the family. However, it was one of my walking buddies, Molly, who just wanted to know if I was all right. He said that he had missed me for the past few days and some of the other walkers had been asking him if he knew why I hadn’t been on the Shorncliffe pier or doing my usual walk.

I thanked Molly for checking in on me and explained that, for most of the week, I hadn’t been able to exercise because of a recurring problem with one of my knees, which I had damaged a year or so ago in a fall.  Occasionally it plays up, as it did when I was walking earlier in the week.

It was a very welcome surprise to receive this phone call from Molly. In fact, it made my day, knowing that he cared enough to make the effort to check if I was okay. By doing so, he offered me an opportunity to talk, which made me realise how important this is, particularly for people my age, who thrive and survive by keeping in touch with others who care.

Later in the afternoon I decided that I would attempt to walk around Dowse Lagoon, which is part of the reserve opposite our house, but is hidden from view by the trees and shrubs surrounding it. It’s possible to walk around this lagoon in about 20 minutes, however it usually takes me longer because I stop at the lookout decks to observe the birds which have made this lagoon their home. Although the walk today was much shorter than my usual morning walk to the pier, I was happy enough with it because I was at least up and moving again.

Dowse Lagoon was once located in marshland and connected, via creeks, to Moreton Bay. However, it is now a separate lagoon, following work carried out during the Great Depression, the aim of which was to fill the swampy area surrounding it.

I am indebted to the Sandgate Museum and Historical Society, who have published a great deal of information about the Sandgate lagoons, and also to Brisbane City Council as most of the following is based on what is recorded on the Council’s signs near the lagoon’s viewing decks.

First Nation people have lived in this area for thousands of years. With the brackish marshland, lagoons, creeks and easy access to the Bay, they had everything they needed for survival, with lots of birds and wildlife all around them. European explorers are said to have first made contact with them in 1823, by visiting their meeting places and camps, which were situated close to the lagoons. Later, in 1859, a police post was established in the area with six First Nation troopers.

As I did on my walk today, I have often enjoyed walking around the lagoon in the late afternoon, stopping at the viewing decks to admire the activity on the water and the parkland surrounding it. According to the Brisbane Council signs, the lagoon is used by over 200 species of local and migratory birds for a mix of feeding, breeding and roosting purposes.  It was named a Ramsar site in 1993 and under the UNESCO’s Ramsar Convention, which is also known as the Convention on Wetlands, there is an obligation to conserve the lagoon as a “waterfowl habitat”.

Our grandchildren, who live close to Sandgate, love to visit the park. They walk with me around the lagoon, climbing on a big rock just off the track and then spending time in the playground, which has a climbing frame, flying fox, and the usual parkland facilities.

Prior to 1975, Dowse Lagoon was known as Second Lagoon. It was named after Thomas Dowse, an English convict, who later became a respected merchant and the Town Clerk of Brisbane.

I’ve done a little research (and my thanks again to the Sandgate Museum) and learned that Tom Dowse was born in 1809 in Hackney, London. I can’t vouch for the accuracy of what follows but I’ve read that, when he was 15 years old, he was arrested for stealing some clothes which belonged to his brother. Surprisingly, it was apparently his mother who notified the authorities about the theft. Her motive for doing so is not known and remains somewhat of a mystery.  

Tom was convicted at the Old Bailey and was sentenced to “Transportation for Life” and detained on board the Hulk in England for 3 years before being sent to Sydney in August 1827. He arrived on the ship Florentia, together with 172 other convicts, on 2 January 1828, after a 4½ months voyage.

The story goes that, immediately upon arrival in Sydney, Tom was put to work in the Office of the Harbour Master, where he appears to have worked for 8 years. At the end of this time he was given his “Ticket of Leave”.  While he was in Sydney he was married and he and his wife had two children, both boys. In 1838, while still employed as “Assistant Clerk”, he applied for a “Conditional Pardon”.

Tom arrived in Brisbane in 1843 and it appears that he was soon successful, both as a merchant and also as a contributor to the newspapers, writing about the treatment of convicts. He also took part in public meetings, protesting against the transportation of convicts to the colony and submitting his articles to the newspapers under his “nom de plume” of “Old Tom”. (It sounds a little like me using O.P. or “Old Pete”.) Tom later became Town Clerk of Brisbane and died in Brisbane, aged 75.

I have been thinking a lot about Thomas Dowse and about how, as a boy, he came to be convicted and sent to Australia. Questions raised by others before me and in my own mind were:  Why did his mother report him to the police? Was this part of a plan to secure a better life for her Tom in the longer term? Did she perhaps intuitively know what was best for him? Mothers often do!

The records show that Tom’s mother later joined him in the Colony and that, as an aged woman, she was dependent on him for support. A story with a satisfying ending!

O.P.

Next week’s story is about the one and only medal I’ve ever been awarded for walking!

Dowse Lagoon

A big rock in the park across the road