Woodlands of Marburg

Woodlands was erected in 1889-1891 for Thomas Lorimer Smith, saw miller, timber merchant, contractor, sugarcane grower and sugar mill proprietor. Thomas married Mary Stuart in 1881, and together they raised a large family at Woodlands. Their first house was a modest, single-storeyed timber building located near the saw mill. In the late 1880s Ipswich builder/architect Samuel Shenton  was commissioned to design the two-storeyed brick residence.

George Brockwell Gill was employed in Shenton's office from 1886 and he took over the architectural practice when Shenton retired in 1889. It is understood that Woodlands was designed by George Brockwell Gill with tenders for the construction called by Shenton in January-February 1889. The Smith family moved into their new home in July 1891.

Thomas took out a large mortgage on his property in 1897, and in January 1906 the Woodlands Estate was subdivided and put up for sale by order of his mortgagees. The estate was comprised of  29 improved scrub farms, a large sugar mill [to be sold with farm no.22], 1¾ miles of sugar tramway, 38 iron cane trucks, distillery, saw mill, milking herd, numerous small sheds, 12 small cottages and the Woodlands Homestead. Several of the farms sold at this time, but the Smith family retained Woodlands residence and much surrounding land. The sugar mill was purchased by the Marburg Sugar Co., but the era of the small mill was over, the Marburg Sugar Mill closed c1919.

In 1925 Thomas L Smith was still residing at Woodlands. After his death in 1931, Woodlands was retained by the Smith family for over a decade.

Archbishop Duhig purchased the property in the hope of encouraging missionaries of the Society of the Divine Word, evacuated from New Guinea to Brisbane in May 1944, to stay in Queensland. The Divine Word missionaries accepted Duhig's offer, and at Woodlands established the first mission seminary in Queensland. The main residence was renovated, two timber-framed buildings were erected in the grounds for use as classrooms and dormitories, and the place opened as St Vincent's Seminary in 1945. In 1954 title to the property was transferred from the Catholic Church to The Society of the Divine Word. In 1986 St Vincent's Seminary closed and the property was sold to the Ipswich Grammar School, which used the property for weekend activities, seminars, and conferences.

By 2002, the Ipswich Boys Grammar School decided it no longer needed the property and it was sold to a well- known local family, the Coopers who set out to restore the estate to its former glory and have since opened up Woodlands to the public. Woodlands has changed hands once again and is known as "Woodlands of Marburg", a venue for weddings and private functions and accommodation onsite is available.