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Books at Rockton, Newtown, Ipswich, 1st May 2013
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TitleBooks at Rockton, Newtown, Ipswich, 1st May 2013Date Created1st May 2013Time Taken3:02pmDate Published in QT4th May 2013PhotographerRob WilliamsJournalistJoel GouldAcknowledgementThe Queensland Times
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DescriptionFrom the Queensland Times:
STROLL in the gardens of historic Ipswich home Rockton and you feel at peace.
Take a walk through the magnificent home and it is not hard to feel part of the rich history of the residence, a place where women have danced barefoot in the spacious billiard room to the sounds of jazz, and where the ghost of an elderly lady once wandered harmlessly when the sun went down.
Rockton, now owned by Wybe and Angela Geertsma, will feature today as one of three historic homes in the Great Houses of Ipswich open house project, put on by the National Trust of Queensland and supported through funding from the Australian Government's Your Community Heritage Program.
Angela's mother, Helen Haenke, was a writer and wrote a lot of poetry. One of her lines doubtless sums up how people feel when they are at Rockton.
"In one of her books she wrote, 'I live in a house amongst trees, and look out'," Angela says.
"That is the feeling of it. In virtually every room you can look out to trees around the garden."
The Haenke/Geertsma family has lived at the home since 1918. Angela's view of the garden has changed over time, but the memories remain fond.
"It is just a big playground when you are children growing up ... and a big garden to work in when you are an adult," she says.
"It has changed a lot. It was once a wild garden because you could only afford to keep the garden that was close around the house.
"I was always an outdoor person ... climbing trees and playing in the garden."
As we stroll through the garden Angela points to a fig, jacaranda, loquat and the custard apple trees that were all favourite climbing challenges.
It will takes three to four hours on a ride-on mower to mow all the grass now, but in times past a gardener would use a scythe to get the job done. Needless to say, that took all of Saturday.
"He had to be provided with a hot lunch," Angela says.
"But he couldn't keep up with everything that was going on here."
Built in 1855 by bank manager William Craies, Rockton was originally a three-bedroom cottage with a boxroom at each end and a front and back veranda. The next year he extended the home to include five rooms as living areas and a large breezeway bounded on the other side by three bedrooms in a single storey.
"The Bullmore family came about 1880 and they added on the double storey and in 1890 or 91 they added on the tower and the upstairs veranda," Angela says.
"Kerry Packer's middle name was 'Bullmore' and his grandmother was at Rockton."
The tower was added to contain bathrooms.
"In the 1890s people started to have bathrooms rather than a jug of water and a basin in the bedrooms," Angela says.
The brickwork design on the tower was the work of celebrated Ipswich architect George Brockwell-Gill.
"A signature of his work was brick stylings ... and he would have a tower or turret on his buildings," Angela says.
"The white bits on the corners (of the tower) are called quoins and the patterning using different coloured bricks is very much his style."
The Haenke family acquired Rockton in 1918. Angela's grandfather, Will Haenke, was an architect and when he moved in the home was in need of repair. It was then that the home was wired for electricity, replacing the former gas lighting. A kitchen relocation was also undertaken.
It is interesting to note that the original kitchen had been used for just about everything, including a dairy, wine cellar, fern house and children's play house. Much of the antique furniture in the home was bought by Angela's forebears when, remarkably, it was cheaper at the time than the contemporary furniture. Some of it originated from Brynhyfryd mansion at Blackstone.
The rooms in the home are large and Angela says "there is a lot of walking" done.
"You sit down in a comfortable chair...and then discover your glasses are up the other end of the house," she grins.
Plenty of walking was also done by a ghost that was often heard, but not seen.
"My mother used to often hear it at night," Angela recalls.
"She'd be sitting in the lounge room and hear a little old lady walk through the house and up the stairs.
"I can remember hearing someone walking. It sounded like a little lady in healed shoes. No one saw her, but we'd hear her.
"A psychic friend of mine worked out it was Mrs Bullmore."
Wybe has not heard the ghost, but he does remember well a couple of parties with the Caxton Street Jazz Band.
"They played in the billiard room, but because the floor was that old all the nails had been hammered back," he says. "For the ladies there were definitely no high heels, so they danced in bare feet. The old floor was from 1856. It was renewed last year (with hoop pine)."
Many more stories swill no doubt unfold when Ipswich's historic homes Gainsborough, Rockton and Claremont open to the public today from 10am to 4pm. Admission is a gold coin donation.
References (online)Great home of Ipswich with rich and exciting past, Queensland Times, 4th May 2013 [accessed 06/10/2026]
STROLL in the gardens of historic Ipswich home Rockton and you feel at peace.
Take a walk through the magnificent home and it is not hard to feel part of the rich history of the residence, a place where women have danced barefoot in the spacious billiard room to the sounds of jazz, and where the ghost of an elderly lady once wandered harmlessly when the sun went down.
Rockton, now owned by Wybe and Angela Geertsma, will feature today as one of three historic homes in the Great Houses of Ipswich open house project, put on by the National Trust of Queensland and supported through funding from the Australian Government's Your Community Heritage Program.
Angela's mother, Helen Haenke, was a writer and wrote a lot of poetry. One of her lines doubtless sums up how people feel when they are at Rockton.
"In one of her books she wrote, 'I live in a house amongst trees, and look out'," Angela says.
"That is the feeling of it. In virtually every room you can look out to trees around the garden."
The Haenke/Geertsma family has lived at the home since 1918. Angela's view of the garden has changed over time, but the memories remain fond.
"It is just a big playground when you are children growing up ... and a big garden to work in when you are an adult," she says.
"It has changed a lot. It was once a wild garden because you could only afford to keep the garden that was close around the house.
"I was always an outdoor person ... climbing trees and playing in the garden."
As we stroll through the garden Angela points to a fig, jacaranda, loquat and the custard apple trees that were all favourite climbing challenges.
It will takes three to four hours on a ride-on mower to mow all the grass now, but in times past a gardener would use a scythe to get the job done. Needless to say, that took all of Saturday.
"He had to be provided with a hot lunch," Angela says.
"But he couldn't keep up with everything that was going on here."
Built in 1855 by bank manager William Craies, Rockton was originally a three-bedroom cottage with a boxroom at each end and a front and back veranda. The next year he extended the home to include five rooms as living areas and a large breezeway bounded on the other side by three bedrooms in a single storey.
"The Bullmore family came about 1880 and they added on the double storey and in 1890 or 91 they added on the tower and the upstairs veranda," Angela says.
"Kerry Packer's middle name was 'Bullmore' and his grandmother was at Rockton."
The tower was added to contain bathrooms.
"In the 1890s people started to have bathrooms rather than a jug of water and a basin in the bedrooms," Angela says.
The brickwork design on the tower was the work of celebrated Ipswich architect George Brockwell-Gill.
"A signature of his work was brick stylings ... and he would have a tower or turret on his buildings," Angela says.
"The white bits on the corners (of the tower) are called quoins and the patterning using different coloured bricks is very much his style."
The Haenke family acquired Rockton in 1918. Angela's grandfather, Will Haenke, was an architect and when he moved in the home was in need of repair. It was then that the home was wired for electricity, replacing the former gas lighting. A kitchen relocation was also undertaken.
It is interesting to note that the original kitchen had been used for just about everything, including a dairy, wine cellar, fern house and children's play house. Much of the antique furniture in the home was bought by Angela's forebears when, remarkably, it was cheaper at the time than the contemporary furniture. Some of it originated from Brynhyfryd mansion at Blackstone.
The rooms in the home are large and Angela says "there is a lot of walking" done.
"You sit down in a comfortable chair...and then discover your glasses are up the other end of the house," she grins.
Plenty of walking was also done by a ghost that was often heard, but not seen.
"My mother used to often hear it at night," Angela recalls.
"She'd be sitting in the lounge room and hear a little old lady walk through the house and up the stairs.
"I can remember hearing someone walking. It sounded like a little lady in healed shoes. No one saw her, but we'd hear her.
"A psychic friend of mine worked out it was Mrs Bullmore."
Wybe has not heard the ghost, but he does remember well a couple of parties with the Caxton Street Jazz Band.
"They played in the billiard room, but because the floor was that old all the nails had been hammered back," he says. "For the ladies there were definitely no high heels, so they danced in bare feet. The old floor was from 1856. It was renewed last year (with hoop pine)."
Many more stories swill no doubt unfold when Ipswich's historic homes Gainsborough, Rockton and Claremont open to the public today from 10am to 4pm. Admission is a gold coin donation.
References (online)Great home of Ipswich with rich and exciting past, Queensland Times, 4th May 2013 [accessed 06/10/2026]
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Buildings & StructuresRocktonCurated CollectionsDomestic ArchitectureTaxonomy21st Century | 2010s | 2013
Queensland Times Collection
Queensland Times CollectionThe Queensland Times CollectionMay 2013 - Queensland Times
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