BH 3.7 Landowners 1845 - 1855 Daniel Rowntree Somerset

Daniel Rowntree Somerset.

Daniel Rowntree Somerset was executor of the will of William John Loudon

 He owned a sawmill and property as this 1865 article shows.

To the Worshipful tho Justices of the Peace acting in and for the District of Brisbane, in

Queensland.

I JOSEPH WILLIAMS TILSON, Gentleman, now residing in Queen-street, Brisbane, do hereby give notice    that it is my intention to apply, at tho next Special Petty Sessions to be held for this district, on the 12th September next' ensuing, for a PUBLICAN'S LICENSE for the Sale of Fermented and Spirituous Liquors, in the house  and appurtenances thereunto belonging, situated and being in Queen-street, Brisbane, and containing three sitting rooms and twelve bedrooms, exclusive of those required for the use of my family.

The House is the property of Daniel Rountree Somerset, Esq., is not at present licensed, and which I intend to keep as an Inn or Public house, under the sign of the " Imperial Hotel."

I am married, having a wife and two children. I have never held a licence before.-Given under my hand this 11th day of August, 1865.

His land holdings were

Daniel Rowntree Somerset    Lot 53    106.7 acres  14th April 1855

Daniel Rowntree Somerset    Lot 54    106.7 acres  14th April 1855

Daniel Rowntree Somerset    Lot 105  199 acres    16th April, 1855

Sandgate lands

Among the earliest settlers was Daniel Rowntree Somerset (1858). The Brighton Hotel actually stands on a portion of the land originally owned by Daniel Somerset.

St John's Woods lands  (wikipedia)

The original St Johns Wood estate comprised an area 67 acres (27 ha) of the portions 165 and 381, Parish of Enoggera, part of which was originally purchased by John Frederick McDougall for a price of £70 4s 0d on 14 September 1858.

 This estate had been established as a cattle station by the Hon Mr. McDougall who employed fencer Simon Kelly to fence its perimeter. This work was completed by the middle of 1859.He sold portions 164 and 165 to Arthur Martin, auctioneer, during the economic crash of the mid-1860s. 

On 5 August 1864 Daniel Rowntree Somerset, Registrar of Pensions, purchased the land with final registrations of the titles on 10 July 1865 and later on 29 August 1867 purchased portion 381 making up the total of the estate. 

Somerset began to build "a magnificent home on his landed estate" in a U-shape plan, utilising the granite from the local hillside for the external walls and a shingle roof .and it is he who named the Estate St John’s Wood after his Son Henry St John Somerset. He resided there for 4 years till after the death of his wife in February 1867 where the Funeral Notice states that they are to move from his residence St John’s Wood, Water Works Road and the marriage of his eldest daughter Anna Sophia held at the Estate in May 1868.
 Daniel Rowntree Somerset acquired Portions 164 and 165 and in 1867, portion 381. The latter two portions became the suburb of St John's Wood. Originally from Northern Ireland, Somerset arrived in Brisbane with his wife Dora and three children in 1850. For much of the 1850s he was a general merchant in partnership with John Richardson and was prominent in civic affairs, including the push for Separation of Queensland from New South Wales. In December 1859, he was appointed Chief Clerk and Shipping Master of the Port of Brisbane, a post he held until his retirement in 1876.

St John's Wood House, Ashgrove