Today we remember George and Mary Bridges
George Bridges was born on 1 May 1820 at Wilsted, Bedfordshire, England. He arrived at Moreton Bay in 1852 on board the ship "Maria Somes" with his wife Mary and their children, Ann and Samuel. Mary’s daughter, Sarah Brightman,was included in the family. More children were born at German Station.
George Bridges, a noteworthy European pioneer of the Nundah district, is rightly regarded as the founder of Nundah as a business centre. On 30 May 1855, he bought from the New South Wales Government - 26.386 hectares (65 acres and 32 perches) of land. As the district prospered, Bridges sold parcels of his land to various people who established stores and other businesses which became the Nundah Shopping Centre. By 1882 all the land was sold, the last holding auctioned being 189 sites that formed the Nundah Railway Station Estate.
The opening of the railway from Roma Street to Sandgate on 11 May 1882 stimulated development of this Estate, and also led to a change in the name for the district from German Station to Nundah.
George Bridges was an astute businessman and founded many taverns on his properties, one of which was the Kedron Brook Hotel in Nundah, the site near the Free Settlers Memorial Park. The contributions to the development of Nundah and the surrounding area by George and Mary and their family should not be forgotten.
George Bridges died in October 1898 and Mary in 1904.