The 30-room homestead on Mundoolun Station, 12 miles from Beaudesert was destroyed by fire in the early morning hours of 19 August 1939. The homestead was built in 1915 at an estimated cost of £4,000 and was one of the oldest stations in Queensland. It overlooked a large lagoon which abounded with wild birds.
Mr. Douglas Fraser, the owner and the other occupants of the house escaped the inferno uninjured. In the space of about 10 minutes fire had completely enveloped the house. An hour later, the house was destroyed and only 4 brick chimneys were left standing.
Douglas Fraser managed to save an oil painting of his father – Simon Fraser. Unfortunately, this was the only thing in the house he managed to save as re-entering the house was impossible due to the flames and heat.
Beside the house were two aviaries in which lived many valuable painted finches bred by Mr. Fraser on the station. During the fire, he released these birds by smashing the wiring of the cages with an axe.
Some of the birds perished but many were seen flying about the trees near the house the next morning.
The house contained many old family curios, all of which were destroyed. Mr. Fraser’s son was a keen collector of old guns and rifles. He had a very large and unique collection, but when he arrived at the ruins of his home, he found the whole collection completely destroyed.
One of the greatest losses was the library containing books collected by Douglas Fraser’s grandfather, father and himself. Mr. Fraser said, “It is not so much the building, as we can soon put up a new structure, but the house contained so many family relics which, though of really no value to others can never be replaced’.
The station covered an area of approximately 12,000 acres. Douglas Fraser’s grandfather, John Collins settled on the site in 1842. Douglas studied at Melbourne University and then returned to Mundoolun in 1913 to manage the station.
If you wish to read in more detail about this event, there are many newspaper reports of the fire including these sources:
The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 – 1947), Saturday 19 August 1939, page 1 and Page 10
Sunday Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1926 – 1954), Sunday 20 August 1939, page 2
SOURCE: National Library of Australia – Digitised Newspapers.
