Manly is an eastern bayside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Manly had a population of 4,273 people.
This part of Moreton Bay was originally occupied by the semi-nomadic Mipirimm subclan of the Quandamooka people. Manly and neighbouring suburb Lota were and continue to be known together as Narlung to the Quandamooka people, likely meaning 'the place of long shadows'.
European settlement of the Manly area first took place from 1859 when the land was surveyed and Thomas Jones obtained a land grant of 200 acres (81 ha). Joseph Lewthwaite built the first house in the area, a stone homestead he called Wyvernleigh at what is now the intersection of Oceana Terrace and Kooralgin Street; it would later also be known as Tingalpa House. What is now Manly was known as Wyvernleigh and managed as part of the Lewthwaite's estate, which included a sugar plantation.
Aboriginal connection to the Manly area continued throughout the colonial period, with town camps recorded in Manly and Wynnum, and local Aboriginal groups running fishing, oyster-catching and turtle-hunting expeditions from the area into the 1920s.
In 1882, the land was sold by auction by James R. Dickson for the Manly Beach Estate, apparently named after Manly, New South Wales beach in Sydney. It comprised 177 allotments of about 20 perches (510 m) bounded by Arnold Street (the northern part of which is now Cambridge Parade) to the north and north-west, Moreton Bay to the east, Spring Street (now Falcon Street) to the south, and Ernest Street to the south-west. In 1885, James R. Dickson auctioned a further subdivision of 700 lots to the north of the 1882 land sale, bounded to the north-west by Gordon Parade, to the south-west by Mountjoy Crescent, to the south by Cambridge Parade and to east by Moreton Bay. The advertising mentioned the forthcoming railway. However, the 1885 land sale was evidently not successful as 400 blocks in that subdivision were offered in a "continuation sale" in January 1887.
In 1889, a railway line was opened that provided a direct service to the state capital, Brisbane; it would subsequently be extended to be the present Cleveland line. By the early 1900s the area had become a popular seaside location.
In June 1890, 395 subdivided allotments of the Manly Beach Estate was auctioned by Arthur Martin & Co. This was the third and final section of the estate. A map advertising the auction shows the estate was close to Manly Railway Station and Ernest Street.
In 1904, Anglican church services commenced in a converted cowshed at Wyvernleigh. On 9 March 1912, five parcels of land on Ernest Street were purchased from Harrie Lineker. On 8 August 1914, Archdeacon Henry Le Fanu presided over a stump-capping ceremony for a timber building of 70 by 35 feet (21 by 11 m). Le Fanu returned on 10 November 1914 to open the church and dedicate it to St Paul. On 18 April 1964, Archbishop Philip Strong laid the foundation stone for a new church. On 22 November 1964, the present St Paul's Anglican Church was dedicated by Bishop John Hudson. The 1914 church remains on the site as a hall.
Manly Methodist Church was officially opened at 163 Kingsley Terrace (27°27′11″S 153°11′03″E / 27.4530°S 153.1841°E) on 1 January 1904. It was extended in the mid 1960s. It became Manly Uniting Church in 1977 when the Methodist Church amalgamated into the Uniting Church in Australia. Its final service was held on 8 July 1990, as the congregation of the Uniting churches had decided to form a combined new church (Bayside Uniting Church). The Kingsley Terrace site was sold and the church is no longer extant.
Manly State School opened on 4 July 1910 or 4 August 1910.
The Manly War Memorial was unveiled in a park at 184 Carlton Street by Walter Henry Barnes, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, on 5 March 1921. The memorial, originally of Helidon brown freestone on a base of Enoggera granite, with a statue of Carrara marble, honours the 16 local men who fell during the First World War.
In June 1925, the homestead Wyvernleigh/Tingalpa House, by then on a site bounded by Oceana Terrace, Kooralgin Street, and Ernest Street, was bought by James Duhig, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane to be used for the building of a Roman Catholic church and school. Duhig announced that the church would be named after St John Baptist Vianney. The homestead was used for church services until 1927, after which it was demolished to be replaced by a parish hall. On 20 September 1930 Archbishop Duhig performed the stump capping ceremony on the new church hall; the hall appears to be completed by May 1931. On Easter Sunday 1936, the hall was consecrated as a church. On 22 April 1990, a new brick church was opened, with the old church resuming its role as a hall, until it was replaced with a new hall in 2010–2011.
St Philomina's Catholic School was officially opened on 21 January 1941 by Archbishop James Duhig. The school was operated by the Presentation Sisters and was initially in the grounds of their convent (26 Kooralgin Street), moving across the road to the current site in 1953 where it was renamed St John Vianney Catholic School. It is now full staffed by laity.
The well-sheltered coastal location of Manly has resulted in it becoming a popular location for boating. In 1958 Manly Boat Harbour was built. Large tidal walls were constructed to the north and south with dredging being undertaken to deepen the harbour. The silt that was recovered in this process was brought ashore and used in the construction of the parks and parking areas around the harbour.
Darling Point Opportunity School opened on 24 October 1958. In 1986 it was renamed Darling Point Special School. Its name reflects its location on Darling Point.
Bayside Uniting Church was established in 1990 in Wondall Road, Manly West, combining four Uniting Churches located at:
Due to earlier or later closures, the Bayside Uniting Church also incorporated congregations from:
In 2000, the Queensland Place Names Board named Norfolk Point on reclaimed land in the Manly boat harbour in Moreton Bay after the sloop Norfolk commanded by Matthew Flinders in his exploration of the Moreton Bay. The naming was triggered by a commemorative trip by a replica of the Norfolk. A plaque on the point commemorates the naming.
In the 2011 census, Manly had a population of 3,702 people, 50.4% female and 49.6% male. The median age of the Manly population was 42 years of age, 5 years above the Australian median. 73.1% of people living in Manly were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 69.8%; the next most common countries of birth were England 6.7%, New Zealand 5.6%, Scotland 0.8%, United States of America 0.7%, Ireland 0.6%. 90.2% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were 0.5% French, 0.4% Tagalog, 0.3% Dutch, 0.3% Cantonese, 0.3% Thai.
In the 2016 census, Manly had a population of 4,064 people.
In the 2021 census, Manly had a population of 4,273 people.
History info courtesy of Wikipedia
