Churches, Halls and Cemetery
There was a chapel attached to the Schoolhouse at the Degan Sawmills as early as 1865 (this was probably northeast of Geham).
Two denominations of churches appeared in the area: Anglican and Catholic (picture below in 1981). There was also a hall (perhaps two).
Catholic
The first mass was celebrated in 1871 in the house of Mr Michael Purtill. After Mr Purtell died, services, which were often attended by more than 100 people, were held at the Courthouse for two years.
Por 317 is on corner of the Highway and Evans Rd east, so the Church would have been on Sub Section 2.2
Tenders called for the building of a Catholic Church in 21 May 1883 on the garden adjoining the Wilkes Hotel on the highway. William and Catherine Wilkes donated front section (1 acre 3 roods 11 perches) of portion 317. A further one acre was sold by him to the church at “a very reasonable figure”. The building (built by Mr Maag) cost of £271. There was grand opening on 17 February 1884 by Bishop Dunne. Detailed description in Toowoomba Chronicle. It was also in the Brisbane Courier.
The name was “St Patrick’s but changed name to St Carthage around 1890. This change is probably associated with Robert Dunne, who grew up in Lismore, Ireland and walked to midnight mass at Mount Melleray monastery, Lismore with his father on Christmas Eve 1841. St Carthage and his fellow monks developed the Mount Melleray monastery. Dunne moved to Australia with James Quinn in 1861. He became in charge of the Toowoomba parish from 1868 to 1880, and was at Mount Melleray, considering joining the community when appointed him Bishop of Brisbane in 1882.”[1]
(Photographs: Exterior 1981; Internal (date unknown) Communion with Fr W McCormack and Kay Curtis, Cheryl and Tracey Quinn, Susan Morgan, ?, Lional Curtis and John Donovan 1976-77; photographs from Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba Archives)
The last mass was held on 4th Nov 1979 and closed its doors in Feb 1980. The Scouts Club used the building for a while and then it was used by Mr R Imbs for the display of furniture. The building was sold in 1988 and dismantled by Vacy Demolitions in October 1989. The land was sold in 1997 to Mr Rainer Fry (Cuckoo Clock Shop owner at the time)[6]. As of 2024 it was still a vacant block of land.
In 1941 the Catholic United Services Association built a recreation hall which was used by thousands of army personnel training at Cabarlah.
A wedding (Lewis Duff, of Cooby Creek and Annie Walsh, of Geham) occurred there on 15 Sept 1897 and was described in detail in the Toowoomba Chronicle. Another on 9 Oct 1897 between A Wilkes and Maggie Hanrahan (of Merritts Creek) also referred to Orange Blossoms.
Holy Trinity Church
St Augustine's Church Highfields 1933
Anglican
Churches
St Augustine’s Church in Highfields is on the corner of Reis Rd East and the New England Hwy and was established by 1873.
According to a book on Spring Bluff History, the church may have been moved there from The Toowoomba Cemetery and before that the church was at Ballard's Camp (in the 1860's). Some of the stained glass windows from the original church were used in the Anglican church at Geham.
The church was still there in 1933 as there was a marriage there (27/09/1933) of Mr and Mrs Jim Wilkes (photo to the left), but was either moved or demolished (?) by 1960.[7]
An extract from the DDGazette 25 Nov 1919
The old historic Anglican Church at Highfields is undergoing a large amount of improvements and repairs. A new park fence has been erected and iron gates. The sanctuary has been renovated and hung with coloured curtains. A gravel path has been made leading to the church and the bell has also been re-erected. The cost of, those improvements has almost been defrayed by the local residents- who are very enthusiastic over the matter. A brass memorial tablet is to be erected in the church in memory of members of the Palmer family, the church having been prevented by Mrs Palmer. A brass alms has also been presented by the parishioners in memory of Mr William Palmer who was for over 28 years, warden of St. Augustine Highfields. On December 14th a dedication and memorial service is to be held conducted by Archdeacon' Rivers of Toowoomba.
The Holy Trinity Anglican Church at Geham was originally built in 1891 by the Plant family, the 30-person church held services on the fourth Sunday of the month. It was situated on Plants Lane. It is about 400 metres south west of the school. It was probably demolished in 1940s
A committee member of the church, James Crighton, (whose ancestor was the builder Samuel Plant), said "the current caretakers were too old to continue looking after it. Only about nine people attend per month, which is why they've decided to cut their losses. It's never been connected to electricity - there's no toilet, you had to use a bucket."
Catechist Training Centre
Fernbank House (see businesses) was sold to the Anglican Church in 1906 and was used as a catechist training centre[2]. Archdeacon Arthur Richard Rivers established small ‘brotherhood’ of catechists at Cabarlah near Toowoomba, who worked the Highfields, Crow’s Nest, and “Goombimgee” districts. At the same headquarters he had founded a 'college' which served the twofold purpose of training young men for the office of catechist, and giving a preliminary training to those who might enter the ministry. Classes at Cabarlah were to be held for probationers on four days a week during term, with four terms of ten weeks each year. Subjects included Bible, elementary Latin and Greek, elocution, and parish work. They were to receive two years' tuition, board and lodging free, and ten shillings per month pocket money. The Archbishop, at his discretion, might select some of the probationers as candidates for Holy Orders. There is no record of how many probationers ever went to Cabarlah[3]. A committee of 'leading laymen' found that the Cabarlah establishment was not viable, and it was closed at the end of 1909.
Presbyterian
The Presbyterian Church was built on the corner of Mrs Black’s property (The post office was kept by Mrs M A Black for many years)
Hall and Sports Ground
It was reported in teh newspaper that a new Masonic Hall had been built in 1896 and the local Masons journeyed to Cabarlah to consecrate the hall built for the Aubingy Lodge
There was an early hall owned by Lovejoy at least from 1904. The Cabarlah Hall was also opened in 1924[4] and was owned by the Farmer’s Arms Hotel (Jim Telford at the time). Dances were regularly held at the hall after WWII with more than one romance blossoming! Jack Hoad met his future wife Dorothy there, as did Merv Reis and his wife Hazel (in Beyond Tall Timbers ).
(Photograph from Tall Timbers of Hall in 1984)
Extract from Geham school history (p 49):
The land behind the hall was first used as a sports ground in the twenties where cricket was played (children from the Geham school went there). "At this time, part of the land was owned by the publican [i.e. Farmer's Arms] and part by the Plant family whose butchery slaughter yard was where the present oval now is built. Sports, horse events (bending and flag racing) and rough riding were held there in the twenties and camp drafting in 1931.
In the Toowoomba Chronicle (6th March 1924), a report is made of the "initial meeting of the Cabarlah Sports Committee" of which John Kynoch, chairman of the Highfields Shire Council was the Patron. Other members included vice-patrons, A. C. Moore , MLA and Ald. A. R. Godsall, Mayor of Toowoomba. The chairman of the committee was 0. E. J. Bartlett, the Geham State School headmaster, and the secretary and treasurer were Mr. J. J. Brennan and Mr E. Robinson, respectively. The Cashier was Mr. W. Quinn. The Committee decided to organise sports to benefit St Vincent's Hospital. There were horse events and rough riding in the programme.
Football was played in the early 1920's and a concrete cricket pitch laid in the 1930's. Throughout the years, various organisations have held sports days, dances, concerts and other functions. There were pictures shown and dances held in the hall. Children from the school remember going to fancy dress balls in aid of the school.
Buck-jumping shows were staged near the hall during the second world war. In 1970, the Cabarlah Rodeo was held to raise funds for the Geham State School centenary which was held in 1971. There were bending races, flag races, jumping, bullock rides, poddy and steer rides, barrel races and the favourites of the junior members of the crowd, catching the greasy pig. The winner of the throwing the broom race, nomination fee - 10 cents, won the broom!"
The Cabarlah Sports committee was formed in 1976
The Cabarlah Community and Festival Committee ran events from 1975-1979 and purchased the hall from the hotel in 1978.
In 1986 the two committees joined to form the Cabarlah Sports and Festival Committee
In 1992 there was a local version of Hey Hey its Saturday
In 1993 a fundraising "Beauty Quest" and gala presentation night was held
A Masonic Hall also seemed to exist from at least 1902 adjacent to the “large” hall.
Cemetery
According to records, on 11 September 1878 a reserve was appointed for the Cabarlah cemetery, known at the time as Geham Cemetery. On 2 January 1880 the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, appointed Duncan Munro, Louis Robinson, Thomas Bowden, Michael Tansey, Joesph Kahler and Thomas Walls as Trustees of Cemetery Reserve at Geham.
Records show the first burials occurred in 1881.
Samuel Plant (died 30 Jan 1881 aged 81 years)
Thomas John, son of John Munro and Elizabeth Adams. Thomas was born on 26 July 1880 and died 7 March 1881.[5]
John Plant (died May 9th 1883 aged 56 years)
[1] http://www.chapelhill.homeip.net/FamilyHistory/Photos/Cabarlah_Geham-Crows_Nest/index.php
[2] http://queenslandplaces.com.au/cabarlah
[3] http://www.anglicanarchives.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/raynerthesis.pdf
[4] https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/data/UQ_198858/the10488.pdf?
[5] https://tintean.org.au/2014/04/06/a-forgotten-irish-saint-and-his-many-churches/
[6] Faye Morgan (2007) "St Carthage's Catholic Church" in Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba Archives folder on St Carthage.
[7] According to Jeff Ryan who lives on the property, it may have been moved to High Street in Toowoomba, the timber building behind the brick church. On closer investigation, he thinks the timber may have been used but it is not the same building.