Traditionally a farming community, flower farms can still be found in the area, although much of Ormiston is now a desirable residential area, with its bay views and tree-lined streetscapes classic examples of Redlands Coast bayside lifestyle.
Location
Lifestyle
This leafy bayside area offers a pleasant unhurried lifestyle. There’s a lot of open space and sporting fields.
Tea on the verandah of majestic Ormiston House, one of the finest examples of colonial architecture in Queensland, is a highlight.
There are electric barbecues at Redlands Softball Park on Sturgeon Street.
Shopping
There’s a handy local shopping centre at 116 Wellington Street, with the major shopping centre options at Cleveland and Alexandra Hills.
Schools and colleges
Ormiston College, a private school, is highly regarded as is Ormiston State School. Cleveland District State High and Alexandra Hills State High are not far away.
Getting around
Ormiston has its own train station, while Transdev Queensland operates regular bus services.
History
The first contact between Aboriginal people and Europeans on mainland Redland City was on the western side of Raby Bay (Doobawah), in what was to become Ormiston, in 1823. Timber-getters Pamphlett, Parsons & Finnegan became lost at sea near Sydney and after drifting north finally came ashore on Mulgumpin (Moreton Island). Aboriginal people there took them in, and taught them much about their way of life. After several months, they set off for the mainland in a canoe, coming ashore in Raby Bay, where they found well-established villages and substantial huts. They made their way west along the coast and rivers to Brisbane.
Once land in the area was sold from 1850 onwards, much of it in Ormiston (then known as Cleveland West) was owned by Captain Louis Hope and Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior. Hope became the first person in Queensland to mill sugar in commercial quantities from around 1864. However after building a large home and setting up his mill, he left the area in 1870 after losing a court case over milling the cane and sold the property 5 years later. Swearing he would never again crush a stick of cane, he sold his other Queensland properties and returned to England.
Find out more through the Redlands Coast History library catalogue.
Your councillor
Ormiston is in Division 1 (Cr Wendy Boglary).
More information
Visit the popular parks in Ormiston.
View Ormiston's national regional profile (Australian Bureau of Statistics).
See the latest demographic snapshot for Ormiston.