| By January 1862, the family lived at //Shafston//((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p42; TLM-P diary entry January 1862; Kerry Heckenberg,'A taste for art in colonial Queensland: The Queensland Art Gallery Foundational Bequest of Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior', //Queensland Review//, 25:1, June 2018, pp.119-136 states it was on in George Street)) in the highly desirable downtown Brisbane suburb of [[wp>Kangaroo_Point,_Queensland|Kangaroo Point]].((For photos of //Shafston//, see //The Queenslander//, 25 September 1930, p.41.)) The house was previously called //Ravenscot// but renamed by its then owner Henry Russell in 1852. The house was later re-built so little or nothing of the original remains.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.108.)) \\ | By January 1862, the family lived at //Shafston//((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p42; TLM-P diary entry January 1862; Kerry Heckenberg,'A taste for art in colonial Queensland: The Queensland Art Gallery Foundational Bequest of Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior', //Queensland Review//, 25:1, June 2018, pp.119-136 states it was on in George Street)) in the highly desirable downtown Brisbane suburb of [[wp>Kangaroo_Point,_Queensland|Kangaroo Point]].((For photos of //Shafston//, see //The Queenslander//, 25 September 1930, p.41.)) The house was previously called //Ravenscot// but renamed by its then owner Henry Russell in 1852. The house was later re-built so little or nothing of the original remains.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.108.)) \\ |
| It was understood that TLM-P lived in //Shafston// after he was appointed Postmaster-General in 1862, until the end of his first period in that office in 1866.((Allan Morrison, 'Some Queensland Postmasters-General", Brisbane, Post Office Historical Society, 1953, p.5, copy J. Godden)) In contrast, the heritage listing for the property states it was owned by grazier and sugar-grower Louis Hope from October 1859, and then rented out to Gilbert Eliot, Speaker of the Queensland Parliament and, from 1874-78, Matilda's brother-in-law William Barker of Telemon Station. There is no mention of a period of tenancy by TLM-P.(([[https://environment.ehp.qld.gov.au/heritage-register/detail/?id=600241|Shafston House]])) Two advertisements for September 1861 suggest that Matilda was staying there with her sister. 'Mrs Barker' advertised for two servants, requesting they apply to her at //Shafston//, Kangaroo Point. The very next ad was for an experienced nurse, presumably to look after baby Hugh. Applicants were also asked to apply to //Shafston//, but to Mrs Murray Prior.((//The Courier//, 11 September 1861, p.3.)) in his series on Brisbane's historic houses, notes that in around the early 1900s, //Shafston// became the property of J McConnell of //Cessbrook//.(( the same family that Thomas de M M-P's daughter Phyllis M-P married into, and the property where she lived; RLM-P also had business dealings with //Cessbrook//.)) Mary (Madge) McConnel (nee Mary Elizabeth Kent of Jondaryan), the wife of J.H. McConnel, later owned Shafston House.(( F. Lord,//The Queenslander//, 25 September 1930, p.7; https://cressbrookstation.com.au/the-mcconnel-family-cressbrook-today/))\\ | TLM-P lived in //Shafston// after he was appointed Postmaster-General in 1862, until the end of his first period in that office in 1866.((Allan Morrison, 'Some Queensland Postmasters-General", Brisbane, Post Office Historical Society, 1953, p.5, copy J. Godden)) The heritage listing for the property states it was owned by grazier and sugar-grower Louis Hope from October 1859, and then rented to Gilbert Eliot, Speaker of the Queensland Parliament and, from 1874-78, Matilda's brother-in-law William Barker of Telemon Station. There is no mention of a period of tenancy by TLM-P.(([[https://environment.ehp.qld.gov.au/heritage-register/detail/?id=600241|Shafston House]])) Two advertisements for September 1861 suggest that Matilda was staying there with her sister. 'Mrs Barker' advertised for two servants, requesting they apply to her at //Shafston//, Kangaroo Point. The very next ad was for an experienced nurse, presumably to look after baby Hugh. Applicants were asked to apply to Mrs Murray Prior at //Shafston//.((//The Courier//, 11 September 1861, p.3.)) Around the early 1900s, //Shafston// was owned by Mary (Madge) McConnel, the wife of J.H. McConnel, the same family that Thomas de M M-P's daughter Phyllis married into.((F. Lord,//The Queenslander//, 25 September 1930, p.7; [[https://cressbrookstation.com.au/the-mcconnel-family-cressbrook-today]]/))\\ |