Holy Family Catholic Church, Indooroopilly
[Photograph: Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane]
Holy Family Catholic Church, Indooroopilly
[Photograph: Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane]
Historical and Technical Documentation by Geoffrey Cox
© OHTA 2011 (last updated August 2011)
Holy Family parish was formed in February 1926.1 The present church building was designed by the Brisbane architects, W. L. Douglas & B. Barnes, and the foundation stone was laid by The Most Rev. James Duhig, Archbishop of Brisbane, on 12 November 1961.2 The striking modern design of the building is essentially an A-frame, with no interior columns or pillars.
Entrance and baptistry of Holy Family Catholic Church, Indooroopilly
[Photograph: Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane]
The interior of the building is lofty and resonant. The pipework of the organ is situated in a compact case, suspended from the ceiling in the rear gallery, and presumably designed by the architects.
The interior of Holy Family Catholic Church, Indooroopilly
[Photograph supplied by Whitehouse Bros, c.1974]
The organ, built in 1963 by Whitehouse Bros of Brisbane,3 was the last and possibly the most successful of the extension organs built by the firm. The bottom (16ft) octave of the reed came from the organ at the Central Congregational Church, Ipswich, which had been largely destroyed by fire some years earlier.4 As in the earlier extension organs built by the Whitehouse firm in the 1930s and early 1940s, the stop-keys are of the Wurlitzer type, in this instance coloured red for the reeds and the couplers. The specification comprises 23 speaking stops derived from 4 ranks spread over two manuals and pedals:
| GREAT Bourdon Open Diapason Flute Salicional Octave Flute Salicet Twelfth Fifteenth SWELL Contra Salicional Flute Salicional Flute Salicet Piccolo Mixture Double Trumpet Trumpet Clarion PEDAL Bourdon Flute Double Trumpet Trumpet COUPLERS Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Swell to Great |
16 8 8 8 4 4 4 2-2/3 2 16 8 8 4 4 2 III 16 8 4 16 8 16 8 |
A B A C B A C B B C [Ten. C] A C A C A C D D D A B D D |
Swell tremulant
Detached stop-key console
Direct electric action
3 thumb pistons to Great Organ
3 thumb piston to Swell Organ
Compass: 61/30
Balanced swell pedal.5
Holy Family Catholic Church, Indooroopilly
[Photograph: Google Earth]
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1 Erin Ahearn, Diamond Jubilee: Holy Family Parish, Indooroopilly, 1926-1986 ([Indooroopilly: The Parish], 1986).
2 Plaque at Holy Family Church cited by G. Cox, 2009.
3 Date supplied to G. Cox by Kevin Whitehouse, c.1973.
4 Personal communication to G. Cox from Mr J.H. Whitehouse, June 1974.
5 Specification noted by G. Cox, 1973; additional details supplied by Dr Wesley Jordan, 2003.