In 1938 the Queensland National Bank was interwoven into the economic and financial underpnnings of the state of Queensland. The bank now at the height of its powers since it was first started in 1872 required a home of distinction for their general manager. The general manager of this bank was not just this role only. As the bank had aquired many business and land interests through foreclosures on money that had been lent the role of general manager had become a multi faceted one. Douglas Stuart Forbes had taken over the role of general manager in 1937.
The Queensland National Bank then acquired the services of one of Brisbane's distinguished and progressive inter war period architects in Eric P. Trewern to build a home suited to the distinguished position as head of the Queensland National Bank. Trewern had established himself as a designer of homes of distinction and and an architect who could combine tradition with modern adaptations in building design.
The house in Windermere Road was built in the period 1937-1938 by the builder Tealby and Crick. Tealby and Crick had previously collaborated with Terwern on the design and building of Turrawan Private Hospital at Clayfield in 1932 and the Surfers Paradise Hotel in 1937.
The Forbes family were an essential part of Brisbane's social fabric and private entertainment scene through the period of time leading into the second world war. In 1946 a sad tale was told after the house had been broken into.
Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954), Thursday 25 April 1946, page 5
On Remand For Sentence
John Gorg Nash, 23, Casual labourer, was convicted in the Criminal Court yesterday of having entered the home of Mr. D. S. Forbes, general manager of the Queensland National Bank, in Windermere Road, Ascot, on the night of November 28, 1945, with intent to commit a crime. He was remanded for sentence. The jury brought in a strong recommendation of mercy. The Crown Prosecutor (Mr. J. A. Sheehy) asked Mr. Acting Justice Stanley to declare Nash a habitual criminal. Nash had been convicted of housebreaking in four other States, and had been in a reformatory or goal practically since 1936, he said. Mr. Sheehy told the jury that Nash was caught in Mr. Forbes' home at 10.5 p.m. Portion of a leadlight panel at the front door was broken. The house had been unoccupied since November 15. Constable L. S. Bauer stated that when he found Nash in the hallway of Mr. Forbes' home Nash said he was- 'only after a feed.' Nash jumped the front gate, and, carrying his shoes in one hand, ran down Riverview Terrace. After a chase of 200 yards we caught him. Douglas Stewart Forbes gave evidence that when he left for Southport on November 15 every door and window in his home had been securely locked and bolted. The Public Defender (Mr. W. E. Ryan) said that Nash's life had been very unhappy since he was a child. He never had a chance. His troubles had arisen mainly through want of food and shelter. Mr. Ryan asked his Honour to consider Nash's age, and not to declare him a habitual criminal
What was the role of the Queensland National Bank?
http://leaders.slq.qld.gov.au/inductees/queensland-national-bank/
Queensland’s reliance on external capital, often unsympathetic to the State’s development opportunities, led to local investors establishing the Queensland National Bank in 1872. Over the next three decades, Queensland’s economic growth, centred around the wool industry, gold production and a developing cattle industry, facilitated the rapid growth of the bank and its branch network.
It became the official bank of the Queensland Government in 1879 and remained so for more than 40 years, in many ways linking the government’s financial standing to that of the bank.
The first general manager, Edward Drury, was both entrepreneurial and autocratic – building deposits and the bank’s investments at a remarkable pace. By 1880, the Queensland National Bank operated 30 branches and held more than 40 percent of all deposits and advances in Queensland.
Significant business was conducted speculatively, without the full knowledge of the Board, often in association with Sir Thomas McIlwraith, the Queensland Premier. With the financial depression of the 1890s, the bank’s future was threatened by too many short term deposits and too many long term loans.
The widely acclaimed Walter Ralston replaced Drury as CEO and set about rehabilitating the bank, a task that took 22 years, during which time he not only successfully ran the bank but also sugar and pastoral businesses.
The National Bank of Australia, in taking over the Queensland National Bank in 1948, acquired nearly 90 branches throughout the State, as well as deep customer and employee loyalty. The foothold it gained in general banking and agri-business continues to underpin the National Bank of Australia’s presence in Queensland today.
Historian Geoffrey Blainey AC says developing Queensland involved greater risk than elsewhere in Australia and Queensland National Bank assumed more risk than others. Its territorial dominance was unmatched by any other Australian bank in the 19th century. It thought on a grand scale and, for Queensland’s early economic development, was a winner on a grand scale.
Who was Douglas Stuart Forbes?
Sir Douglas Stuart Forbes - A Man of Queensland's Economic Growth
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/forbes-sir-douglas-stuart-mcgregor-gordon-10216
Forbes, Sir Douglas Stuart Mcgregor Gordon (1890–1973)
Sir Douglas Stuart Mcgregor Gordon Forbes (1890-1973), banker, was born on 6 February 1890 at Bulimba, Brisbane, fifth child of William Forbes, master mariner, and his wife Amelia, née Moir, both Scottish born. Educated at Brisbane Central Boys' School and by a private tutor, Douglas won prizes for his copperplate handwriting that was later to become a professional legend. In August 1906 he joined the Royal Bank of Queensland as a junior clerk; appointed manager of its Yarraman branch in August 1913, he was one of the youngest bank-managers of the period. Next year Forbes moved to the Queensland National Bank; he served in fourteen country branches and was manager at Hughenden, Maryborough and Bundaberg. In these pioneering days he slept under bullock-drays at Texas, opened a branch at Goomeri in a tent in the backyard of an hotel, and lived in a number of sugar-towns. On 9 April 1917 he had married 19-year-old Grace Isabel Fallon at St James's Anglican Church, Toowoomba.
In September 1928 Forbes was appointed branch manager in Sydney and five years later chief inspector at head office, Brisbane. He took over from M. G. Haymen as general manager in May 1937. Already respected for his 'exceptionally sound judgment', he also succeeded Haymen as chairman (1937-47) of the Associated Banks of Queensland and as its representative on the board of the faculty of commerce at the University of Queensland. Following the Federal parliament's Banking Act (1945), Forbes recognized that the Queensland National Bank faced an uncertain future. In January 1948 he successfully negotiated a merger with the National Bank of Australasia, an arrangement extremely favourable to his shareholders. Forbes filled one of two new positions on the board of directors of the National Bank of Australasia and was chairman (1948-67) of its Queensland board of advice. The latter body reflected his strong 'Queensland-first' philosophy and, when faced with suggestions of control from the south, he was able to exploit State parochialism to resist Prime Minister Chifley's proposal for bank nationalization.
As a consequence of his general managership of the Queensland National Bank, Forbes was managing director (1940-73) and chairman (1955) of the Millaquin Sugar Co. Ltd, and chairman (1940-62) of the Queensland National Pastoral Co., both of which were formed to manage interests acquired by the bank from clients during times of recession and drought. Having joined the board (1944) of Castlemaine Perkins Ltd (another client of the bank), he became that company's non-executive chairman (1958); by successfully moving the appointments of (Sir) Edward Stewart and (Sir) Byrne Hart, he so altered the composition of Castlemaine's board as to give external, non-executive directors a 3:2 majority. Forbes sat, as well, on the boards of Queensland Oil Refineries Pty Ltd, BORAL Ltd, Anglo-Australian Corporation Pty Ltd, Queensland Trustees Ltd, Raub Australian Gold Mining Co. Ltd and Brisbane Television Ltd (BTQ-7).
Highly respected for his business acumen, his objectivity in dealing with issues, his command of the English language and his public-speaking ability, Forbes was adept at handling meetings of shareholders and very careful with shareholders' funds. Furthermore, he was so patently meticulous and disciplined that these traits affected the manner in which other directors on his boards carried out their duties. When he had lived in country areas, he cannily raised money for community organizations by means of concert companies whose proceeds attracted government subsidies. In the 1930s he was a member of the Committee of Eastern Trade, established to stimulate commerce with Asia. During World War II he served on the Essential Supplies and on the Patriotic Fund committees, and was treasurer of the Polish Red Cross and the Young Women's Christian Association Services appeals. He was a trustee of the Queensland Cancer Fund, the Brisbane Amateur Turf Club and the Royal Queensland Golf Club. In 1964 he was knighted.
Sir Douglas was a devoted and protective family man, though avowedly averse to inactive retirement, 'dusting the cheese for mum'. Survived by his wife and daughter, he died on 22 June 1973 in Brisbane and was cremated. His estate was sworn for probate at $511,406, a considerable residual sum of which was left equally to the Presbyterian and Methodist churches.
