In an era where frequent ownership changes to bus runs were the norm, the Howatson family’s ownership of the Mt Gravatt Bus Service resisted this trend and persisted for almost 55 years between 6 December 1923 and 9 September 1978.
The origins of Mt Gravatt buses itself extend even further back to 1888 when the owner of the Mt Gravatt Hotel, William Ambrose Underwood, instituted a horse-drawn service for patrons between his establishment and the city of Brisbane. Another three proprietors each took turns running the service until it passed into the hands of John Durant sometime after the turn of the century. In the early 1920s, Durant introduced a Model T Ford bus to the service as horse-drawn transportation was replaced in favour of the service’s first motorised vehicle. By 5 January 1923, the bus no longer operated for the benefit of hotel patrons but instead worked four return trips on Monday to Friday and three trips on Saturday, for passengers between the corner of Broadwater and Logan Roads, Mt Gravatt and the Woolloongabba tram terminus.
Fred Howatson purchases service
On 6 December 1923, the service was transferred into the hands of John Durant’s son-in-law, Frederick John Howatson, for the sum of £300. The purchase which included Durant’s Model T Ford bus plus hand tools and accessories, was paid by £200 deposit and fortnightly instalments of £4.
On 1 July 1925, the Brisbane Tramway Trust decided to allocate one bus to the Logan Road route to provide an occasional service daily between Mt Gravatt and Chatsworth Road or Stones Corner and a more frequent service from a point near the German Bridge Hotel (later Holland Park Tram terminus) to the Greenslopes tramline. In fear of being displaced altogether, Fred offered to sell his Graham Dodge bus to the Tramway Trust for £600 during October 1925. However, in view of the impending dissolution of the Trust on 30 November 1925, this did not proceed as planned as the new Brisbane City Council showed no interest in providing a bus service in view of the impending tram extension to Holland Park.
Service extended to Upper Mt Gravatt
When the tramline was extended to Holland Park on 1 August 1926, Fred extended his service to Upper Mt Gravatt in an attempt to cover the loss of patronage given up to the trams. Only two trips in the morning and afternoon were allowed to operate to Stones Corner, with all other trips terminating at Holland Park. In the same year Fred invested in his fledgling business with the purchase of a four cylinder Graham Dodge – which now became the primary vehicle on the service. On 20 August 1928, the Brisbane City Council approved the extension of the service to Eight Mile Plains for three trips a day.
By 1933, the Graham Dodge had been replaced by a six-cylinder Willys chassis with bodywork by Lucy’s Garage of Toowoomba chosen as its successor. In August 1937, continued growth in the operation required the expansion of the fleet to two buses with a six-cylinder, 26 passenger Dodge bus with Watt Bros bodywork purchased and approved for use by the State Transport Board. This vehicle featured a new colour scheme of cream and green, replacing maroon which had been previously favoured by Fred.
New service to Rochedale
In April 1940, the State Transport Commission approved an application from Fred Howatson for a new service between Holland Park tram terminus and Rochedale School via Pacific Highway, School Road, Rochedale, Coopers Plains Road. This service was initially operated by the 26-passenger Willys bus. The outbreak of war with Japan during 1941 brought about high demand of the Howatson’s buses given the frequent need to transport large numbers of army personnel who operated out of bases in the Mt Gravatt area. Consequently, Fred sourced another three vehicles for his operation during these years beginning with a 31-seat Watt Bros bodied Ford V8 in 1942. As an example of wartime expediency, the Ford chassis had started its life as a truck before being converted by RJ Brown & Sons of Thompson Estate (now Stones Corner).
Wartime fleet growth
As Australia’s wartime efforts ramped up, Fred’s second oldest son Alan was called up to service with the Australian Military Forces on 29 January 1942, joining his elder brother James who was already enlisted. In 1944, another Ford V8 entered the fold as a replacement for the Willys bus which had its Lucy’s Garage body transferred to the Ford by the Watt Bros – another pragmatic solution due to the scarcities of manufacturing supplies during the war. By February 1945, the primary service to Upper Mt Gravatt was operating seven days a week with frequencies of half-hour to hourly intervals during weekdays. The Mt Gravatt fleet rose to four on 2 December 1945 when a highly sort after left-hand drive White WA18 had its body finalised by the Watt Bros, after being purchased from the United States chassis-only a year earlier.
Alan Howatson joins the family business
A twice daily, three days a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Friday) service between the tram terminus and Loganholme for the benefit of shoppers was timetabled in March 1946. Two months later an important addition to the family business occurred as Fred’s second oldest son Alan joined as a trainee manager, following his discharge from the army in May 1946. By this stage six drivers and a cleaner were employed with the buses equally split between two depots located at Creek Road and Grenfell Street. After Alan had worked in the business for over a year, his father Fred took him on as a 50% partner on 1 July 1947, which saw the trading name altered to ‘FJ Howatson & Son’.
New service for the Holland Park Housing Estate
After the war had concluded significant development occurred in Holland Park which led to the establishment of a new housing estate on the site of a former American Hospital accessible from Nursery Road. On 5 January 1948, after an initial delay, a new Monday to Saturday service, known as the Holland Park Housing Estate (HPHE) service, officially commenced operation between the tram terminus and the corner of Nursey Road and View Street.
By the end of 1948, another two new Fords had entered service, with bodies built by Coachcraft and Watt Bros. It was a contrasting set of circumstances between the growth of the Howatson’s operation and the bus industry at the time, considering that the Brisbane City Council had just finalised the takeover of 20 private bus services between the years 1947 and 1948. What protected the Howatson’s buses for the time being was that their services complemented Council trams, where the other operators ran directly into the city.
However, Mt Gravatt buses did in fact run to the city on five separate occasions during March 1949 when Brisbane City Council tram crews held 24 hour strikes on all services; permitting private operators to replace the trams by running all the way to the William Street terminal at North Quay. The only other time Howatson buses could proceed further than the tram terminus at Holland Park was to Stones Corner on Saturday nights for picture theatre trips. On 12 January 1949, a second White bus came into the Howatson’s possession after its acquisition from the Brisbane City Council, who in turn had acquired it on 18 April 1948 from Thomas Findlay’s Tarragindi Bus Service.
The Brisbane City Council’s tram extension programme continued on 11 November 1950, when the terminus moved further south along Logan Road to the Nursery Road intersection. However, this would prove only temporary when the terminus moved a fourth and final time to Mt Gravatt on 10 March 1951. The latter extension almost proved fatal to the family business with profitability severely affected over the next eighteen months. In an effort to absorb some of the patronage loss to the trams, a new worker’s service was instituted to Slacks Creek, a township between Eight Mile Plains and Loganholme.
Death of Fred Howatson
Tragedy struck for the Howatson family on 30 January 1952, when Fred unexpectedly passed away at the age of 62, following a heart attack whilst playing bowls at Tarragindi. At the time, Fred was the President of the Queensland Omnibus Proprietors’ Association. As a result of his father’s passing, Alan inherited sole control of the business the following day and by doing so became one of the youngest bus proprietors in Queensland at just 28 years old. Despite the tragic loss of his father, Alan retained the trading name ‘FJ Howatson & Son’ on all official documentation right to the end in a fitting tribute to Fred’s immense legacy. As Alan continued on in his father’s absence a major frequency upgrade occurred on HPHE route from 5 January 1953, due to the development of new housing estates.
Purchase of Rochedale service
In January 1954, the Howatsons began running their first dedicated school bus service for students attending Cavendish Road High School. With the news of a new housing estate at Creek Road, Alan initiated the takeover of the Broadwater Co-operative Transport Society Limited, who ran services between the Grieve Road end of Rochedale, Mt Petrie and the Cavendish Road tram terminus. The formation of the society occurred on 18 November 1949 when 32 members of the Broadwater and District Progress Association formed their own organisation to run a bus service for the benefit of poultry farmers and city workers living along Broadwater Road.
When the transfer of licence number 181 was officially approved by the Commissioner for Transport on 28 February 1955, the society’s secretary and driver, John Kerr, transferred over along with the group’s 35-passenger White bus for a total purchase price of £800. This saw the Howatson buses provide a limited service from Grieve Road and Mt Petrie to Mt Gravatt along with a revised HPHE licence incorporating a new service plying Elgar Street and Cavendish Road to Holland Park Shopping Centre. As it was now firmly within their licensed territory, a new bus service was provided from Mt Gravatt tram terminus to the new Creek Road Housing Estate (Mt Gravatt East) later that year.
New Commer buses
With this increased workload and faced with an ageing fleet, Alan purchased the first of seven Watt Bros bodied Commers during November 1955. Once trams were replaced with trolleybuses on the Cavendish Road line, the Brisbane City Council commenced negotiations with Alan to broaden its service another mile south to Elgar Street at Holland Park. On 15 December 1956, the deal officially took place which left Howatson buses to contend with trams on one side and trolleybuses on the other. Another two identical Commers were delivered by the Watt Bros during May and December 1957, which resulted in three of the four Fords being disposed of by the end of the year. The delivery of Commers continued when the fourth vehicle arrived in August 1959, followed by the fifth in November 1960. The latter delivery had almost not occurred at all when Alan learned that Commer had discontinued production of its Avenger bus chassis.
To maintain a standardised fleet, Alan purchased a former truck chassis from Cobb & Co which was then converted and sent to Watts for bodying. It ultimately proved to be a successful transformation from truck to bus with this process being replicated on the final two Commers. The delivery of the sixth Commer during August 1961 was timed to coincide with a new service to the Broadwater Road Estate (Mt Gravatt South), which had commenced in May 1961. In March 1963, the seventh and final Commer was purchased from Watts after it was originally ordered by Bill Farmer of Blackstone Bus Service before he sold out to Bill Wilmot, who had baulked at taking on the new bus.
Brisbane City Council applies to acquire service
With the Brisbane City Council intent on squeezing out private bus services operating within their jurisdiction, they applied to the Transport Commissioner in March 1964 to take over the Mt Gravatt East and South services, but were denied. However, the Council ultimately got its way on 26 January 1967 when they purchased this portion of Alan’s licence. This enabled the extension of Council’s Greenslopes service to Dawson Road at Upper Mt Gravatt. Luckily for Alan another two routes were launched during 1967, beginning with a short working from the Mt Gravatt tram terminus to the Golf Links Estate area, west of the Kessells Road and Logan Road Intersection. The other new service commenced on 17 July 1967 as a trial between the tram terminus and the Oasis Tourist Gardens in Sunnybank, which ultimately proved successful and was upgraded to a permanent service. Two days later saw the delivery of the Howatson’s first Bedford bus on 19 July 1967, with bodywork this time by Athol Hedges.
Now facing competition from Skennars Coaches’ Brisbane to Beenleigh passenger service, Alan attempted to dispose of the Loganholme and Slacks Creek portion of his licence to Clarrie Skennar. Despite contract formalities taking place on 22 July 1968, the Commissioner for Transport rejected the application for the transfer of licence – leaving Alan with no choice but to continue his unprofitable feeder service which competed with Skennar’s through coach service to the city. In September 1969, another Bedford was purchased and fitted with a body by Watt Bros.
Brisbane City Council continued its southern expansion again on 18 May 1970, when it restricted Alan’s service to Upper Mt Gravatt by private treaty. Only school services could now progress further than the Kessells Road intersection for the sake of convenience for students. On 1 October 1970, the terminus of the passenger routes all moved to the newly opened Garden City Shopping Centre at Upper Mt Gravatt. With the opening of Garden City came a twice-daily shopper’s service to Springwood, which replaced the Slacks Creek workers service due to low patronage.
With a reduced workload for the buses, Alan was forced to sell off the first four Commers between the years of 1970 and 1971. Despite the uncertainty caused by the Brisbane City Council, FJ Howatson & Son received the positive news of a seven-year licence renewal from 1 May 1972, which facilitated an order for a 45-seat Bedford VAM 70 from the Watt Bros. As of this date a total of five buses were operational, consisting of the two Bedfords and three Commers. It took until March 1973 for the new Bedford to be finalised by Watts, with this delay forcing Alan to look towards Athol Hedges when another bus was required a year later in 1974.
Business advertised for sale
With Alan’s reluctance to continue operating in Slacks Creek and Loganholme, the decision was made to surrender the Beenleigh school service in favour of Mr G.S. Winter during January 1975. Alan continued the relinquishment of other services across next two years, beginning with the Oasis Gardens service to the Brisbane City Council on 23 February 1976, and then the Loganholme to Garden City passenger service to Reg and Yvonne Clark on 5 December 1977. By this stage the stresses of running buses in such a demanding area had finally taken its toll on Alan, who submitted an advertisement in the Bus Proprietors Association newsletter on 22 February 1978 for the sale of his business. From the advertisement came one genuine enquiry from the Webster family of Victoria, who were no strangers to buses and keen on a move north to Queensland. They ultimately chose the West family’s Kangaroo Line operation at Caboolture, leaving Alan to find other suitors to take on his Mt Gravatt Bus Service.
Cessation of operations
Over the next few months Alan worked with neighbouring operator Bob Brooks of Greenline Transit, formulating new timetables for integration with his service network before a newcomer expressed interest in taking on the services unchanged. This newcomer, Mr Norman Dunn, had buses in his possession but no passenger service, only a permit for private school services into East Brisbane. The Transport Department ultimately viewed Dunn’s proposal as the most satisfactory outcome and negotiations between Alan and Norm ensued. These were to culminate on Monday 4 September 1978, when Alan signed the surrender of his licence in favour of Norm Dunn, who in return paid a ‘goodwill’ rate on three of Alan’s buses.
The surrender and cessation of the Mt Gravatt Bus Service officially took place on Saturday 9 September 1978, which saw Alan finish up with a 30% subsidy on his services, having started off with 5% only a few years previously. The business finished up with a fleet consisting of seven vehicles – with only four remaining on the books after Dunns took on Bedfords 1 and 2 plus Commer 7. As part of the deal with the new licensee, Alan worked with Dunns for two weeks to ensure a smooth transition, although remained adamant that he would leave buses altogether after this. When the time came Alan had a change of heart and decided to keep some vehicles on for charter. However, the opportunity was denied him when the Transport Department cancelled his charter licence. Subsequently, he disposed of Commers 5 and 6 to new owners by the end of September – leaving only the two Bedfords in his possession. This arrangement continued until 2 August 1979, when Barrie Watt found a buyer in Mackay for the 1973 model with Watt Bros bodywork.
Photo: Howatson Family Collection
Mt Gravatt Bus Service continues to trade
Alan retained ownership of the final Bedford until September 1981, when he decided to sell it to Del and Les Cole – who were operating a school run from nearby Burbank. To ensure the Howatson legacy continued on, Alan kindly offered the ‘Mt Gravatt Bus Service’ trading name to the Coles free of charge, which they graciously accepted. On 30 June 1982, Alan finished up full time employment with Dunns as he decided to it was finally time to step back and only remain on in a casual basis. In this capacity he operated the odd school run and charter trip until retiring from driving altogether on 12 February 1991. The last bus left Alan’s Grenfell Street property at Mt Gravatt on 1 July 1992, after Dunns had stored a few vehicles there to eliminate ‘dead running’ to their depot at Galloways Hill in East Brisbane.
Buses owned by FJ Howatson and FJ Howatson & Son t/a Mt Gravatt Bus Service
| Bus | Chassis | Body | Year | Registration |
| Ford Model T | 1920s | Q183-43 | ||
| Graham Dodge | 1926 | |||
| Willys | Lucy’s Garage | 1933 | Q230-298 | |
| Dodge | Watt Bros | 1937 | Q304-002 | |
| Ford V8 | Watt Bros | 1942 | Q350-779 | |
| Ford V8 | Lucy’s Garage | 1944* | Q382-911 | |
| White WA18 | Watt Bros | 1945 | Q401-633 | |
| Ford V8 | Watt Bros | 1948 | Q447-366 | |
| Ford V8 | Coachcraft | 1948 | Q452-255 | |
| White WA20 | Watt Bros | 1943 | Q464-225 | |
| White WA20 | 1940s | Q644-233 | ||
| Commer 1 | Commer Avenger III | Watt Bros | 1955 | NAX-357 |
| Commer 2 | Commer Avenger III | Watt Bros | 1957 | NDS-150 |
| Commer 3 | Commer Avenger III | Watt Bros | 1957 | NEY-122 |
| Commer 4 | Commer Avenger III | Watt Bros | 1959 | NIJ-718 |
| Commer 5 | Commer TS3 | Watt Bros | 1960 | NLH-598 |
| Commer 6 | Commer TS3 | Watt Bros | 1961 | NNH-350 |
| Commer 7 | Commer TS3 | Watt Bros | 1963 | NPX-570 |
| Bedford 1 | Bedford VAM 3 | Athol Hedges | 1967 | PIE-455 |
| Bedford 2 | Bedford VAM 3 | Watt Bros | 1969 | PMV-129 |
| Bedford 3 | Bedford VAM 3 | Watt Bros | 1973 | OBF-782 |
| Bedford 4 | Bedford VAM 3 | Athol Hedges | 1974 | OFH-493 |
Alan Howatson passes away
Alan Howatson passed away on 23 June 2018, aged 95. His family’s legacy continues to live on today with the current owners of the Mt Gravatt Bus Service.
