Historical mission begins

One of the only surviving stands of its kind in Australia, it could once hold upwards of 91,000 litres but, over time and because of its significant age, it has fallen into disrepair, with the stand needing urgent changes to the structural integrity.

Returning to the property after graduating university, daughter of fifth-generation descendant Christopher McConnel, Caitlin, has taken on the task of raising much-needed donations in order to fund the project.

"This project is the first of hopefully many - but it's the most important," Caitlin said.

"The tank was built in the 1880s by second-generation owner James Henry McConnel to replace two smaller tanks which were being used on the station.

"They needed a larger structure to accommodate the expanded station and employees which, at its peak, was home to roughly 200 people."

Caitlin said there was more than 173 years of information regarding the McConnel family at Cressbrook - the oldest family business in Queensland.

"We have a lot of history here pertaining to Queensland and Australia and pre-Queensland, which no one actually knows about and that's not because we're hoarding it here - it's because we just don't have time to go through it all, but the tank stand is a significant part of that."

Donations to the initial part of the tank stand project will be used to repair the base holding the tank, with Caitlin hoping any further money raised can be used to rebuild the tank itself.

"We want to make it safe because we want to welcome the community in - we'd love to have the school children come in and learn more about the history of the area.

"There are so many people living in Toogoolawah who don't know we're here, and that's been as a consequence of us remaining private and trying to keep our heads above water with the farm.

"It's important that we start doing what we can, with our small part of it, to share it."

Hoping to welcome the public to Cressbrook is the tip of the historical iceberg for the McConnels - a pioneering agricultural family who continue to live in the original homestead.

"There's no money, really, in our acreage in terms of agriculture for us to sustain it as a business, as well as try and sustain the buildings we have here," Caitlin said.

"But that said, it's equally important that we start welcoming the public in, in varying capacities.

"Obviously this is our home and we don't want to lose our uniqueness, but to do that - to welcome people - we need to make it safe for them, which is why we've chosen the tank stand as the first restoration project."

Caitlin said the initial cost of the project would be $50,000 to $60,000. The young farmer and law graduate said she recently applied for a grant through the Queensland government's Everyone's Environment Heritage Funding program.

"We've had support from a construction company who found out about the grant application and offered their time in kind to do some of the drawings for us, and said they would come on board if we can get funding to restore the tank stand, which is incredibly encouraging."

Caitlin said while there were other buildings on the property which needed restoration, it was the stand which made such a significant impact to the aesthetics of Cressbrook.

"It really leaves people in awe and it's such an incredible testament to engineering in Australia circa late 1800s.

"Yes, it is a home and we live here, but we are custodians of this piece of Australian history, and it's important to us that we're not just preserving it for our own family - we want to be able to share it."