In 1925 John Moyle and his wife Georgina moved from their property near Roma to start a new life on Bribie Island running the “Carlton House” boarding-house in Banya Street. The Moyle family stayed on Bribie for more than 25 years managing guest accommodation and later the Tug Company’s dining room and kiosk (store) beside the Jetty.

32-year-old John married 17-year-old Georgina Jackson at Roma in 1898 and prior to leaving for Bribie they lived on a property outside of Roma called “Sterling”. They had seven children, two sons and five daughters.

In 1925, John (26), May (24) and Maud (Amy [22]) decided to stay behind in Roma while Edwin (20), Louise (Catherine [17]), Doris (12) and Alice (8) joined their parents on their new life at the beach. Doris and Alice enrolling at the Bribie State School.

Carlton House Boarding-House was situated in Banya Street and was one of two boarding-houses opening on Bribie in 1917 – the other being the Davis family’s “Glan-Y-Mor”, also in Banya Street. Advertising at the time commended Mrs Moyle on her cleanliness and good table and assured potential customers they would get the best attention at Carlton House.

In 1929 the Tug Company invited tenders for a two-year lease on the Dining Room/Kiosk and Cottage at the jetty so the Moyles took up the offer and left Carlton House to open Moyle’s Guest House which they ran for over 20 years. Managing the Tug Company’s Dining Room meant preparing “Hot fish dinners and oyster suppers” for holiday-makers arriving on the SS Koopa and Doomba for lunch as well as supplying camping necessities from the Kiosk for the hundreds of campers who pitched their tents alongside the Pumicestone Passage.

Catherine married Ernest Filer in 1928, with the wedding held at Carlton House and reported in the Brisbane Sunday Mail newspaper. Edwin stayed on Bribie marrying local girl, Mavis Shields and Doris married Colin Phillips and they eventually took over the running of the business after John and Georgina retired to a house in Banya Street, Bongaree. Colin was joined by his brother Sydney. Alice a keen fisherwoman married Clifford Rigbye during WW2 and worked with her parents throughout the war years while he served in the RAAF.

After celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in 1948 John & Georgina along with Doris and Colin left Bribie for Nambour. John died in 1952 and Georgina in 1958. John’s ashes were scattered under the Bribie pine tree outside their Banya Street home.

The Roma children and grand-children came to Bribie on many holidays over the years and descendants of John and Georgina Moyle children have made Bribie their home.

Written by Lynne Hooper from information from the Moyle family and the BIHS Database.