It’s been 176 years and the story of Ipswich’s greatest ever librarian has never been told until now. I told a version of this story live on Ipswich’s West Bremer Radio.

The first library in Ipswich, Queensland, was founded in 1850 when the Ipswich Literary Institute, later the School of Arts Library, opened on the corner of Brisbane and Wharf Streets, Ipswich.

The library immediately became central to the culture of Ipswich. One of the biggest controversies following the First World War was when returning soldiers were granted honorary life memberships of the library, but the librarian at the time didn’t honour it.

Ten locations and 176 years after its founding, the Ipswich Library is today at Tulmur Place, Nicholas Street, but in all that time the story of its greatest librarian has never been told.

The great man was John Henry Ingram. He was a Welsh coal miner who came to Ipswich and discovered the thrill of librarianship late in life. I went as far as Auckland, New Zealand, to investigate.

Ingram was born in Wales in 1834. He arrived at Brisbane, Queensland, in 1864 and made his way to Ipswich to work in the coalmines. He became a pastor at the Ipswich Baptist Church and then to the Newcastle district of New South Wales where he preached for fourteen years. The attraction of Ipswich was too much and Ingram returned home and again went down the mines. Three years later Ingram returned to New South Wales as a Baptist pastor, this time in Kempsey.

Ingram then had an epiphany of sorts and Ipswich drew him home once again. This time not to coal mining, or to the church, but to the library. The Ipswich town elders saw something special through the black coal dust, and the Welsh miner come Baptist pastor was appointed as the new librarian at the Ipswich School of Arts.

For the next quarter of a century Ingram immersed himself in School of Arts Library, that back then was in Ipswich’s Old Town Hall which today is the Ipswich Art Gallery on Brisbane Street.

It was during his time in the library, which was the most enjoyable time of his life, that Ingram watched his children grow. His youngest son Herbert was given the best education attending North Ipswich seminary, East Ipswich state school, and then Ipswich Grammar School. Herbert was apprenticed to an artist of some repute who had studied under the best masters in Europe and America.  He won the Rosewood art show for a portrait of Ipswich’s The Reverend Joseph Walker. The unfortunate reverend later collided his buggy into a tram and died of dengue fever. Another well-known painting was of Ipswich Grammar which the trustees loved so much that they bought it and hung it at the school.

The death of Ingram’s daughter Martha in 1902 changed the focus of Ingram’s life. Martha’s widower was the Ipswich Baptist minister The Reverend Frederick Buckingham. Distraught with grief, both Reverend Buckingham and his brother-in-law, Ingram’s son Herbert, went to New Zealand to start again.

Meanwhile, Ingram succumbed to the pressures of long-term librarianship and retired. In 1910 he followed Herbert to Auckland in New Zealand. That’s where I picked up the trail in April and went to Auckland to experience the harbour and the streets where Ipswich’s greatest librarian walked in his retirement.

The artistic career of Ingham’s son continued to excel with one of his paintings shown in Rotorua being declared the best of its kind ever seen in the town. 

Ingram was drawn back to Ipswich yet again and he returned home. Of the 40 years that Ingram had lived in Ipswich, 25 of them were as the Ipswich librarian. A life membership of the library was bestowed upon him. This was an honour that had not been given to anyone else before. Ingram liked nothing more than to spend an occasional quiet hour in the reading room.

Shortly afterwards, he passed away in Ipswich in 1913, aged 79. To make the day more poignant for his family and library members, his six-month old granddaughter Elsie died on the same day.

Mr. John Henry Ingram was a coal miner, Baptist minister, the longest-serving head of the Ipswich library, and the first life member – he was truly the city’s greatest ever librarian.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A VERSION OF THIS STORY TOLD ON WEST BREMER RADIO.

Photo credits:
The Miner Who Became Ipswich’s Greatest Librarian – Harold Peaocck with Copilot.
Ipswich Post Office, Town Hall and Bank of Australasia c1902 – Ipswich City Council.
Auckland Harbour, 2026 – Harold Peacock P4214038.
John Henry Ingram Ipswich General Cemetery – Anne – here lies 2022 Find a Grave website.