The Bancrofts and the Bancroft Electorate
About the Bancroft Family
Joseph Bancroft, his son, Thomas, and his granddaughter, Josephine, were pioneering founders of medical research here in Queensland. Joseph brought his family to Queensland in 1864 from Manchester.
They were doctors and scientists and they conducted many of their experiments from their weekend homestead in Deception Bay.
Upon arrival in Brisbane, aboard the steamship Lady Young in 1864 Joseph and his family built a home on Enoggera Creek, which they called Kelvin Grove, after the gardens near Glasgow, Scotland. The suburb of Kelvin Grove is named after their home.
It was at Deception Bay that Joseph Bancroft discovered the parasite, Wuchereria bancrofti that causes elephantiasis. He was amongst the first in the world to show or speculate how disease could be spread by insects.
Thomas carried on his father’s work and proved that mosquito bites transmitted the elephantiasis parasite and hookworms entered the body through the skin.
Josephine performed crucial research into insect-borne diseases during WWII and helped saved countless Allied soldiers’ lives.
There are many places across Brisbane and Moreton Bay named in honour of the Bancroft family, including the Bancroft Electorate.
In Deception Bay there are the Bancroft baths on Captain Cook Parade, in addition to the Bancroft Memorial in Bancroft Park, and Bancroft Terrace.
Bancroft Park and Bancroft Street in Kelvin Grove are also named in honour of the family. The Bancroft Centre at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Herston is named after the Bancrofts.
The Bancroft Electorate
The Queensland state electorate of Bancroft was created at the 2017 election and is named after three of Queensland’s most outstanding medical researchers and scientists.
Taking in the historic seaside suburb of Deception Bay, the bustling commercial hub of North Lakes and the rural residential and growing housing and business estates of Burpengary East, Bancroft offers something for everyone.
Bancroft is bounded by the Caboolture River in the north, Anzac Ave in the south, Deception Bay in the east, Glanville Street and Morris Road in the south-east, and the Bruce Highway to the west.
The electorate includes all of Deception Bay, North Lakes and Burpengary East, as well as parts of the suburbs of Mango Hill, Rothwell and a small part of Morayfield.
