[2] Stephen Simpson was appointed Commissioner for Crown Lands for the Moreton Bay District in 1842 when the area was first opened up for free settlement following the closure of the penal colony.

He was a doctor of medicine, a Justice of the Peace, a police magistrate and a founding Member of the Queensland Legislative Council following separation from New South Wales.

After first living at Eagle Farm then at Petrie's Bight, Simpson established his first cottage at Woogaroo (now Goodna), situated between Brisbane and Ipswich on what was to become the site of the Wolston Park Hospital.

[6][7][8] This may have affected Simpson's commitment to remaining in the colony and a few years later, he put the Wolston estate up for sale and returned to England.

According to the auction notice which appeared in the Moreton Bay Courier of 3 January 1860 the estate was by then well established with 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of fenced land, an extensive garden and orchards and 250 head of horses and 400 of cattle.

[5] Although appointed on 23 May 1860 as a life member of the Queensland Legislative Council, Simpson attended only once before he travelled to England.