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Somerville House is a day and boarding school for girls, established in 1899. It is located in the inner city Brisbane suburb of South Brisbane just two kilometres from the city centre and directly opposite South Bank parklands. Somerville House is of course where Leisl went to school! The below information is from the Somerville House Website
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The Gothic-style architecture of the Chapel, originally built in 1934 as a library, lends itself naturally to the use of stained glass in the leaded windows. Initially this was confined
to motifs on the bay windows. The central window has a school badge, representing Wisdom standing on the book of Knowledge, holding the lamp of Truth. Motifs in the adjacent windows elaborate on these
themes of wisdom, knowledge and truth. Other windows, since removed, contained conventional heraldic emblems. 
The three pairs of stained glass windows in the Octagonal room were installed later to commemorate people associated with the school - a student, a member of staff and a principal. In June 1936, a boarder named Joan Palmes died after a short illness within a month of her 15th birthday. Together, the school and her mother decided that a pair of stained glass windows in the library would be a fitting memorial and chose as the theme the New Testament story of the raising of Jairus' daughter. The face of the girl in this window is modeled on Joan Palmes' own face. The windows were dedicated at a service on 25 March 1937.
Only a month before this service the school had received a
further shock with the news of the death of Hazel McCullough. The second of five sisters all educated at Somerville House, she had also served as a Science teacher there for four years before leaving
on an overseas trip. While staying with her family and friends in Singapore , on her way to London , she had been killed in a car accident. The windows, given by her parents and sisters, depict the
Old Testament story of Ruth and Naomi. The service of dedication was held on 29 April 1938.
The third set of windows, given by the staff and Old Girls and dedicated on 3 April 1949, commemorates the life and work of Miss Marjorie Kate Jarrett, Co-Principal of the school with Miss Harker from 1910 to 1931 and sole Principal from 1932 to 1940. Miss Jarrett had died in 1944 after a long illness. Miss Harker chose the theme of these windows: Jesus talking to the woman of Samaria , telling her "God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth".
All the
stained glass windows were made by William Bustard an English-born stained-glass artist who had wo
rked in England , Ireland , various European countries and the United States before migrating to
Queensland in 1921. His work is to be found in buildings throughout Australia including St John's and St Stephen's Cathedrals and the City Hall in Brisbane.
Following the completion of a new school library in 1972, the old library became a classroom and the octagonal room was used to house the school archives. The conversion to a chapel was completed by August 1993 and the new chapel windows were designed and made by Gerry Cummins and Jill Stehn.
The large "Creation" window depicts the Biblical creation in a South East Queensland setting. It is firmly scripturally based, with
all 
of the
elements described in Genesis 1.1.-31 being depicted in the window, and in a local and contemporary manner. It contains twelve identifiable forms of vegetation and 46 animals (excluding
flocks of birds on the wing and the ants). The Creation window, as part of its design, has a section of clear glass, through which the trees outside can be seen. There is also a place near the door
where one can look out to the river. It is a constant reminder that chapel services are to prepare the students and equip them to make a contribution to the well being of the world at large.
The five lead lights on the east wall balance the existing traditional windows on the west wall and represent, from left to right, the coastal heath land, the desert interior, Great Barrier Reef, the eucalypts and rainforests - a summary of the flora and fauna of all Queensland.
The nine windows above the entrance celebrate the lives of famous women and illustrate the various areas of study and activity offered by the school. Kay Cottee representing sport and modern technology; Rosalind Franklin, biology and the life sciences; Winifred Kiek, religion; Margaret Preston, visual arts; Mary Somerville, mathematics, geometry and general science; Roma Mitchell, legal studies; Katie Parker, history; Marie Curie, physics and chemistry; and Joan Sutherland, music, opera and drama. In sets of three, the windows depict two prominent Australian women flanking a woman of international repute.
The large window in the South Wall depicts the lives of the women whose names have been given to the Somerville House Houses and also mark six stages of development in Australia's history: Elizabeth Macarthur our colonial beginnings, Jane Franklin the end of the convict era, Caroline Chisholm the era of free migration, Lucy Osburn the beginning of professional careers for women, Mary Durack, the end of the pioneering expansion and Mary Gilmore, the deepening of conscience and internationalism.
(c) 2007 e-mail: wedding(at)slicelink.com