A message in a bottle has been found 86 years after two tradesmen hid it in a Brisbane primary school.
The note was written by 16-year-old apprentice carpenter Gordon Benson and carpenter Douglas Heron, who together built the spire of Junction Park State School in Annerley.
Restoration workers discovered the bottle in the spire last August.
The note was handwritten in lead pencil and dated October 12, 1935 — a year before the building opened.
"Built this fleche for the Dept of Public Works 12 of July 1935."
"We now are looking down of [sic] you.
"Since removing it, if any of my children, children are living, pass this onto them.
"R.I.P."
'A story of hope' passed on to children
The handwritten note was presented to two of Mr Benson's five children, Geoffrey Benson and Marilyn Blundell, in a ceremony at the school today.
"Once realising it was written by my father, it wasn't a surprise," Mr Benson, who worked for the public works department himself, told the ABC.
"Dad always thought about his family, and his children, and the future of his children.
"I guess having come through the depression and being put in a position where he's not very far away from joining the war, there were probably a lot of things on his mind."
Gordon Benson has 10 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
He worked for the public works department until his retirement at the age of 60, leaving only briefly to serve in the army at New Guinea during World War II.
Ms Blundell, a teacher at Surfers Paradise State School, said it was emotional seeing her father's note for the first time in person.
"It's a story of hope. He was 16 and didn't know what was to come," she said.
"He had the hope there would be children and children's children."
Ms Blundell's cousin, who also worked for the department, recognised the surname in a newsletter and made contact.
"The years all lined up and I confirmed it," Ms Blundell said.
"It was definitely Dad's writing."
Continuing a legacy of family love
Transport Minister Mark Bailey said the carpenters probably left the note as "a bit of a lark" while finishing what would become a heritage-listed school.
"Apparently Gordon was a real live wire. I think his family absolutely endorse that," Mr Bailey said.
"He kind of knew it would get discovered at some point."
Junction Park State School Principal John Bray said the school first opened in 1888.
"We should never forget history because it brings us together and we learn from it," he said.
"It's a green bottle and very small so I suggest it would have been a ginger ale bottle," Mr Benson said.
Ms Blundell said her father never mentioned the note.
"It was written in pencil and that's why it hasn't faded," she said.
The department was unable to track down Mr Heron's family.
Mr Benson said his father would have been very proud and amazed by the discovery.
"It's interesting that he had a love of his future family before they'd even been born and a continued love for his family after he's passed on," he said.
"So our legacy is to keep that love going."
