The United Evangelical Church in William Street, around 1899, just before it was demolished. SLQ image 41685.
In its brief 50 year history, the building on William Street which began as the United Evangelical Church took on several roles, from Church to Telegraph Office to offices for the Department of Public Instruction.
Original 1862 timber building and 1865 brick extension behind. SLQ 61128.
The Queensland Government Printing Office was located between William and George Streets from 1862 until 1983. In that time, new buildings were erected and old ones demolished as the demands on the Office changed.
The footprint of the kitchen of the Commandant’s Cottage in the courtyard of the former Government Printing Office (between George and William Streets). The double line of bricks denotes the wall alignment of the kitchen while the grey concrete pavers show the verandahs that ran along its northern and southern sides.
In a quiet courtyard between William Street and George Street can be found the footprint of the cottage constructed for the commandants of Moreton Bay. A long building with one verandah facing the river and one facing north, it was located away from those places occupied by convicts and soldiers. High on the bank it addressed the river and overlooked a tropical garden.
The seven allotments adjacent to the Queen’s Wharf. The names are those of the first owners. According to the dealing documents, the first owner of allotment no. 7 was Jane Chambers.
The Moreton Bay settlement was in a state of flux in the first decade following the departure of the convicts and before the first immigrants arrived. Having served its purpose for the arrival and departure of convicts, the now Queen’s Wharf was the primary public landing place for North Brisbane.
One of only two buildings surviving in Brisbane from the era of the Moreton Bay penal settlement, the Commissariat Store was constructed in 1828-29. In 2014 it operates as a museum dedicated to the convict history of Brisbane and is the headquarters of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland (RHSQ).
The scaffolding had yet to be removed from the river side of the Centenary extension when this 1960 image was taken. The original 1879 section, designed by Stanley to include a skylight, stands out in a part of the city with no modern high-rise buildings. The skylight was removed in 1964-65.
Brisbane’s first purpose built museum, completed in 1879 in William Street, was considered high above any flood levels that might threaten Queen’s Wharf. Modelled on sixteenth century Italianate buildings, the museum was designed by FDG Stanley, the government architect.