Queensland Shops and their buildings: the cornerstones of our memories.

Woodcock's butcher shop, situated on the corner of Waterworks Road and Eva Street, Red Hill. The steep pyramid roof providing height for the shop is visible behind the “W. Woodcock” sign.

The history of a shop or factory building can be just as interesting and intriguing as the history of a house. Buildings are often the cornerstones of our memories of a street in the city, a suburb or a town. The local shop was a centre of the community and often used for voting, public speeches and as gathering places. The shop proprietor’s residence was often attached to one side or at the rear of the building or, in the 19th century, upstairs.

State Library collections are frequently used to find earlier occupants of a commercial building, and sometimes the results can be quite a journey through many different businesses over time.

shops along Stanley Street, Woolloongabba, 1980s

Shops along Stanley Street, Woolloongabba, Brisbane, 1980s. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Image number: 33329-0001-0081

These shops date from around the 1880s. The family would have lived upstairs.

Shop with dwelling in Musgrave Road, Red Hill, ca. 1924. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Negative number: 63707

This was a tailor’s shop.

Queen Street and Brisbane City shops

Brisbane was transformed by the fire of 1864, after which it was reported that “low ill-constructed little wooden buildings are rapidly being converted into large, commodious and shapely shops and stores.” (Brisbane Courier, 18 March, 1864, p 2.) Rebuilding was swift, and shopping areas developed in Queen Street, Fortitude Valley, South Brisbane and Spring Hill. Department stores arose in Queen Street and major shopping areas by the 1890s, including Allan and Stark, Waltons and, by 1902, T.C.Beirne, Edwards and Lamb, Chapman and Company, McDonnell and East, Finney Isles and Co, and McWhirters, to name a few.

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McWhirter’s department store in Fortitude Valley, 1913. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Negative number: 31227

Most general stores in Brisbane around this time were small, single gable weatherboard buildings with a tin roof and a substantial awning to the gutter. Many shops were in corner positions and had awnings and decorative street-facing hoardings above the awning displaying the name of the business and its specialties. The shape and design of hoardings changed over time, becoming increasingly larger and more suited to advertising. The most common advertising was for ice cream and Billy or King tea.

Throughout the suburbs there were many general stores, butcher shops, fruit shops and factories operating in these small weatherboard buildings. The history of these small buildings often showed an extensive array of purposes and owners.

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Shop in Excelsior Road, Gympie. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Image number: 6169-0274-0009

This is a simple grocery store with a functional verandah roof to the roadway.

Specialty shops had unique building requirements. Butcher shops had to include a high ceiling above a hanging space (at least 9 feet in height) with reasonable proximity to the counter so that retailers could hang the meat. Many problems occurred in the tropical Queensland climate with the retailing of meat, including dust, flies and the hosing out of butcher shops on steep hillsides, thereby inflicting the offal and meat remnants on neighbours further down the hill. Thus, a variety of regulations were enacted to improve health conditions of butcher shops (The Brisbane Courier, 10 January 1913, p 4).

I.B. Best, Butcher shop in Sandgate. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Negative number: 118705

Ventilation is evident at the top of the building.

Butchers standing inside the Sparkes Butcher shop, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, ca.1900. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Negative number: 159738

Butchers wearing their striped aprons, white shirts and ties standing inside the Sparkes Butcher shop at the corner of Brunswick Street and Barry Parade, Fortitude Valley. A suited gentleman is visible in the photograph, possibly a meat inspector. A number of meat carcasses hang in rows.

How to find the history of a shop or building

Uncovering the history of a shop or commercial building involves using a variety of research tools available at State Library of Queensland.

Post office directories, trade directories and almanacs are useful for tracing the location and movements of people and businesses in the past. As tenancies may have changed over many years, Post Office Directories (showing street-by-street listings up to 1940) are a good place to start. Working backwards is the most useful strategy as street numbers were applied throughout most of Brisbane’s inner suburbs by 1940. The business you are researching may have a street number, but the business or building may have changed form and function by the present day. The Post Office Directories are available in hard copy on level 4 of State Library, on microfilm on level 3, and are also available digitally through Ancestry Library Edition. State Library’s Family History Research guide on Post Office Directories provides an overview of how the directories were compiled and the years covered.

Other useful resources include:

State Library’s online One Search catalogue – to find information regarding retail stores and architecture, photographs, and the history of a community or suburb State Library has a rich collection of books on retailing, shop photographs and architectural drawings as well as manuscript records. We also have records of some large department stores such as McDonnell and East.
Electoral Rolls – once you know a storeowner’s name, their movements can be found by tracing electoral rolls. Electoral Rolls are available in several formats, including via Ancestry Library Edition for the years 1903-1980.
The Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages – use the online indexes to find the significant dates in a shop keeper’s life.
Trove – searching newspapers for information on firms, shops and department stores, including finding advertisements for the shops and their products.

A case study - 61 Musgrave Road, Red Hill

An excellent example of a building that has been used as a workshop and a retail shop is the Red Hill Art Gallery at 61 Musgrave Road Red Hill.

The brick work and the arched lintels over the side windows provide clues that the building was probably constructed between 1885 and 1900, a time when Brisbane factories greatly increased in number, requiring a Factories and Shops Act of 1897 and inspectors to implement the new legislation. Brisbane factories were mostly small affairs, with fewer than 50 employees, and increasingly were located out of the city area (Ronald Lawson. Brisbane in the 1890s. p 63).

Post Office Directories show that from 1921 the Whitehouse Company used the building at 61 Musgrave Road to build and renovate organs for properties all over Australia. The Whitehouse Company also had a showroom in George Street in the city to sell organs and pianos. As Brisbane’s retail sector developed, it became increasingly common for larger retailers to have workshops away from the showrooms of the CBD precinct.

Prior to this, the Musgrave Road building was used by the furniture manufacturer F. Tritton as a bulk storage facility. Tritton’s also had their showroom in George Street and were so successful that they needed to expand their storage. Other businesses also operated out of 61 Musgrave Road, including a manufacturer of ice chests and, a cabinet maker.

In the 1890s, 40 percent of Brisbane’s industrial workforce was employed in clothing and textiles (Lawson, p 51). Kings Clothing Factory first advertised for workers in Musgrave Road, Red Hill in 1898, and for tailoresses in 1901 and 1902. The clothing factory was obviously a key business in the community, having been advertised as a polling place for the local area in a number of elections. In 1895, there was also a James Moran who had a clothing factory in that section of Musgrave Road and on that side of the road. It is therefore possible that James Moran started the clothing factory, which was taken over by King in 1898.

Further research shows that the building was constructed in March 1889 as a printing works for Woodcock and Powell, as described in the Moreton Mail, 29 March 1889, p 7. Woodcock and Powell also had an office in Charlotte Street in the city and printed everything from small cards through to newspapers and books. The depression in the 1890s took its toll on many Brisbane businesses; Benjamin Woodcock went on to work for the Government Printing Office, and Edward Powell took on another partner and continued printing. The building at 61 Musgrave Road was then sold to other manufacturers.

Interestingly, the building at 61 Musgrave Road had an architect, Mr J. Nicholson, and the builder was named as Andrew Rankine. It was unusual for a small utilitarian business building to have had an architect.

This modest sized trade building was built at the height of the prosperous 1880s. Woodcock and Powell obviously saw the prospect of many contracts and looked forward to prosperity. However, just one year later, Brisbane was beset by flood, followed by recession, an even worse flood in 1893, and drought that extended right through the first decade of the 20th century. Many businesses were adversely affected, and properties were lost. Although the building at Red Hill would have been well protected from any flood waters, the clients of the printing firm may not have been, and business opportunities would have been impacted. Woodcock and Powell finished their partnership and followed different trajectories. However, the lovely brick building was home to many other businesses over the decades and was central to its community. Today, it operates as an art gallery.

Why research a shop or commercial building?

Undertaking a history of a shop or commercial building provides a window into a community or suburb. Shops and small weatherboard buildings selling groceries, fruit, vegetables, meat, clothing and shoes are to be found in suburbs, cities and towns throughout Queensland. Residents often remember the shop on the corner or the Department store where they would catch the tram to or meet friends and family members. The history of a shop building provides a way of connecting with the past and prompts the recollection of stories and memories.

The change in shop fronts and their design throughout the decades has mirrored the changes in the city, from small individual retailers plying their specific wares through to extensive department stores and shopping centres.

Is there a building in your neighbourhood you’re curious about? Submit your enquiry through the Ask a Librarian service and we’ll spend up to an hour digging through our collections on your behalf.

If you’re interested in learning more about the working life of your Queensland ancestor, join us on Friday, August 1st for Sweat, Strikes and Sunshine: Queensland’s working heritage. Register here to secure your place.

Queensland Shops and their buildings: the cornerstones of our memories.

Queen Street and Brisbane City shops

How to find the history of a shop or building

A case study - 61 Musgrave Road, Red Hill

Why research a shop or commercial building?

Further reading

More information

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