Historical National Trust House, was constructed in 1865-66 as the colony’s first purpose-built accommodation
for immigrants, the building has been converted to offices and
laboratories for the Department of Agriculture and re-converted into
offices for other government organisations.
The first immigrants directly from overseas to what is now Queensland arrived in the Artemesia
on 15 December 1848. As more immigrant vessels followed, the capacity
of the city to provide an accommodation base for those who had spent
months at sea was sorely stretched. A journalist in 1863 commenting on
the temporary three-shed depot being used at South Brisbane noted that,
by comparison, ‘the most uncomfortable cell in the Brisbane gaol must
appear almost an earthly paradise’.
Plans for a new Immigration Depot, consisting of two, multi-level
wings at right angles to each other between William Street and the river
were prepared by Charles Tiffin, the colonial architect. The building
was constructed in sandstone (for the footings) and brick by contractor
John Petrie in 1865-66. The three levels in the rear wing accommodated
single women in the upper level, married couples below them and single
men in what is today the building’s basement. With space at a premium,
luggage was stored in a shed adjacent to Queen’s Wharf.
A4 Holcroft Sketchbook
.08 Unipin pen.
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