Oxlade Bros

The 1920s were a decade of economic growth throughout Brisbane. The Valley in particular, with its success as a commercial and industrial hub, expanded even further. Electric trams, which passed the busy corner of Brunswick and Wickham Streets, brought thousands of shoppers to the Valley. The first stage of the McWhirters building that had been completed in 1912 was extended in 1923. Although the buildings at 126-144 Wickham Street were situated away from the main retail hub centred on Brunswick Street, Rhoades and Co furniture warehouse, sited on the southern end of this block of shops at 116-124 Wickham Street from approximately 1916, drew customers to this end of the Valley.

Wickham Street was affected by road widening and remodelling at the junction of Ann, Queen and Wickham Streets that occurred during the 1920s. In 1923 the Brisbane Municipal Council resumed properties in Wickham Street where it met Ann and Queen Streets for this purpose. In this decade the cutting on Duncan’s Hill for Ann Street was widened opening the Valley even more to the rest of Brisbane. In 1927, Barry Parade was constructed to link up with St Paul’s Terrace on which the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration had recently erected their new convent.

The undertaking of road widening in the CBD to improve traffic flow, and park creation was part of a broader international town planning movement that was prominent between 1912 and 1920.1 This movement had a significant impact on the Brisbane Municipal Council, leading to the implementation of The City of Brisbane Improvement Act of 1916. Extensive plans were then detailed for the widening of the CBD’s ‘principal streets, the resumption of extensive areas of land, and the extension of the city’s parks and recreational facilities’.2 The Municipal Council borrowed £1,000,000 and work on the scheme began in 1923. The junction of Ann, Queen and Wickham Streets was completely remodelled in the next few years, creating Centenary Park.

The four northernmost buildings in the group (Valley side) were constructed from the early 1920s, following the demolition of a single storey timber shop that had occupied the four allotments. The joint owners, Ida Murphy and Ernest Hatton, subdivided their 32 perch allotment into four small parcels in 1921.

The smallest of the four lots (Resub. 4) was sold to Oxlade Brothers Limited in January 1923. Approval was received from the Brisbane Municipal Council for construction of a building designed by G. H. M. Addison and Son.

The firm of Addison and Son was formed in 1919 when George Henry Male Addison formed a partnership with his son George Frederick Addison. G. H. M. Addison’s designs include the Brisbane Technical College building (1897-98), the second Brisbane Exhibition Building (1890-91) and the residence Cumbooquepa at South Brisbane (1890-91). Addison senior died in 1922 but his son continued the practice under the same name until 1928. Addison’s daughter Lily, who had been his architectural assistant from 1906, also worked for the firm. These buildings in Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley are the work of George Frederick Addison.

In January 1922 Oxlade Brothers proudly announced: “On and after February 20th our business will be carried on at 136 Wickham Street”.3 An advertisement in the Architectural and Building Journal of Queensland in July confirmed that Oxlade Brothers was occupying this Wickham Street building.4 The Oxlade family’s painting and art supply business, which commenced in 1894 in Queen Street near Anzac Square, continues to operate from the Wickham Street premise.

1. Greenwood, Gordon and John Laverty, Brisbane 1859-1959: A History of Local Government, The Council of the City of Brisbane, Brisbane, 1959

2. Ibid, p. 410-11

3. The Brisbane Courier, 21 January 1922, p. 14

4. Architectural and Building Journal of Queensland, 10 July 1922, p. 6

5. Apperly, Richard, Robert Irving and Peter Reynolds. A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture: Styles and Terms from 1788 to the Present. North Ryde: Angus & Robertson, 1989

6. Architectural and Building Journal of Queensland, 1922

7. Brisbane City Council Building Registers, 1914-1928

8. Brisbane City Council Heritage Unit, Fortitude Valley Heritage and Character Study, 1995

9. Brisbane City Council Minutes, 1923

10. Brisbane City Council Property Details, BIDS, Building Cards

11. Brisbane City Council WebBASX maps – cadastre, 1946 aerial, 2001 aerial, 2005 aerial

12. Brisbites Suburban Sites, Fortitude Valley @ www.brisbites.com/suburbview.asp accessed 7 Sep 2006

13. Department of Mines and Natural Resources, Certificates of Title

14. Interview with Mr Oxlade, circa 1995

15. John Oxley Library Photographic Collection, Image No. 49332

16. Kennedy, Michael Owen, Graduate Report: Domestic Architecture in Queensland Between the Wars, Jan 1989, p 12

17. Mahlstedt & Son, City of Brisbane Detail Fire Survey, Map No. 30, 1951

18. Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board Survey Maps, Detail Plan No. 151, 1914

19. Queensland Post Office Directories, 1894-1949

20. State Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, Buildings of Queensland, Jacaranda, Brisbane, 1959

21. Watson, Donald and Judith McKay. A Directory of Queensland Architects to 1940. (St. Lucia: U of Q Press, 1984)

22. Watson, Donald and Judith McKay. Queensland Architects of the 19th Century: A Biographical Dictionary. Brisbane: Queensland Museum, 1994