Addresses

At 17 Lever Street, Albion, Queensland 4010

Type of place

Cottage, House

Period

Victorian 1860-1890

Style

Queenslander

Herberton Cottage

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This is an image of the local heritage place known as Herberton Cottage

Herberton Cottage

Herberton Cottage Download Citation (pdf, 99.72 KB)

Addresses

At 17 Lever Street, Albion, Queensland 4010

Type of place

Cottage, House

Period

Victorian 1860-1890

Style

Queenslander

This late nineteenth century timber and tin cottage was constructed circa 1888 for Thomas Madsen, a labourer and van proprieter. It is a fine example of a worker’s cottage built during Albion’s emergence as a prosperous suburban centre. Madsen sold the cottage in 1897 to James Brier who named it ‘Herberton Cottage’. It is one of the few nineteenth century colonial workers residences that survive in Albion.

Lot plan

L4_RP19026

Key dates

Local Heritage Place Since —

Date of Citation —

Construction

Roof: Corrugated iron;
 Walls: Timber

Criterion for listing

(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (D) Representative

Interactive mapping

City Plan Interactive Mapping

Lot plan

L4_RP19026

Key dates

Local Heritage Place Since —

Date of Citation —

Construction

Roof: Corrugated iron;
 Walls: Timber

Criterion for listing

(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (D) Representative

Interactive mapping

City Plan Interactive Mapping

History

While Albion had initially been a semi-rural area dotted with grand houses, the coming of the railway in 1882 saw the urbanisation of the area, which was largely populated by Scottish migrants.  In 1885, rail duplication work began from Albion to Eagle Junction stations to meet the demands of the railway branching off to Doomben which resulted in Albion becoming more attractive for residential development. By the late 1880s and early 1890s Albion was one of a number of prosperous suburban centres that had arisen in response to the expansion of Brisbane from its former small city core.

This cottage was built circa 1888 for Thomas Madsen after he purchased the 16 perch (405 m2) allotment in 1885.  In 1886, Thomas borrowed £140 from the Permanent Building Investment Society and probably used the capital to finance the building of this worker’s cottage. ‘Herberton Cottage’ was one of the earliest houses built in Lever Street; in 1888 there were only three houses and a Wesleyan Church in what was then known as Thomas Street.

Madsen worked as a labourer and then a van proprietor and may have been employed at the brickworks at the end of Lever Street.  When Madsen sold the cottage in 1897, the new owner, James Brier, named it ‘Herberton Cottage’.  In 1915, Alice Tunney purchased the property. Her husband Robert Tunney was also a labourer and may have worked at Campbell’s Pottery. The Tunney’s, who had been living in Lever Street since 1895, may have also purchased, or even built, the neighbouring cottage, ‘Myrtle,’ as Robert Tunney is shown in the Queensland Post Office Directories as living next to Herberton Cottage in 1912.  From aerial photographs and sewerage maps, ‘Myrtle’ and ‘Herberton Cottage’ appear to have been identical in design. 

‘Myrtle’ has since been demolished and replaced with another house, however ‘Herberton Cottage’ remains as a fine, intact example of a nineteenth century worker’s residence and is one of only a few remaining in Albion.

Statement of significance

Relevant assessment criteria

This is a place of local heritage significance and meets one or more of the local heritage criteria under the Heritage planning scheme policy of the Brisbane City Plan 2014. It is significant because:

Historical

Criterion A

The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of the city's or local area’s history

as a late nineteenth century worker's cottage built at a time when Albion was emerging as a prosperous suburban centre.

Rarity

Criterion B

The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of the city’s or local area’s cultural heritage

as one of the few surviving nineteenth century colonial workers' cottages in Albion.

Representative

Criterion D

The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class or classes of cultural places

as a substantially intact example of an 1880s timber and tin worker's cottage.

References

  1. Brisbane City Council Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Detail Plans

  2. Brisbane City Council, 1946 aerial photographs.

  3. Birmingham, Judy, ‘Brick-making and other clay-using industries,’ Industrial Archaeology in Australia: Rural Industry, 1983, pp.53-94

  4. Certificates of Title, Department of Natural Resources and Water

  5. James Campbell & Sons, Campbells: 106 Years of Everything for Building, supplement to Architecture, Building, Engineering, 1961

  6. Lougheed, A.L. Australian Dictionary of Biography, v.7, 1891-1939, ‘James Campbell

  7. McKellar’s Map of Brisbane and Suburbs. Brisbane: Surveyor-General’s Office, 1895, Sheet no. 2

  8. Queensland Post Office Directories

Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised June 2022)

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Victorian 1860-1890
Queenslander
Cottage
House
At 17 Lever Street, Albion, Queensland 4010
At 17 Lever Street, Albion, Queensland 4010 L4_RP19026
Historical, Rarity, Representative