Addresses
Type of place
Shop/s
Period
Victorian 1860-1890
Style
Free Classical
This is an image of the local heritage place known as Albion Exchange
Albion Exchange
Addresses
Type of place
Shop/s
Period
Victorian 1860-1890
Style
Free Classical
This two-storey brick building was constructed in the late 1880s during Albion’s development as an important suburban commercial centre. Used for both commercial and, more recently, hotel purposes, the building has existed as a well-known landmark of the local area for more than a century.
Lot plan
L16_RP19169
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Walls: Brick - PaintedCriterion for listing
(A) Historical; (B) RarityInteractive mapping
Lot plan
L16_RP19169
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Walls: Brick - PaintedCriterion for listing
(A) Historical; (B) RarityInteractive mapping
History
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. 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 and Albion fast become a popular suburb. By 1892 Albion was served by 29 daily trains to the city and in 1899 a tramline linking Albion with Clayfield and the city opened, increasing the through traffic in Albion and rendering the shops and other services more accessible for residents in neighbouring suburbs.
The Albion Exchange appears to have built during the late 1880s by local contractor Joseph Gillespie. A photograph of the neighbouring Queensland National Bank, dated circa 1890 shows the completed Albion Exchange immediately to the north. What appears to have been a speculative undertaking by Gillespie may not have gone well – the Queensland Post Office Directories consistently show two vacant shops between the Queensland National Bank to the south and the butcher’s shop to the north from 1892. The first occupant appears to have been confectioner Rasmas E. Jensen in 1909.
In July 1912 Martin William Haenke and George Frederick Haenke purchased the property, raising a mortgage of £1,100 over the property on the same day. Martin Haenke, an architect, electrician, industrial chemist, furniture maker and building surveyor from Ipswich also had interests in gold mines and brick and tile manufacturers, and had amassed considerable wealth by the time of his death in 1952. The Albion Exchange remained under the ownership of various Haenke family members until 1960.
From around 1918 until at least 1970 the building was tenanted predominantly by pharmacists. In the early 1970s the building was sold to Castlemaine Perkins and has since been owned by hotel interests. In 2005 the building was quite extensively refurbished, painted black and the lower storey front windows removed and boarded up.
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:
References
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Brisbane City Council Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Detail Plans
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Department of Natural Resources, Certificates of Title
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Kerr, J 1988, Brunswick Street, Bowen Hills and Beyond: the Railways of the Northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australian Railway Historical Society, Brisbane
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Lawson, Ronald 1973, Brisbane in the 1890s: A Study of an Australian Urban Society, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia
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McKellar’s Estate Maps of Brisbane, 1895
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Queensland Pioneers Index 1829-1889, Qld Registrar-General, March 2000
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Queensland Post Office Directories, 1887-1949
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Watson, Donald and Judith McKay. Queensland Architects of the 19th Century: A Biographical Dictionary. Brisbane: Queensland Museum, 1994
Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised June 2022)