11 Clay Street, New Farm

In addition to a small residential community which sprang up from 1854, the area became home to industry. Local landowner and potter Robert Scott took advantage of the clay deposits in the area and opened the Brisbane Pottery on Kent Street in 1856. The pottery sat in a slight depression stretching back to what is now Clay and Lime Streets. Scott’s pottery facilitated the construction of brick residences in the area. It was common for brick buildings to be constructed in close proximity to brickyards as the heavy cost of transporting the material was removed. Scott’s Kent Street pottery was renowned for its tiles but bricks were also manufactured there and used in the construction of local houses. In 1857 the Moreton Bay Courier opined Scott’s tile and brick manufactory ‘ought to exercise a considerable influence in bringing into a use a more substantial style of building than that which generally prevails, and one more adapted to our warm climate than the ordinary wooden dwelling’1. A number of brick cottages were built in streets near the pottery in the 1860s and 1870s, though few remain.

In addition to running his pottery, Scott invested in land, acquiring one acre (4046m2) of O’Neill’s land. In late 1862, Scott subdivided this into suburban allotments, which he then sold. In January 1863 labourer George Borrows, a recent arrival to Queensland, purchased 35.6 perches (900m2) of Scott’s land. Borrows, sometimes referred to in newspapers and postal records as ‘Burrows’, built a timber house fronting nearby Terrace Street as his own residence. He also purchased the sites adjacent to his Terrace Street property, which were offered for sale in the 1860s and 1870s. He constructed rental houses, though most of these were timber rather than brick. The popularity of the area made his investments safe. Scott’s pottery closed in 1874, reducing local employment opportunities but improving residential development. 

Borrows built the brick cottage at 11 Clay Street at some time between his purchase of the site in 1863 and 1874. The lack of records makes it difficult to be certain of the precise construction date, however, it was standing by 1874 when Borrows’ son (also named George) died there.

Borrows died on 22 March 1883 and his estate, including the Clay Street cottage, passed to his widow Mary. Architect Richard Gailey was appointed as trustee over her property in December 1886, though Mary Borrows advertised for tenants herself under her new name, Mary Wallace. 

By the 1880s the area, formerly on the outskirts of Brisbane Town, was considered inner-city, further increasing its residential appeal. Working class tenants were drawn to the Clay Street cottage, including mariners, waterside workers, tram drivers, lightermen and firemen. The house was relatively cheap to rent, and its brick construction provided it some protection against fire, a risk in narrow Clay Street. An 1884 fire destroyed a house on the corner of Clay and Terrace streets, though Borrows’ properties were spared damage. 

Mary Wallace transferred ownership of the Clay Street cottage and surrounding properties to Richard Gailey and all were offered for sale in August 1900. The Clay Street property was 11.8 perches (298.5m2), small compared to the 16 perch (404.7m2) allotments on offer in Brisbane’s newer suburbs. The cottage was also small, even by the standards of the area. The property featured stables and a 300 gallon water tank but attracted the lowest rent of Gailey’s properties, suggesting that later timber extensions had not yet been built. 

Tenant Lewis Henry Spiro purchased the cottage in 1900 and lived there until 1904, after which he leased the property to various tenants. It is likely that he made the first timber addition to the rear of the cottage between 1900 and 1904 although it was definitely in place by 1912. The low rent advertised in 1900 was likely an incentive for Spiro to improve the property; one of Borrows’ Terrace Street properties, also owned by the Spiro family, attracted more than double the rent of the Clay Street cottage. New Farm continued to draw working class residents in 1900, but with ample rental properties on offer in the Clay Street area, additions to the tiny brick cottage helped improve its rental appeal. Despite the increased fire risk, the additions were built in timber, as bricks were no longer easily obtainable in New Farm. A timber shed was built in the back yard between 1925 and 1946, replacing earlier sheds.

Spiro retained the cottage until his death in 1929. In 1930 the property was sold to Frances Halliday, who lived in the house until 1953. A second timber extension to the rear was built after 1946. Subsequent owners also lived in the cottage, though it was occasionally leased to tenants. In 2016 the cottage is highly-intact in its early twentieth century form and stands on its original allotment. 

1. Moreton Bay Courier, 5 January 1857 p2

2. Brisbane City Council Properties on the Web

3. Brisbane City Council aerial photographs, 1946, 2012

4. Brisbane City Council, Sewerage Maps, Detail Plan No 200, 2 Dec 1924

5. Brisbane City Council, Surveyor’s Notebook, 27 April 1912, updated 10 Nov 1924

6. Musgrave, Elizabeth and Kaylee Wilson, New Farm and Teneriffe Hill Heritage and Character Study, Brisbane City Council Heritage Unit, Oct 1995 

7. Brisbane City Council Heritage Unit, historical report, 11 Clay Street, New Farm

8. Certificates of Title, Department of Environment and Resource Management

9. McKellar’s Map, 1895

10. National Library of Australia, Trove newspapers, Telegraph, Courier, Brisbane Courier, Moreton Bay Courier, The Queenslander, The Week

11. Queensland Post Office Directories

12. Bennett, H, ‘New Farm from quality street to mixed assortment’, Brisbane Houses, Gardens, Suburbs and Congregations, Papers No 22 Brisbane History Group, 2010, p152

13. Benjamin, G & Grant, G Reflections on New Farm, New Farm & Districts Historical Society Inc, New Farm, 2008, p169

14. Dedman, Roseanne (ed), Tales from New Farm, 1999

15. Schiavo, John, New Farm: A Study of Land Use and Settlement to 1999. (Brisbane: Schiavo, 1999)