Sheard's Bakery (former)

In 1864, John Robertson of Sydney purchased the property upon which the shop would later be built. In 1865, this block was subdivided into smaller allotments of which several along Given Terrace were purchased by John Connolly of Gayndah. Connolly mortgaged the property twice during the 1870s before selling subdivision 17 to Robert John Miller in 1883. The dimensions of this parcel have remained the same from 1865 until the present day. 

The first indication of a building on the site is in 1888 when Sheard’s Bakery appears in the post office directories. It was constructed at a time when the burgeoning local population was creating a demand for services such as bakeries, grocers and bootmakers. The following year Sheard formed a partnership with Urban Lane, another baker, but by 1890 Lane bought the property and Sheard opened his own bakery on Latrobe Terrace. By the late 1890s, the segment of Given Terrace between Great George Street and Elizabeth Street (now Hayward) had several buildings whose tenants included a boot maker, bottle dealer, baker, shoeing and general smith, and a confectioner. 

Lane operated this bakery until 1913 after which it continued to operate under the management of various bakers. The retail premises from which the bread and fancy goods were sold were at the front of the building, and the ovens and stables were at the rear. Drays would unload their products at the rear of the shop. The property was sold after Lane’s death in 1926 but continued as a bakery up until at least the 1930s.

This former bakery provides physical evidence of the development of Given Terrace as the most important thoroughfare and business centre of Paddington from the late 19th century. Its history also illustrates the changing nature of the commercial needs of the Paddington community over a century. In addition, it makes an important contribution to the historical character of the Given Terrace streetscape.

In more recent times, businesses such as Dance’s Bakery, Café Trinity and Faces Restaurant have occupied the structure.

The building has a symmetrical front facade organised with a pair of double hung windows on the top level, shaded with individual awnings, and two full length windows at the street level, either side of the main entry door. A corrugated iron skillion roof, spanning the width of the footpath, with triangular timber spandrels at each end and supported by three square timber posts, provides weather protection at the street level frontage and entry.

The large chimney rising above the roof at the rear left of the building, is a reminder of its former use as a bakery. A small vertical window opening is situated high on the gable ends walls on either side of the building.

1. Brannock Humphreys Town Planning Consultants, La Trobe and Given Terraces Local Area Plan, 1991.

2. Heritage Trail LaTrobe and Given Terraces, Paddington, Brisbane City Council Heritage Unit, Series No.10, 3rd Edition

3. Queensland Post Office Directories