62 Kitchener Street, Sherwood

The area from Chelmer to Corinda was known as “Boyland’s Pocket” in the 1850s, Captain Boyland having leased the area in 1851.  In 1860 the new Queensland government opened up the district for selection, at a price of 1 pound per acre, resulting in the establishment of a number of farms ranging anywhere between 25 and 70 acres in size. Attempts were made by pioneer selectors during the 1860s and 1870s to produce maize, potatoes, bananas, cotton, sugar cane, and arrowroot. The opening of a railway bridge at Indooroopilly in 1876 reduced the isolation of the area, and allowed for increased subdivision. The first main wave occurred in the 1880s, a boom period for Brisbane. However, many of the allotments sold at this time remained vacant for years, and continued to be used for small farming operations. Later waves of building, occurring after each of the World Wars, gradually reduced the amount of farmland, and new housing continues to envelop those gracious older houses which once stood on acreage, surrounded by gardens. 

In 1888 the Queensland Deposit Bank and Building Society Ltd purchased 45 acres of land at Sherwood, portions 22 and 24, which it proceeded to subdivide, selling off most of the allotments between 1888 and 1926. One of the allotments on which the current house stands was sold to John Richard Allen in 1891, before being sold to Rachel Elizabeth Bell in 1908. The same year, Rachel purchased 5 neighbouring allotments from the Queensland Deposit Bank. 

In early 1928 Thomas Henry Braidner purchased from Rachel Bell the two allotments on which the house stands, and the BCC building register includes an entry for the 15th of October, 1928, where T.H. Braidner applied to build a house in Kitchener Tce, Sherwood, with W. Brittain of Oxley as the contractor. Braidner is first listed in the area by the POD in 1928-29, living at Dan St, Graceville, and in Bank Rd, Graceville, by 1930-31. Queensland Electoral Rolls indicate Braidner was an Irish Evangelist with the Gospel Hall Church and was active in Brisbane during the 1920s and 1930s. He does not, however, appear to have ever lived in the house.

William Brittain owned Brittain’s Brickworks Ltd in Darra, an enterprise of note in the district, and it is of interest that Brittain’s Brickworks purchased the property in 1931. Possibly it was used as a display home for their products. No member of the Brittain family is listed as living in Sherwood in the 1930s,  although the name on the title was amended twice; to Brittain’s Brickworks Pty Ltd in 1933, and to Brittain’s Bricks and Pipes Pty Ltd in 1941. In late 1941 the title was transferred to Walter Brittain who retained the property until his death in 1955. A complementary garage was added by new owners in 1962.

1. Brisbane City Council Building Cards

2. Title deeds, Department of Natural Resources and Mines

3. Walter Taylor South Character and Heritage Study, BCC Heritage Unit, 1997

4. Queensland Post Office Directories

5. Brisbane’s Suburban Beauties, Brisbane Courier, 1906

6. Brisbane City Council Heritage Unit. A History of the Extractive and Mining Industries of the Brisbane Area. Nd

7. Heritage Unit files, Brisbane City Council

8. Brisbane City Council Water Supply and Sewerage Detail Plans

9. McKellar's Map of Brisbane and Suburbs. Brisbane: Surveyor-General’s Office, 1895

10. Brisbane City Council Department of Works Building Register 1925-1945