City Electric Light junction box (former)

In 1896, the Queensland government introduced the Electric Light and Power Act to regulate the supply of electricity to Queenslanders. By 1904, the number of electricity suppliers within Brisbane had grown to fourteen, including the City Electric and Light (CEL) Company.

The key figure associated with the formation of CEL, Edward Barton, first became involved in the electricity supply business in 1888 as part of Barton, White & Co.  The first major contract for the company was to provide electric lighting to the Old Exhibition Building in Adelaide Street, which had been converted into a skating rink. A subsequent fire destroyed the building and left the company in possession of a heavily mortgaged generator.  The company undertook negotiations with the General Post Office (GPO) and two months later the generator was providing electricity to the GPO building in Queen Street. 

The company’s financial position declined in the early 1890s, however, due to a combination of factors including over-capitalisation, an economic depression, the 1893 flood and competition from Brisbane’s gas suppliers. The company was reorganised in 1896 and renamed the Brisbane Electric Supply Company. The company built its first powerhouse in Ann Street at this time. The company then changed its name to City Electric and Light in 1904.  Barton remained the driving force behind the various incarnations of the company in this period.

Initially CEL was only able to supply power to a small section of the Central Business District (CBD). Indeed, it was not until 1908 that the electricity grid had reached Fortitude Valley. Nonetheless, the popularity of electricity continued to increase in this period. CEL established a second powerhouse, located in William Street (near Parliament House), in July 1911. By 1917, the first electric street lighting was installed in Alice, Mary, Margaret, Charlotte and Albert Streets. In 1925, the newly formed Brisbane City Council established the Electricity Department, which acted as a central authority guiding the provision of electricity throughout the city. By this time, CEL had become the dominant supplier for Brisbane, with the company servicing 12,054 customers in 1925.1  

Each of the cast iron junction boxes marked the spread of the electrical network throughout Brisbane. Electrical plants were placed along footpaths either above ground (in the junction boxes) or underground via designated manhole covers. The junction boxes were erected at different times as the electricity grid spread throughout the city. This explains the variety of styles in junction boxes; why only some are marked with the CEL logo; and why different foundries such as Balmer & Crowther, Smith & Faulkner, and Sargeant Engineering were involved in their production.

CEL continued to prosper as a supplier of electricity to Brisbane. In February 1926, CEL opened another, larger powerhouse at Bulimba. Electricity supply in Queensland was provided by a variety of private companies in this period and a State Electricity Commission (SEC) was established by the state government in 1937 to rationalise and co-ordinate supply. By 1940, the SEC had given CEL and the Brisbane City Council control of the electricity supply for all of Brisbane. In 1953, the Queensland government used its powers to convert the City Electric and Light Company into a public authority and CEL became the Southern Electric Authority of Queensland (SEAQ). The SEAQ in turn became the South East Queensland Electricity Board (SEQEB) and then, more recently, Energex.  

In 2001, nine CBD junction boxes were identified as being of heritage significance by the Institute of Engineers Australia (Queensland Division) in their publication Engineering Heritage Inner Brisbane – A Walk/Drive Tour. The only other CEL junction box known is this one near the corner of Annerley Road and Stanley Street, on the footpath outside of the Mater Hospital. 

1. King, Jan, Power for the People – Brisbane’s Electrical Heritage 1880s-1950s, Brisbane, Queensland Electricity Museum, 2003, p. 34

2. Brisbane City Council, 1946 aerial photographs.

3. Brisbane City Council Sewerage Maps

4. Brisbane Courier, “Supplement” 23 May 1913

5. Cole, John R. Shaping a City: Greater Brisbane 1925-1985. Brisbane: William Brooks Queensland. 1984

6. Institute of Engineers Australia (Queensland Division), Engineering Heritage Inner Brisbane – A Walk/Drive Tour, Brisbane, Institute of Engineers Australia (Queensland Division), 2001

7. John Oxley Library Photograph Collection

8. John Oxley Library, newspaper clippings files

9. King, Jan, Power For The People – Brisbane’s Electrical Heritage 1880s-1950s, Brisbane, Queensland Electricity Museum, 2003

10. Mahlstedt & Son. City of Brisbane Detail Fire Survey. 1951

11. Taylor, Helen, Brisbane 100 Stories, Brisbane, Brisbane City Council, 1997

12. The Sunday Mail, 1978