180 Vulture Street, South Brisbane

Urry was following a trend of speculative investment in South Brisbane that burgeoned in the boom years of the 1880s. He let out the row of dwellings to a variety of tenants, most of whom were transient, staying for no longer than twelve months before moving on. The residents were predominantly manual workers. Many were labourers, painters, carpenters and maritime workers, however there was also a minority of white collar workers, mainly salesmen and insurance agents.

At the time that this terrace house was constructed Urry lived close by in Tribune Street and it is likely he constructed the building himself. Urry died in June 1903 and the trustees of his property commissioned the Queen Street auctioneer G.H. Blocksidge to sell the estate. On Saturday 4 June 1904 the building was opened for inspection and George Randall, a wealthy entrepreneur of South Brisbane purchased the four subdivisions containing the two detached houses, three attached dwellings and shop for £675. An estate map advertising the properties prior to their sale shows that each detached house contained seven rooms and the attached terrace house comprised two dwellings of three and one dwelling of four rooms.

The nature of residents after Randall bought the dwellings followed the same pattern as before. Randall retained his rental investment for 65 years until 1969 when the property was sold. It has since been sold a number of times and remains a rental property to this day.

The entry doors are not located centrally on each tenancy but to one side; on the left for the most westerly, and the right for the remaining two.

At the rear the building has two storeys with the lower level set below Vulture Street. There is a verandah spanning the length of the rear at the upper level and each individual tenancy also has a lean-to structure at the lower level.

1. Titles Office Records

2. Post Office Directories

3. John Oxley Library Estate Map Collection