Shop and Residence

The development of Albion followed a pattern that was common in Brisbane in this period. The wealthier residents bought the land on the rises and apexes of hills, ensuring breezes, views, protection from flooding and protection from waste run off. The less wealthy purchased land on the base of the hills. The building of the Albion Public Hall and the 1889 construction of the impressive Queensland National Bank branch (demolished) on Sandgate Road, next to the Albion Exchange was indicative of the rise of Albion as a prosperous suburban centre. Several other commercial buildings were constructed along Sandgate Road in this period. 

In 1887 Henry Powell purchased a fourteen perch block of land along Sandgate Road. By 1889 he had constructed a retail premises on the site and began to lease it to John Kenion for a period of five years at £3. Kenion & Co operated as produce merchants, general grocers and importers. Their head office was situated in Adelaide Street Brisbane, and the company claimed branches in Cairns, Ingham and London. 

In 1907 James Pedlar purchased the property and continued retail use. In a 1909  photograph the Pedlar Brother’s store is clearly depicted and was a single storey building with one shop and a high parapet advertising ‘Cash Grocers’, as well as front awning with ‘Pedlar Bros.’ painted onto it. 

Between 1912 and 1913 a new building was constructed for the Pedlars and consisted of two shops and a first floor residence. The new building was built of brick and this is a reflection of the growth in prosperity in this part of Brisbane, a move away from timber that was cheaper and more widely used in this period. In 1913 the Pedlars leased the new shops out to two new retail businesses. It is unclear whether the first floor residence was leased to a separate tenant or to one of the shop keepers. The two shops were leased over the years to various businesses including a fruiterer, a bootmaker, a newsagent and a dressmaker.   

340 Sandgate Road has had a continuous use as a commercial building since it was constructed. It is a fine reflection of the way Albion became an important commercial and retail centre in the early twentieth century and makes a strong contribution to the historic streetscape on Sandgate Road, Albion.

1. Brisbane City Council Detail Plans, Building Registers, and Minutes of Proceedings

2. Kerr, John 1988, Brunswick Street, Bowen Hills and Beyond: The Railways of the Northern Suburbs of Brisbane, Australian Railway Historical Society

3. John Oxley Library photographs & clippings files

4. Lawson, Ronald, Brisbane in the 1890s: A Study of an Australian Urban Society, UQ Press, 1973, pp. 9-10, 100-3

5. Queensland Post Office Directories

6. Historic Titles, Department of Environment and Resource Management

7. Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Survey Maps

8. Queensland Electoral Rolls

9. The Queensland Women’s Historical Association, Booroodabin: A Sesquicentenary History of Breakfast Creek, Bowen Hills, Newstead and Teneriffe, 1823-2009, Bowen Hills 2009