Holdgate's Cottage

By the 1870s, following further subdivision of land in the Spring Hill area, the lower slopes of the hills were becoming increasingly crowded. In 1885 the Queensland Government introduced the Undue Subdivision of Land Prevention Act 1885. The government began to have concerns with over-population in inner-city areas from as early as the 1870s. The construction of small tenements and tiny cottages on very small parcels of land increased the risk of disease and fire throughout the inner-city suburbs. With the passing of the 1885 legislation it became illegal to subdivide land into lots of less than sixteen perches (405m²). Many of these small cottages on tiny lots remain in Spring Hill and not only give Spring Hill its character, but also represent this important era in Brisbane’s history. By the 1890s, Spring Hill had become Brisbane’s most crowded suburb.

In 1864, well before this legislation was passed, Robert Holdgate purchased 15.75 perches of land along Boundary Street. The town limit was denoted by Boundary Street at this time and a law forbidding Aboriginal people from being within the town limits after 4pm every day and all day Sunday was enforced by the local police. Despite this, working class residential development flourished along the street. 

Robert Holdgate was first listed in the Post Office Directories residing in Boundary Street in 1874, confirming that the brick cottage was constructed between 1864, when the land was first subdivided into a small lot and Holdgate purchasing the property, and Holdgate being documented as living in the house in 1874. Holdgate was recorded as a master mariner and the cottage’s close proximity to the wharves which were situated at the eastern end of Boundary Street, may have been a factor in Holdgate building in this location. To demonstrate the working class nature of Boundary Street at this time, the occupations of those living in the block bounded by Bradley and Milne Streets in 1885 included two mariners, a labourer, a railway porter and a shipping clerk.

By 1883, Holdgate was residing in a house on Fortescue Street, Spring Hill and his cottage on Boundary Street had become a rental property.  Between Milne Street and Bradley Street from the 1870s to 1895, the inconsistent house numbers and high number of tenants along this stretch of Boundary Street make it difficult to identify those residing in 544 Boundary Street throughout this time. However, in 1895, George Blake, an engineer, purchased the property and lived in the house for the next three years, before moving to Coorparoo in 1898. Blake sold the house to John Healy, who never resided in Boundary Street; the cottage once again becoming a rental property.

In 1911, Winiefred Anna O’Mara purchased the cottage and in the same year her husband, John O’Mara, was listed in 544 Boundary Street. To confirm that the house numbers listed in the Post Office Directories are consistent with today’s, the 1914 Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board Detail Plan No. 20 records the subject site as 544 Boundary Street. It can be confirmed, therefore, that the O’Mara family were residing there as they are listed in the Post Office Directories at the address. This is further confirmed by the 1913 Electoral Rolls that list John and Winiefred O’Mara living at 544 Boundary Street. John O’Mara’s profession was a tailor and he resided in the house until his death in 1921. After this date, Winiefrid O’Mara continued to live in the house with her family until she died in 1938. The house stayed in the O’Mara family until 1947.   

‘Holdgate’s Cottage’ is a rare surviving nineteenth-century brick cottage which represents the early development of Spring Hill, one of Brisbane’s oldest suburbs. Built right up to the front property border, its location along Boundary Street is significant as the majority of the early houses along the street no longer exist.

1. 1914 Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board Detail Plan No. 20

2. Post Office Directories.

3. Certificates of Titles, Department of Natural Resources and Mines

4. Queensland Electoral Rolls

5. Allom Lovell Marquis-Kyle, The Character of Residential Areas, Brisbane, A Study for the Brisbane City Council, 1994

6. Brisbane History Group, Housing, Health, the River and the Arts, Papers No. 3, 1985