Addresses
Type of place
House
Period
Federation 1890-1914
Style
Queenslander
Addresses
Type of place
House
Period
Federation 1890-1914
Style
Queenslander
This two storey timber house was constructed in 1897 as an investment property for Edward Lane. The stately house, overlooking Victoria Park was initially leased by Miss Merry who established a private hospital named ‘Ormiston’. In 1902 the house was leased as a private residence to William Bligh Nutting, a dividing commissioner for the government, who resided in the house until 1909. In 1904 the house was named ‘Shelburne Falls’ and remained a rental property until the 1950s when it was divided into flats. In the 1960s Shelburne Falls was converted into professional offices. The nineteenth-century house is important as a rare example of a two-storey timber residence in Spring Hill and more specifically on Gregory Terrace; the house’s location on the apex of the hill overlooking Victoria Park contributes to its aesthetic significance in this part of Spring Hill.
Lot plan
L19_RP10424; L18_RP10419
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Roof: Corrugated iron;Walls: Timber
Criterion for listing
(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (D) Representative; (E) AestheticInteractive mapping
Lot plan
L19_RP10424; L18_RP10419
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Roof: Corrugated iron;Walls: Timber
Criterion for listing
(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (D) Representative; (E) AestheticInteractive mapping
History
The convict settlement was closed in 1839 and in 1842 Moreton Bay was officially opened for free settlement as part of the colony of New South Wales. At this time the area now known as Spring Hill was Crown Land and by 1856 the government had begun to subdivide the land and sell to private investors. Initially the land on top of the hills was bought by wealthy Brisbane residents who established large houses overlooking the town. Smaller and less expensive lots were bought by those of slighter means on which modest workers’ cottages were erected. Spring Hill quickly became one of Brisbane’s earliest dormitory suburbs, where most of its inhabitants went to jobs every day in other areas.
By the 1890s Gregory Terrace consisted of a mix of housing types; from large houses built for the middle-class, to modest cottages dotted in between for those of smaller means. Most of the houses over-looked Victoria Park and this added to the attractive setting along the terrace. It is unclear whether there was a house on the property prior to the subject house’s construction. In 1886, Edward Lane purchased a fourteen and a half perch block on the corner of Gregory Terrace and Parish Street.
The two-storey timber house was built in 1897 for Edward Lane who was recorded in the Electoral Rolls as being of ‘Independent Means’. The house was built as rental investment when Gregory Terrace was an address increasingly sought after by a mix of artisan and professional residents in Brisbane. A clear indication of this is can be seen from 1893 when the residents on Gregory Terrace included a commission agent and valuator, two drapers, a jeweller, an artist, music teacher, umbrella maker, silver polisher, two accountants, civil engineer, a merchant and several carpenters. From the 1914 Sewerage and Water Map, the majority of housing stock along Gregory Terrace was large houses as well as a few small cottages. These large houses had names such as “Parkview”, “Woolerina”, “Braeside”, “Grevillia” and “Stewarton”.
In 1897 the Brisbane Courier published an advertisement for the newly constructed house:
“To Let – a New two-storied nine-roomed house, just finished, with kitchen, servant’s room, bath and store rooms, also every convenience, near Grammar School, facing Victoria Park”1.
In the same year Miss Merry became the leasee and established the Ormiston Private Hospital. An advertisement from 1898 stated that the hospital specialised in “Medical, Surgical and Massage Cases”. The hospital was run from the house until 1902 when the lease was taken over by William Bligh Nuttal, a dividing commissioner for the government.
The house was named Shelburne Falls in 1904 and was Nuttal’s home until 1909.It then had a succession of tenants until the 1950s when it was first converted into flats and then, in the 1960s to professional offices.
Today, Shelburne Falls has been lovingly restored and plays an important role in the historic streetscape of Gregory Terrace.
Statement of significance
Relevant assessment criteria
This is a place of local heritage significance and meets one or more of the local heritage criteria under the Heritage planning scheme policy of the Brisbane City Plan 2014. It is significant because:
References
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Brisbane Courier, 18 September 1897, p6
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Post Office Directories.
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Certificates of Titles, Department of Natural Resources and Mines
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Queensland Electoral Rolls
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Allom Lovell Marquis-Kyle, The Character of Residential Areas, Brisbane, A Study for the Brisbane City Council, 1994
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Brisbane History Group, Housing, Health, the River and the Arts, Papers No. 3, 1985
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Brisbane City Council Water and Sewerage Maps
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Queensland Times, 5 February 1913, p6
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The Queenslander, 12 June 1897, p1318
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Brisbane Courier, 6 December 1900
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Brisbane Courier, 13 May 1898, p4
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Courier Mail, 7 September, 1938
Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised June 2022)