Wyllie's Buildings (Shops)

By the late 1880s and early 1890s Albion was one of a number of prosperous suburban centres that had arisen in response to the expansion of Brisbane from its former small city core. While in the nineteenth century, Albion was a semi-rural area dotted with grand houses, the coming of the railway in 1882 saw the urbanisation of the area and Albion evolved into a popular suburb.  By 1892 Albion was served by 29 daily trains to the city and in 1899 a tramline linking Albion with Clayfield and the city opened, increasing the through traffic in Albion and rendering the shops and other services more accessible for residents in neighbouring suburbs. 

James Wyllie first began trading as a plumber in Brisbane circa 1900. The business grew to become a large retailer and manufacturer of plumbing supplies and air conditioners, and was well-known to generations of Albion residents and those who travelled past the distinctive building on Sandgate Road. Wyllie appears to have started trading in 1901 from Kearon Street at Lutwyche before moving the following year to Station Road at Albion where he continued to trade for the next eight years. 

In 1910, Wyllie purchased this block of land at 299 Sandgate Road and by 1911 ‘Wyllie’s Building’ was constructed. The following year the business began trading as ‘Wyllie and Sons’. Wyllie took out subsequent mortgages on the Sandgate Road property in 1914, 1919 and 1923, perhaps to expand the business or to make alterations/additions to the building. By the late 1930s Wyllie & Sons had expanded their business from purely plumbing supplies and had added light fittings and electrical goods to their range. Goods were delivered daily throughout Brisbane from their retail outlet and nearby plumbing and air conditioning factory.

Apart from being a successful businessman, James R. Wyllie also served as an Alderman for the Windsor Town Council from 1913 to 1924 prior to the inception of Greater Brisbane. He was also a member of the Works, Lighting and Parks Committees for most of that decade. 

J.R. Wyllie and Sons grew into a significant local and state-wide business throughout the next five decades to become one of, if not the, largest hardware and household supply shop in Brisbane’s northern suburbs. They had agents in provincial cities such as Ipswich, Mackay, Mount Isa, Townsville and Cairns, and also supplied goods to the Northern Territory and Papua New Guinea. 

‘Wyllies Buildings’ was occupied by J.R. Wyllie and Sons until 1981 when various tenants took over leases on the first floor and basement of the building, some for up to nine years. The locally well-known building makes a fine contribution to the Albion streetscape and continues to be used as commercial premises by a variety of traders.

1. Brisbane City Council Building Registers & Building Cards

2. Brisbane City Council Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Detail Plans

3. Certificates of Title, Department of Natural Resources and Water

4. Brisbane City Council Minutes of Proceedings

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

6. John Oxley Library, newspaper clippings files

7. Lawson, Ronald Brisbane in the 1890s: A Study of an Australian Urban Society. St Lucia U of Q Press, 1973

8. McKellar's Map of Brisbane and Suburbs. Brisbane: Surveyor-General’s Office, 1895

9. Nundah & District Historical Society files

10. Queensland Pioneers Index 1829-1889, Qld Registrar-General, March 2000

11. Queensland Post Office Directories, 1887-1949

12. Waterson, D.B., A Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament 1860-1929, Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1972

13. Donald Watson and Judith McKay, Queensland Architects of the Nineteenth Century, South Brisbane: Queensland Museum, 1994