Go back in time to a corner of Brisbane

Thu 3 Oct 2024

In 1914, Melbourne-born artist Charles H Lancaster (1886–1959) moved to Brisbane to manage the stained-glass department at RS Exton and Co., where William Bustard (1894-1973) was subsequently appointed as chief designer. Brisbane’s ensuing building boom inspired both Lancaster and Bustard to make paintings of the dynamic civic projects developing around them, and they became active members of the city’s flourishing artistic community.

By 1937, Lancaster was awarded the Royal Queensland Art Society Jubilee Medal and exhibited A corner of Brisbane (illustrated) in the Society’s 49th annual exhibition. The artwork hung alongside other street scenes, such as Bustard’s Summer haze 1937 (illustrated). While landscapes were a common feature of the annual exhibitions, depictions of the city of Brisbane were few.

Charles H Lancaster ‘A corner of Brisbane’ 1937

William Bustard ‘Summer haze’ 1937

Vida Lahey ‘The carters’ rest, Eagle Street’ 1913

Lancaster’s cityscape depicts the canopy of fig trees bounded by Eagle, Elizabeth and Creek Streets, and roof tops captured in the muted late afternoon light along Creek Street. The trees shade a fountain in the city’s bustling commercial hub originally used by Carters and horses, then employed by Bryce’s City and Suburban Parcel Delivery, a popular resting shelter before venturing out on their rounds of the suburbs, captured in watercolour by Vida Lahey some years earlier (illustrated).

The buildings on the right can be identified as the warehouse of hardware firm James Campbell and Sons, the pastoral and agricultural company Dalgety and Company Limited, and the Royal Bank of Queensland Limited on the corner of Elizabeth and Creek streets. The view across the river to the Kangaroo Point Cliffs features the Naval Stores and wharves below St Mary’s Anglican Church.

Eagle and Queen Streets intersection

The Eagle and Queen Street intersection featuring the Mooney Memorial Fountain constructed of Brisbane tuff in the foreground was built from 1878 to 1880 to enhance the visual character of that part of the city. In the background the buildings depicted in A corner of Brisbane (all demolished).

Royal Bank of Queensland

The Royal Bank of Queensland building was located on the corner of Elizabeth and Creek Streets and was erected in 1885-86. The building was also occupied later by Dalgety Australia Limited and The Australian Estates Company Limited.

Naval Stores

The Naval Stores comprised a pair of 2-storey iron-clad buildings, a wharf and slipway providing ship access and mooring, built on the site of a former Kangaroo Point quarry of Brisbane Tuff. Constructed between 1886 and 1888 at a time of world tension and perceived threats of invasion led to a decision by the colonies to provide their own defences, the buildings were used for weapons maintenance, military storage, and training for naval force officers and crew. The depot was the base of the Queensland Navy until the formation of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) after Federation. From about 1900 additions and alterations were made including a turntable for manoeuvring guns to and from ships, a bridge linking the two stores and wooden stairs which provided access up the cliffs to Amesbury Street and St Mary’s.

In 1987 the Brisbane City Council bought the site and turned it into an interpretive centre with the stores added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992.

St. Mary’s Anglican Church

St. Mary’s Victorian Gothic style church was completed in 1873, it was the second church on the site, constructed of Brisbane tuff stonework quarried from the cliffs of Kangaroo Point. The church with a distinctive stone bellcote at the front gable has been standing for over 150 years and added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992.

Curatorial extracts, research and supplementary material compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA

A corner of Brisbane and Summer haze are on display within the Queensland Art Gallery’s Australian Art Collection, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries (10-13).