Straw, Sticks and Bricks:
Queensland house histories
Useful resources
The following resources are a sample from the collections of the State Library of Queensland. Our
collections contain a range of materials such as photographs, magazines, microfilm, posters, maps
and original manuscripts.
You can find further information by searching our online catalogue -http://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/
or by contacting our experienced library staff - http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/services/ask
History of Queensland dwellings
A history of the Queensland house / by Peter Bell
Adelaide : Historical Research : 2002
Q 728 BEL (Level 4)
The Queensland house : history and conservation / by Ian Evans
Mullimbimby, N.S.W. : Flannel Flower Press : 2001
G 728.09943 2001 (Level 3) and Q 728.3 EVA (Level 4)
Fifty years of public housing in Queensland : developing better communities 1945 to 1995
<Brisbane, Qld : Queensland Dept. of Housing, Local Government and Planning : c1996>
P 363.5 fif (Level 4)
The Queensland house : a roof over our heads / by Brian Crozier & Rod Fisher
Brisbane : Queensland Museum : 1994
Q 728.31 QUE (Level 4)
The house in Queensland : from first settlement to 1985 / by Peter Newell
Thesis (M. Arch.) - University of Queensland, 1988. : 1988
Q 728.09943 new (Level 4)
Building communities : celebrating the achievements of the Queensland Housing
Commission 1945-2003
Brisbane : Dept. of Housing : 2004
P 728.3 BUI (Level 4)
Sixty years of housing in Queensland / Queensland. Housing Commission
Brisbane : Government Printer : 1969
P 363.5 six (Level 4)
Buildings of Queensland / by Royal Australian Institute of Architects. Queensland Chapter
Brisbane : Jacaranda Press : 1959
J 720.9943 BUI (Level 4) and APDL 720.9943 1959 (Level 3)
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Compendium of Queensland Home Designs : a series of dwelling designs including designs
of joinery, arches, panel ceilings gables, fences, & step railings
Brisbane : Home-Building Publishing Co. : 1939
Q 728 com (Level 4)
History of Brisbane dwellings
Brisbane house styles 1880 to 1940 : a guide to the affordable house / by Judy Rechner
Kelvin Grove, Qld : Brisbane History Group : 1998
P 728 rec (Level 4)
River: 150 years of Brisbane River housing / by Peter Dixon
Brisbane, Qld.: Dixon Partners Quality Property : 2004
728.099431 2004 (Level 3) and J 728 DIX (Level 4)
Cool : the 60s Brisbane house
Brisbane: School of Design & Built Environment, Queensland University of Technology : 2004
P 728 COO (Level 4)
Redcliffe : historic houses by Patricia Gee
Caboolture, Qld. : Moreton Bay Regional Council : 2009
J 994.31 GEE (Level 4)
The Dutch houses of Coopers Plains : a postwar housing debacle at Brisbane / by Alfons
Vernooy
Kelvin Grove DC, Qld. : Brisbane History Group : 2004
J 690.8 VER (Level 4)
History of regional Queensland dwellings
The Toowoomba House : styles and history
Toowoomba, Qld. : Toowoomba City Council : 2000
P 728 TOO (Level 4)
Cottages : a history of cottage life in Toowoomba 1860-1910 / by Beris Broderick & Val Russell
Toowoomba, Qld. : Beris Broderick : c1997
P 994.33 bro (Level 4)
Rockhampton, a walk and a drive
National Trust of Queensland
<Brisbane?> : National Trust of Queensland : 1977
P 720.99435 nat (Level 4)
A study of Quay Street : the classified streetscape along the Fitzroy River at Rockhampton
Brisbane : National Trust of Queensland : 1976
Q 720.99435 nat (Level 4)
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Indigenous dwellings
Gunyah, Goondie and Wurley : the Aboriginal architecture of Australia / by Paul Memmott
St Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press : 2007
APDL 720.899915 2007 (Level 3) & Q 720.899915 MEM (Level 4)
A Black reality : Aboriginal camps and housing in remote Australia / by M Heppell
Canberra : Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies : 1979
J 392.36 bla (Level 4)
Published house plans
Queensland bungalows
J. V. D. Coutts
Brisbane : J.V.D. Coutts : <1937?>
Digital copy available online through our online catalogue or P 728.6 COU (Level 4)
House plans
Queensland. Housing Commission
Brisbane : The Commission : 1959
Digital copy available online through our online catalogue or P 728.3 hou (Level 4)
Designs of dwellings
Queensland. State Advances Corporation
Brisbane : Govt. Printer : 1935
Q 728 que (Level 4)
Approved designs of dwellings
Queensland. State Advances Corporation
Brisbane : Govt. Printer : 1945
Digital copy available online through our online catalogue or P 728.37 app (Level 4)
The Courier-Mail presents your post war home
Brisbane : The Courier-Mail : <195-?>
P 690.8 cou (Level 4)
Individual dwelling histories
Belhaven / by Gay Woollett
Brisbane : Gay Woollett : 2004
Historic house located in Ipswich
P 728 woo (Level 4)
Ormiston House : its place in Queensland's history
Brisbane : Ormiston House Restoration Association : 198-?
Historic house located in Cleveland
P 726.8 ORM (Level 4)
Newstead House : the history / by Mervyn Royle & Jan Glasscock
Brisbane : The Friends of Newstead House : 1996
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P 728 roy (Level 4)
17 Browning Street / by Elizabeth Jeffs
Alexandra Hills, Qld. : Blue Bunyip Books : 2006
An old rooming in West End, Brisbane
J 647.94 JEF (Level 4)
Ringsfield House 1908-2008 / by Hilary Franklin & George Groves
Nanango, Qld. : Nanango Historical Society : 2008
Historic house located in Nanango
P 994.32 FRA (Level 4)
Devon House, Marburg : its history, owners & their activities / by Janette Garrad
Brisbane, Qld. : J. Garrad : 2010
P 929.1 GAR (Level 4)
Queensland architects
Queensland architects of the 19th century : a biographical dictionary /
by Donald Watson & Judith McKay
Brisbane : Queensland Museum : c1994
REFJ 720 WAT (Level 4) & REF 720.9943 1994 (Level 2)
Queensland architects of the 19th century : index to the biographical dictionary /
by Judith Nissen
Kelvin Grove, Qld. : Brisbane History Group : 1999
REFJ 994.31 013 (Level 4) & REF 720.9943 1999 (Level 2)
Stombuco : the building of Brisbane in the 19th century / by Piero P. Giorgi
Brisbane : Minerva E & S : 1998
G 720.9943 1998 (Level 3) & J 720 GIO (Level 4)
Art in architecture : the work of Robin Dodds
Brisbane, Qld.. : State Library of Queensland : 2011
RBHEC DOD (Level 4)
Estate Maps
The State Library of Queensland has an extensive, unique and valuable series of original maps
and plans created by real estate firms. The collection, including more than a thousand maps
ranging in date from the 1850s to the mid 1900s, covers areas throughout Queensland, but is
predominantly from Brisbane. A selection of estate maps from the John Oxley Library have been
digitised and made accessible online.
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Tracing house histories - Brisbane
Your house has a history
Brisbane : Brisbane City Council : 2004
http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/documents/community/history_heritage_house_history.pdf
Queensland Post Office Directory
Directories usually contain alphabetical lists of householders’ names and addresses, but the
arrangement varies over time, and between publications. Not all directories list people in a single
alphabetical index. Listing may be arranged geographically, under the name of the town or suburb,
or arranged in street number order under the name of the street. Some directories list only people
holding public office in the town.
Holdings: 1868-1949 (imperfect)
FICHE/B 919.43 que (some editions are available electronically through Findmypast.com.au – also
available at SLQ)
Electoral rolls
Guide to our collection - http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/info/fh/electoral_rolls
Photographs
Picture Australia - http://www.pictureaustralia.org/ (includes collections from the State Library of
Queensland, Brisbane City Council, National Archives of Australia and more.)
Only a fraction of the John Oxley Library’s photograph collection has been digitised and made
available online. This extensive collection can be viewed in the reading room on Level 4.
Magazines and journals
The architectural & building journal of Queensland
Brisbane : Main Roads Department, Brisbane
Holdings: 1922-1944
FICHE/S 690 (Level 3)
Architecture, building, engineering
Brisbane : Main Roads Department, Queensland
Holdings: 1944-1972 (imperfect)
FICHE/S 690 (Level 3)
Queensland Magazine / Society and home in Queensland
Brisbane, Qld. : Queensland Publications
Holdings: 1923-1926
MFS/B 0634 (Level 3)
Steering wheel and Society & home
Royal Queensland Aero Club
Holdings: 1932-1941
MFS 0636 (Level 3)
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Newspapers
Trove: digitised newspapers (Australia) - http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper
Includes a number of Queensland newspapers – eg. Brisbane Courier, Darling Downs Gazette…
The State Library of Queensland holds a large number of historic Queensland newspapers on microfilm.
Original materials (architectural plans, plans, diaries)
27957 Queensland Workers' Dwellings Photographs 1909-1914
In 1909, the Queensland government implemented the Workers' Dwellings Act which provided
home-building loans to those with an annual income of less than 200 pounds, who owned a
suitable residential site. Recipients could borrow two thirds of home-building costs up to 300
pounds to be repaid over 20 years at 5% interest. By June 1911, 318 workers' dwellings had been
erected in Brisbane. The Workers' Dwellings Scheme and the Workers' Homes Scheme left their
mark on Queensland towns. Houses built were chosen from a set of officially-approved designs.
The first application for a worker's dwelling was made in March 1910 by O.G. Weissner.
M 321 Andrea Stombuco Architectural Plans
Six large blue boxes of architectural plans. There is also a photograph index to the collection.
3228 R P Froud Records
Collection consists of R.P. Froud's (Architect) records - diaries, card index, plans, publications,
student assignments etc.
OM78-58/18 Matt O'Brien Papers 1967-1968
The papers consist of poems and anecdotes of Housing Commission officers
27252 Hugh Cornish Residence Architectural Plans 1969-1989
Architectural plans prepared by Brisbane architect J. Stuart Reed for the new residence of Mr &
Mrs Hugh Cornish at 25 Comus Avenue, Albion Heights, Brisbane, 1970.
State Library of Queensland
Queensland Cultural Centre, Stanley Place, South Bank
t. +61 7 3840 7810
w. www.slq.qld.gov.au/enquiry
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