Category: Queensland State Archives’ Photostream About Fortitude Valley

Queensland State Archives posted a photo:

The first court house in Gin Gin was constructed in 1882 and it was a Small Claims Court. In 1922, it was elevated to a Magistrates’ Court. The present (former) court house was constructed in 1935 and remains in its original location (the first court house is located at the rear of the newer building).

The Gin Gin Courthouse (former) demonstrates a rare aspect of the region’s history, as an intact timber court house built in the 1930s (and the earlier court house) is rare in the region. The prisoner’s dock and magistrate’s desk dating from the original courthouse and that remain in situ are also rare.

Description source:
Bundaberg Regional Council Local Heritage Register

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Digital Image ID 20855

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Port Douglas Court House is a heritage-listed former courthouse and now museum at 25 Wharf Street, Port Douglas, Queensland. It was designed by the Queensland Colonial Architect’s Office and built from 1879 by Thomas Watson. The first court house in the town, it is a simple timber structure with verandahs to all four elevations.

The Port Douglas Court House is one of the earliest surviving timber constructed court houses in Queensland. It demonstrates the rapid development of the town after the discovery of gold in 1876 at the nearby Hodgkinson River. As an early government building in far northern Queensland, it is demonstrative of the development of Queensland.

Description source:
Wikipedia

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Digital Image ID 20918

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Maryborough Courthouse is a heritage-listed courthouse at 170 Richmond Street, Maryborough, Queensland. It was designed by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley and built in 1877 by John Thomas Annear for the Queensland Government.

The complex was the first large court building designed for a rural town in Queensland. It was the forerunner for several other buildings in regional areas. The building is rectangular in form with corner towers and connecting verandahs and was constructed in rendered brick, with timber work forming the verandas.

The building stands as part of the historic Wharf Street precinct in central Maryborough. The courthouse has been in continuous use by the supreme, district and magistrates courts of Queensland since it was completed in 1878, making it the longest-serving and oldest courthouse in use in Queensland.

Description source:
Wikipedia

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Digital Image ID 2591

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The existing, heritage-listed Cairns Court House, built from 1919 to 1921, was the third court house erected in Cairns. An 1878 marine survey of Cairns harbour indicated that the first court house was located on the customs reserve, and may have shared the same premises as the first customs house. This probably was the temporary court house erected by the Works Department in Cairns in December 1877.

The ‘temporary’ court house remained in use for several years, but was replaced during the second phase of Cairns’ development. In 1883 the Works Department prepared plans for a more substantial timber court house, which was erected in 1884 on the Esplanade. At the time it was considered to be very fine, the best erected building in Cairns, both in so far as appearance and design as well as in construction.

By 1890, however, the local court had outgrown its

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Warwick Court House and Police Complex is a heritage-listed courthouse at 88 Fitzroy Street, Warwick, Queensland. It was designed by John James Clark and built from 1885 to 1914 by William G Conley. The decision to incorporate a clock tower at the front of the building was made during construction, and the clock was supplied by Messrs Flavelle Brothers and Roberts. A public clock appears to have been long sought after by Warwick citizens.

The Warwick Court House survives as evidence of the consolidation of Warwick as a centre for the surrounding district during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Through the use of materials (in particular the local sandstone), architectural forms and scale, the complex is a significant element within the Warwick townscape and identifies with other major public sandstone buildings.

Description source:
Wikipedia

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Digital Image ID 2602

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Cloncurry Courthouse is a heritage-listed courthouse at 42-48 Daintree Street, Cloncurry, Queensland. It was designed by the Department of Public Works (Queensland) and built in 1897 by Murray and Litster. It is the second on site and was erected in stages between 1897 and 1961.

A police contingent of four men and an Inspector had been stationed in tents at Cloncurry from 1870, but it was not until 1880 that a permanent Clerk of Petty Sessions was appointed, and Cloncurry’s first Police Magistrate was appointed in 1882. At that time there were still no permanent police quarters, and the lock-up was a slab hut with a bark roof.

In 1883 the Department of Public Works called tenders for a timber building to serve as a Court house, police quarters and lockup. This was completed in 1885, and the first Court sat in March 1900. From 1907 this

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The current Ayr Court House was designed by Douglas Francis Woodcraft Roberts and built from 1935 to 1941 by day labour. It was constructed on a site adjacent to the existing 1897 court house, and is the third court house in Ayr.

The Burdekin River region was first settled in the 1860s, and the town of Ayr was surveyed in 1882. Tenders called for a Court House and Police Station in Ayr in late 1882, and a building was erected in 1883 which comprised the police quarters, lock-up and court room.

The town grew in support of the increasing number of sugar plantations and small sugar growers establishing themselves in the region. By late 1896 the court room was inadequate for court purposes. Construction of a new courthouse commenced in 1897, the former room being taken over for use by the police.

Description source:
Wikipedia

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The Mackay Courthouse was designed by noted architect John James Clark who was at the time Colonial Architect. The new courthouse was contracted to replace earlier courthouses which were no longer capable of meeting the demands of the rapidly developing area. The building was designed in the classical revival style thought appropriate for public buildings and intended to convey a sense of stability and dignity, particularly a courthouse which represented the power of the law.

The contractor for the work was Denis Kelleher. The courthouse was a single storey building with rooms extended to each side of the front entrance containing barristers and witnesses’ rooms and which were later extended by one room on each side. Behind the bench were rooms for the judge, police magistrates, Clerk of Petty Sessions and Jury. It was opened on 27 May 1886 and the first local sitting of the

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The second Gympie Court House was built during 1875 and 1876 in Channon Street. The classical revival style brick and stone building was designed by the Colonial Architect’s Office, and was extended in 1893 to include the Gympie Lands Office. It was the first substantial public building constructed in the town which developed at the site of Queensland’s first major productive goldfield.

The building is the third-oldest known surviving courthouse building in Queensland. It replaced an adjacent timber court house, and represented the growing town’s need for impressive justice buildings to project an image of stability. A single room structure with thick, solid brick walls and a heavy metal door, the strongroom behind the main building is a good example of a secure storage vault.

Description source:
Queensland Heritage Register

View the original image at Queensland State Archives:
Digital Image ID 2587

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Bowen Courthouse is a heritage-listed courthouse at 30 Williams Street (corner with Herbert Street), Bowen, Queensland. It was designed by George St Paul Connolly of the Colonial Architect’s Office and built in 1880 by Southall & Tracey. It was completed in 1881 in the Classic Revival style. It is a two-storey building and was constructed of rendered brick with a corrugated iron roof. It is still in use today and contains most of the original furniture and features.

The Bowen Courthouse is important in demonstrating the early prominence of Bowen, being considerably more grand than other early courts at Townsville and Charters Towers; both of which towns were to eclipse Bowen. As the first Supreme Court outside Brisbane, it also illustrates the way in which a legal system was established and government services provided in the developing north of the colony. The inclusion of a second

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