Cahill's Stores is a heritage-listed
commercial building
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
at 232–234 Quay Street,
Rockhampton
Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...
,
Rockhampton Region
The Rockhampton Region is a local government area (LGA) in Central Queensland, Australia, located on the Tropic of Capricorn about north of Brisbane. Rockhampton is the region's major city; the region also includes the Fitzroy River, Mount Ar ...
,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, Australia. It was designed by
John William Wilson
John William Wilson, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC, Justice of the Peace, JP (22 October 1858 – 18 June 1932) was a British chemical manufacturer and politician who served for 27 years as a member of parliament (MP), initially as L ...
and built in 1889. It is also known as Central Queensland Livestock Co-operative Society, Clarke's Building, Flamingos Nightclub, Stadium Nightclub,
Dalgety & Co
Dalgety plc—as Dalgety and Company—was for more than a century a major pastoral and agricultural company or stock and station agency in Australia and New Zealand. Controlled from London it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and Austra ...
., WG Murray Ltd, Inglis Ltd, and Kerrisk Bros. It was added to the
Queensland Heritage Register
The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As a ...
on 21 October 1992.
History
The former Cahill's Stores, built of brick and concrete render, were constructed for John and Kate Cahill in 1889. Designed by John William Wilson, the single-storey building housed the Rockhampton office and store of
Dalgety & Co. Ltd between 1891 and c.1940.
[
The architect John William Wilson was a native of Scotland who had arrived in the Australian colonies . He practised in Rockhampton from 1874 until 1909. Included in the list of 200 identified buildings for which he is responsible are the ]Rockhampton School of Arts
Rockhampton School of Arts is a heritage-listed former school of arts at 230 Bolsover Street, Rockhampton City, Rockhampton, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by William (Walter) Cherry built in 1894 by Walter Adam ...
, the Commercial Hotel and Chambers (now the Heritage Tavern) and the Rockhampton Harbour Board Building
Rockhampton Harbour Board Building is a heritage-listed office building at 288 Quay Street, Rockhampton, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by John William Wilson and built in 1898 by Renshaw & Ricketts. It is also know ...
. Cahill's Stores were constructed between the sites subsequently occupied by the Commercial Hotel and the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company Building
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
.[
Rockhampton was established on the ]Fitzroy River Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to:
People As a given name
*Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name:
**FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855)
** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...
on land originally part of Gracemere station, a pastoral property operated by the Archer family
The Archer family are a notable family in Tasmania, Australia, prominent in society, business and politics of Tasmania for the last two centuries. They are best known today for their now world-heritage listed farm estates, Brickendon Estate an ...
. Richard Palmer opened the area's first store on the south-western bank of the river from mid-1856. Following a survey by Arthur F Wood, Rockhampton was proclaimed a town on 25 October 1858. The first sale of allotments occurred the following month. The Municipality of Rockhampton
The City of Rockhampton was a local government area in the Central Queensland region of Queensland, Australia, encompassing most of the suburban area of the regional city of Rockhampton. The city covered an area of , and existed as a local go ...
was proclaimed on 15 December 1860. Along with the discovery of gold at Mount Morgan in 1882, the key importance of Rockhampton was its ability to provide goods, services and produce for the population of both the town and its regional hinterland.[
Early merchants and storekeepers operated independent, locally based businesses. The first wave of these entrepreneurs, attracted to the area by the promise of gold at nearby ]Canoona
Canoona is a rural locality in the Livingstone Shire, Queensland, Australia. In the , Canoona had a population of 81 people.
It was the site of the first North Australian gold rush.
Geography
The Fitzroy River forms the southern boundary of t ...
, opened their stores in the late 1850s. A second wave arrived in the 1860s. Early merchants who survived the economic downturn of the late 1860s included John Headrick, Walter Reid and Albrecht Feez. By the 1880s many of Rockhampton's local merchants and agents operated in partnerships. Notable at this time were John M Headrick & Co., EK Ogg, Alex. Reid & Co. and WG Thompson & Co. The independence of these firms, supported strongly by local manufacture of ironmongery, timber joinery and items such as soap and cordial, was a reflection of the self-sufficiency that Rockhampton's community leaders expressed politically through a concurrent movement towards secession.[
Commerce in Rockhampton in the late 19th century was very competitive. Up to twenty-seven separate firms provided services as shipping, mercantile or stock and station agents. Although numbers decreased after the bank crash of 1893 and the drought that followed, established companies from other parts of Australia also were attracted to Rockhampton by the profitability of the region.][
Two years after its 1889 construction, Cahill's Stores were occupied by Dalgety & Co. Ltd, one of the first southern firms to set up business in Rockhampton. Born in Canada, ]Frederick Dalgety
Frederick Gonnerman Dalgety (Canada, 3 December 1817–London, 20 March 1894) was a merchant and financier, the founder of Dalgety plc, one of the United Kingdom's largest conglomerates. He was born in Canada to Alexander Dalgety, army officer, an ...
arrived in Australia in 1833. Initially he gained experience working in other mercantile houses. With two partners, in 1846 he formed Dalgety, Borrodale and Gore. Situated at first in Little Collins Street, Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, this company earned substantial profits during the gold rushes of the 1850s. The head office of Dalgety & Co. was established in London in the same decade. Over the next twenty years the company opened mercantile offices in New Zealand and New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
(1878). The limited liability company, Dalgety & Co. Ltd, was registered in London on 29 April 1884, after which operations extended into Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
(1889) and Queensland (1891). Frederick Dalgety died in 1894.[
The company's first Queensland office was in Cahill's Stores at Rockhampton. FHB Turner commenced as manager. Their ]Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
office was not established until 1894. The first Townsville
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...
office for Dalgety & Co. Ltd opened in leased premises in Denham Street in 1896. From that time the company was well represented in regional Queensland and played a significant role in the development of the pastoral industry, particularly in the production of wool. Unlike Rockhampton, where the company would always lease its premises, a new Dalgety & Co. two-storey building was constructed in Townsville in 1923-24. The company's need for investment in a substantial building in Rockhampton may have been reduced by the financial strength of other mercantile companies. Their competition included GS Curtis, John M Headrick & Co., Goldsbrough Mort & Co
Goldsbrough Mort & Co was an Australian agricultural business.
History
In 1843 Thomas Sutcliffe Mort established a business which operated as auctioneers and brokers in the wool trade. The business took on partners and become known as Mort & Co. ...
and Walter Reid & Co, all of which constructed large stores or warehouses in Rockhampton between 1883 and 1902.[
At different times smaller companies also occupied sections of the former Cahill's Stores. These included WG Murray Ltd, a warehouse and manufacturing company based there in the first decade of the 1900s and Inglis Ltd, tea merchants housed in the northern part of the store in the 1920s.][
Following the death of John Cahill in 1915, ownership of the building passed to trustees, then to Elizabeth O'Brien and later Brian O'Brien. In 1949 an easement was granted over the site, allowing it to be sold as two separate stores divided by a party wall. The Australian Red Cross Society purchased the northern store, closest to William Street. It was not until 1983 that the building was returned to a single owner. In the interval it had been occupied by, amongst others, Kerrisk Bros. and Central Livestock and Produce Co-operative Society.][
In 1985 the owners of the Cahill's Stores building also held title to the Heritage Tavern, formerly the Commercial Hotel and Chambers. With side access opening directly into the hotel and its party wall removed, the former stores building was converted into a nightclub. The open, singular space inside the building has served this purpose since then.][
]
Description
The former Cahill Stores, a single-storey brick building, is located on a block of Quay Street that is populated almost exclusively with other buildings of heritage significance, including the Heritage Tavern and the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company Building (now the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
studios) on either side; Clewett's Building, Walter Reid Court, and Avonleigh. Quay Street overlooks the Fitzroy River and is recognised as a streetscape of historical significance in the Australian Heritage Commission's Register of the National Estate
The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...
. About to the north-west of this building is Rockhampton's central pedestrian mall and four blocks to the south-east is the city's central railway station. Running along the short, south-western edge of the allotment is Quay Lane, which forms part of a system of such laneways that inhabits the city centre's orthogonal grid and services its primary streets. The grid is aligned to the course of the Fitzroy River that flows from the north- west to the south-east.[
The parapeted front facade to Quay Street is composed of classical motifs modelled with cement render in a free but also spare way. The street frontage is approximately wide. There is a parapet wall to the side facade adjacent to the ABC studios, which can be viewed from a narrow corridor of space separating part of the two buildings. It is clear from the patterning of brickwork in this facade that a number of its openings have been closed up at some point in the past. The former Cahill's Stores abut the Commercial Hotel and Chambers building (former) to the north. On Quay Lane, the roof toward the front of the building appears to be hipped, with a broken segment extending to the rear facade. It is clad in corrugated iron. The rear segments of the side parapet walls step down towards the rear facade, which is constructed of unpainted concrete masonry. A great deal of air-conditioning equipment and support structures populate the roof.][
The Quay Street facade is divided vertically into six bays by a series of ]pilasters
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...
. Above the second bay in from each end, there is a tall parapet projection denoting where two entry doors open into the building. There are glass double doors in each bay, however those beneath the parapet projections have fanlights above them, rather than simple highlights. The parapet projections are accented with render consoles. Beneath the variegated parapet top, a render entablature
An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
runs between each end of the front facade. The depth of the blank frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
seems somewhat exaggerated when compared with those of the cornice
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
and architrave
In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns.
The term can ...
. Above the end pilasters, the entablature is visually enclosed by two narrow projections of the parapet top. The modelling in line with the entablature is reminiscent of single triglyphs.[
The Tuscan-style pilasters sit on bases and ]plinth
A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...
s, the plinth line being expressed in the rest of the facade. Beneath the line of the door heads, the pilasters are evenly divided by four stringcourses, reminiscent of rustication. There is simple render modelling around each of the square headed doors, which is suggestive of a frame. Those with the fanlights sit in a panel of wall that sits slightly proud of the remaining facade. Above each of the square-headed doors is a render panel topped with a cornice-like course and three modillion
A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a cornice which it helps to support. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally translated as small teeth). All ...
s. The edges of the doors with fanlights are decorated with simple render frames. A render panel, placed higher than the others on the facade, sits above these door openings. The panel is topped again with a cornice-like course and three modillions.[
The interior has been extensively remodelled and currently houses nightclub facilities. The party wall that once separated the two segments of the building has been broken through at a number of points.][
]
Heritage listing
The former Cahill's Stores was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register
The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As a ...
on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.[
The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.
The former Cahill's Stores are important in demonstrating the evolution of mercantile history in Queensland.][
The place is important because of its aesthetic significance.
Designed by architect John W Wilson, the former Cahill's Stores exhibit integrity as a single-storey warehouse and store building, at the same time contributing to the continuity and character of the streetscape of Quay Street.][
The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history.
The former Cahill's Stores are of heritage significance as for nearly fifty years the building was associated with Dalgety & Co. Ltd, one of the largest and most successful pastoral firms in Australia.][
]
References
Attribution
External links
{{Commons category-inline, Cahill's Stores, Rockhampton
Queensland Heritage Register
Buildings and structures in Rockhampton
Commercial buildings in Queensland
Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register
Warehouses in Queensland