Commissariat Store is a heritage-listed storehouse at 115–127 William Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is bordered by William Street, Queen's Wharf Road and the Brisbane River, and is the birthplace of Queensland. It was designed by William John Dumaresq and built from 1828 to 1913 by convict labour under the direction of Captain Logan as a permanent Commissariat Store for the Moreton Bay penal settlement. It is also known as Government Stores, State Stores Building, and Colonial Store. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
The building is one of only two surviving buildings from the convict period in Queensland, and is one of only four surviving commissariat buildings in Australia. It is the second oldest building in Queensland, dated to 1829, the oldest building being the Windmill at Wickham Park, dated to 1828. However, the Commissariat Store is the oldest currently occupied building in Queensland, as it is currently occupied by the RHSQ, housing a museum, the Welsby Library, and function spaces.
History
The Commissariat Store was constructed of local brick in 1828–1829 by Moreton Bay penal settlement convicts as a two-storey provisions store near the Brisbane River and what was to become Queen's Wharf. A third storey of rendered brick was added in 1913 to accommodate its continuing use as a government store and providing an address to William Street.
Moreton Bay Penal Settlement
In 1823 Moreton Bay was chosen as a penal settlement for New South Wales convicts who were secondary offenders or those who had re-offended while serving their sentence of transportation in Botany Bay. It was intended to better control the convicts and affect a reform in them through isolation, hard labor, strict discipline and harsh living conditions. In 1824 Lieutenant Henry Miller arrived at Redcliffe with thirty convicts. As this location proved unsuitable, the settlement was moved in 1825 inland to a ridge overlooking and bounded on three sides by the Brisbane River, and simple buildings were constructed to serve it.
Penal colonies were run on a military system and so a commissariat directed the procurement, supply and distribution of essential goods, as well as serving as a custom house and bank. The first building used for this purpose in what would become Brisbane Town at Moreton Bay was a slab structure in the vicinity of the current intersection of Albert and Elizabeth streets. There were two other store structures at Amity Point and Dunwich on Stradbroke Island. In 1826 Captain Patrick Logan arrived as Commandant and began a works program that replaced key buildings with more substantial structures made of stone and brick. One of these was the Commissariat Store. Along with houses for the Commandant, Commissariat officer and chaplain, it was erected on the ridge running parallel to William and George Street that remains the focus of government buildings to the present day.
A position near the river bank was selected for the new store, following recommended procedure, to allow goods to be conveniently loaded and unloaded from a wharf. This also provided a single point for the entry and distribution of tools, weapons, clothing and food rations to permit secure control of such vital supplies.
In common with the settlement's other new buildings, the Commissariat Store followed a simple design suitable for everyday use in a penal colony and was well constructed from local materials. The design was by William John Dumaresq (Acting Civil Engineer for New South Wales) whose plans arrived from Sydney in April 1828. Dumaresq was also responsible for the design of the store at Dunwich completed in 1828.
The original river bank in this area was quite steep and the underlying rock was quarried to create a relatively level building platform. The excavation work was heavy and carried out by the Gaol Gang of convicts as a specific punishment, but the masonry and other construction work required skilled labour and was most likely supervised by Lieutenant Thomas Bainbrigge, sent especially from Sydney with skilled stonemasons and quarrymen in 1827 and made Superintendent of Works for the colony the following year. Some time after retaining walls were constructed around three sides of the store building; the one to William Street appearing in an 1838 cross-section and the two at each side in Petrie's front elevation of the building also dated to that year.