Spencers Building
| Spencers Building | |
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Spencers Building, 2008
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| Location | 45–47 and 49–51 Edward Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Coordinates | 27°28′16″S 153°01′48″E / 27.471°S 153.0299°ECoordinates: 27°28′16″S 153°01′48″E / 27.471°S 153.0299°E |
| Design period | 1870s – 1890s (late 19th century) |
| Built | 1889–1890 |
| Architect | Francis Drummond Greville Stanley |
| Architectural style(s) | Classicism |
| Official name: Spencers Building | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 27 August 1993 |
| Reference no. | 600100 |
| Significant period | 1889–1890 (fabric)1903, 1911, 1913, 1941–1964 (historical) |
| Significant components | crane / gantry |
| Builders | Thomas Rees |
 Location of Spencers Building in Queensland
Location of Spencers Building in Queensland
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Spencers Building is a pair of heritage-listed warehouses at 45–47 and 49–51 Edward Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley and built from 1889 to 1890 by Thomas Rees. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 27 August 1993.
The land at the site occupies part of allotments 4 and 5 of section 35 which were acquired respectively by James Donald in 1852 and the well-known Benjamin Cribb in 1854. Cribb and Donald co-operated in subdivision and resubdivision of the allotments with the land under study passing to William Hood in 1876. Hood was a principal of the firm Hood & Binnie whose iron foundry works were located at the site until 1888. In that year title to the land passed to Frances Sophia Jones wife of the Anglican clergyman Rev Thomas Jones who had accompanied Brisbane's first Anglican Bishop, Edward Tufnell on his arrival in 1860. It was unusual in those times for a married woman to have sole title to this kind of property, but Frances Jones probably did not have ultimate control over it. Until the Married Women's Property Act was introduced in Queensland in 1890, a husband was entitled to the income from such a property and could mortgage it without his wife's consent – unless her family had secured it to her through a trust. By May 1889 Frances Jones had mortgaged the property to a total of £5000, presumably to finance the erection of the building which Thomas Rees undertook during the year; FDG Stanley, former Queensland Colonial Architect, was the designer. Rees had also built the adjacent warehouse (South East Queensland Water Board Building) several years earlier.
The building was complete by early 1890 and in February Benjamin Brothers Ltd occupied the western section (Nos 49–51) – using it as a bulk store. The building was flooded in the March 1890 floods and a photo taken at the time shows a "To Let" sign advertising the eastern section. Leasing agent was the Queensland Trustees Executors Agency Co (QTEA), presumably acting for Frances Sophia Jones.
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