Rockhampton Courthouse
Rockhampton Courthouse is a heritage-listed courthouse at 42 East Street, Rockhampton, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by John Hitch and built from 1950 to 1955. It is also known as District Court, Queensland Government Savings Bank, Commonwealth Bank, Magistrate's Court, Police Court, and Supreme Court. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
History
The Rockhampton Courthouse complex comprises the Supreme Court building, Magistrate's Court building, District Court building, Family Services' building, and the Bolsover Street Government Office building, which all form part of a significant group of buildings on the Government Reserve bounded by Fitzroy, East and Bolsover Streets, Rockhampton. The buildings all reflect the involvement of the Queensland Government in the development of the City of Rockhampton from the colonial period until the present day, in various areas such as the administration of justice, and the provision of government services within Rockhampton.After the short lived Canoona gold rush of 1858, Rockhampton was proclaimed as a town and declared a "port of entry" in 1858. The first sale of town allotments was held in Rockhampton on 17 and 18 November 1858. In 1859 Queensland separated from New South Wales, and at this time Brisbane became the base of the Supreme Court of Queensland. The Supreme Court provided sittings for circuit towns that included Ipswich, Drayton and Maryborough.
Rockhampton became a circuit town for the Supreme Court in 1863. In 1859 residents had petitioned for the provision of a court house in the new town. A site for a court house had been reserved fronting onto Quay Street in 1859–1860. However, community agitation was responsible for the establishment of a more central reserve for a court house and lock up on five acres of land bounded by Bolsover, East and Fitzroy Streets. It was on this central reserve that the court houses of Rockhampton were to be built.
Original Court House (Block A, demolished 1978)
A court house was built in 1861–1862 on the corner of East and Fitzroy Streets. The total cost of the building was £1,130. The architect was Charles Tiffin, who also designed such notable buildings as Parliament House in Brisbane, the Old Courthouse in Ipswich, and Old Government House in Brisbane.The completed two-storeyed building was constructed of masonry and had an L-shape plan. The building was described as being of arcaded Italianate style. Valances to both levels were constructed as timber framed segmental arches, and a single-storeyed court room was provided, with ancillary spaces. Stables and associated outbuildings were also provided.
Bowen had been made the home of the northern district Court in 1874. Rockhampton therefore had to be served by a judge on circuit from Brisbane. In 1881 a larger and more substantial Bowen Courthouse was erected, which caused anger amongst the citizens of Rockhampton, who felt that Rockhampton was deserving of the appointment of its own judge, and the establishment of a Supreme Court.
The first Rockhampton Court House served the community of Rockhampton until the 1880s. At this time the discovery of gold at Mount Morgan, in the Dee Range some forty kilometres from Rockhampton, transformed the town. A major building boom occurred in Rockhampton as the wealth of the mine was shipped through the river port. As the boom was to continue into the early part of the twentieth century, the wealth generated was to create other major forms of public buildings in Rockhampton. These included the Rockhampton Customs House, Rockhampton Post Office, and the 1887 Supreme Court building.
The Tiffin Court House was replaced with an even more imposing building for the Court in 1887. The Tiffin Court House continued to serve as a Court building and then administration office building until 1969, when new purpose built offices were provided for the State Government in East Street. The Tiffin Court House was demolished in 1978.
Supreme Court Building (Block D, 1886–87)
The booming economy of the Rockhampton region was to find an expression of its wealth in the public buildings constructed in the period of 1885–1910. An example of this is the Supreme Court building.With the growth in population in Rockhampton and central Queensland, the Tiffin-designed court house was found to be inadequate to the demands being placed on it by the community. A petition had been put before the Minister for Works in October 1882, for a new Supreme Court house for Rockhampton. The Morning Bulletin, 4 October 1882 envisaged a "handsome capacious edifice in the northern part of the town... two storey's high, of Stanwell sandstone".
To accommodate the increased needs of the judiciary a replacement court house was under design in the period of 1884. The architect of the second Court building was John James Clark,. Clark had been born in Liverpool in England, and attended the Collegiate Institute in Liverpool, where he was trained in architectural drawing. In 1853 his family emigrated to Victoria during the gold rush era. Clark had begun his career as an architect with the Office of the Victorian Colonial Architect. In 1881 he moved to New South Wales where he designed the Town Halls for Orange and Waverley in Sydney.
In 1883 Clark was appointed Queensland Colonial Architect. His best known public building was the Brisbane Treasury Building designed in 1883. Clark was dismissed from the Office of Colonial Architect in 1885. During the period that he was Colonial Architect Clark was responsible for the design of several Court Houses in Queensland including Charters Towers Courthouse, Mackay Courthouse, and the Rockhampton Court House.
He was also responsible for other notable public buildings throughout Queensland, such as the Yungaba Immigration Centre in Brisbane, Townsville Post Office and following his dismissal was responsible for the design of the Lady Norman Wing, Brisbane Children's Hospital, and the Townsville railway station.
The sketch design was heavily criticised by local members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, as well as by the Rockhampton Police Magistrate. Both criticised the new court house design as not allowing for a multiplying population of Rockhampton. The design was also criticised as not providing enough office space, and appearing to be designed more for a country court house than for a growing major centre of population. Revised drawings were prepared as a result of these complaints.
Initially the proposal had been made to locate the new court house building on the Rockhampton immigration depot, away from the reserve on East Street. Clark's design for the riverfront court house was to be basically unchanged when the new building's location was changed to sit adjacent to the 1861–1862 court house on the Government Reserve, away from Quay Street.
Pressure was brought to bear on the Minister for Works to relocate the court house to the centre of Rockhampton from various groups, including the Chamber of Commerce. It was felt by such groups that the new court house should stand at a site close to the centre of town, and therefore help to improve the appearance of the town centre. The result of such pressure saw the court house located to its present place, in the centre of the reserve for government buildings.
Tenders were called for the construction of the new court house on 8 October 1885. Thomas Matthews was awarded the contract, for a total of £12,533. The tender documents also called for an alternate price should the whole external fabric of the building be constructed in stone. The option was not taken up. The tender was approved on 11 December 1885.
Construction took eighteen months. The 1887 Annual Report of the Department of Public Works announced:
Completed, under contract with T. Matthews, for the sum of exclusive of furnishings, of £12,533. This building is two storey's in height, built of brick, cemented, the front being of freestone. On the first floor is provided the court, with judge's, jury, witness, and other rooms. In the basement is provided strong room, prisoner's cell, and general office's for the transaction of Court business.The Court House was further described in the Brisbane Courier of January 1893 as being a "gloomy, sombre looking" building.
The first half yearly sitting of the Circuit Court was held in September 1887, but there was no official dedication ceremony. This was a further slight to the residents of Rockhampton, who were now advocating for the appointment of a Supreme Court Judge. The new Court House was still to be served from Brisbane. A second judge was appointed to the northern district in 1889, however the home of the Northern Court was relocated at that time from Bowen to Townsville.
The Rockhampton Courthouse became the focus of both state and national attention in May 1891, as a result of the shearer's strike of February–March of that year. Early in 1891 the central Queensland towns of Barcaldine, Clermont, Winton and Springsure had been the centre points of the strike, which had arisen over the signing of agreements between pastoralists and members of unions representing the interests of bush workers. Police, volunteer members of the Queensland armed forces and Special Constables had been despatched from Rockhampton, Brisbane and other centres to the central Queensland pastoral districts. Shearers formed themselves into large camps, at Capella, Clermont and Barcaldine.
The government pressed for a judicial solution to the strike and proceeded to arrest strike leaders in March 1891. Most of those arrested were acquitted; however fourteen shearers alleged to have been strike leaders, were charged with conspiracy. The conspiracy trial was held in the Rockhampton Court House in May 1891. Twelve were found guilty and sentenced to three years prison.
Unable to succeed through direct strike action, the labour movement was to seek social reform and change through political methods, the result of which was the formation of the Labor Party. The party began contesting parliamentary seats in 1893.
The Court House was finally elevated to the status of having a resident Supreme Court judge in 1896. This was a result of the passing of The Supreme Court Act of 1895. Five Supreme Court judges were appointed, three in Brisbane and one each in Rockhampton and Townsville. The Central Supreme Court was established in January 1896. The Police Magistrates Court was forced to relocate back to the Tiffin-designed court house. It was not until 1935 that a purpose building was to be provided for the Police Court.
The interior of the building was carpeted in 1896. In 1908 a new strong room was provided on the ground floor of the building, which lead to the removal of a staircase. A wall was also removed in the titles and stamps office to open up the existing office space, and a new counter was provided for dealing with the public.
Further alterations were made to the building in 1922, with the removal of a brick wall in what had been the Clerk Petty Sessions General Office. Concrete steps were provided on to a verandah on the northern side of the building. Other partitions were removed to open out space, and windows were installed.
Other alterations were made to the building in 1933 in association with the provision of sewering the entire site, and the construction of the adjacent toilet block. A toilet, bath and wash basins were provided on the upper storey for the Judge's room, and the jury room.
The Supreme Court building at the present time contains the Supreme Court, Supreme/District Court Registry, Legal Library, and associated ancillary services for the staff and general public.
Since the Central Supreme Court was inaugurated in 1896, it has remained the only Supreme Court in residence in Queensland in its original setting and building. The Brisbane Supreme Court building, designed by FDG Stanley in 1879, burnt down in 1968. The Northern Supreme Court in Townsville, relocated from Bowen in 1889, moved into an adapted School of Arts, and was provided with a purpose built Court House in 1975. The Rockhampton Court House is the only one to maintain its connection with its place of inauguration. Although designed as a Court House for the Brisbane Circuit, it was intended for it to be the home of a Supreme Court.