Mount Morgan Courthouse and Police Station Complex

General

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Also known as

Court House and Police Station

Classification

State Heritage

Register status

Entered

Date entered

21 October 1992

Types

Law/order, immigration, customs, quarantine: Courthouse—magistrates/court of petty sessions

Law/order, immigration, customs, quarantine: Lock-up

Law/order, immigration, customs, quarantine: Police station

Theme

7.1 Maintaining order: Policing and maintaining law and order

Architect

Queensland Department of Public Works

Construction periods

1887–1900, Lock-up (1887, moved and extended 1900)

1887–1900, Police Sergeant's Residence (1887, moved 1900)

1899, Courthouse (1899)

1900, Lock-up Keeper's Residence (1900)

1900, Former Stable (by 1900)

1900, Horse Paddock (1900)

Historical period

1870s–1890s Late 19th century

Style

Classicism

Location

Address

28 Hall Street, Mount Morgan

LGA

Rockhampton Regional Council

Coordinates

-23.64837292, 150.38836391

Significance

Criterion AThe place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland’s history.

Mount Morgan Courthouse and Police Station Complex, established on its current site in 1899-1900, demonstrates the growth and importance of Mount Morgan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the town’s gold and copper mine became Queensland’s most productive and achieved its highest per annum gold production. The complex was established to accommodate an increasing workload generated by mining and the area’s rapidly expanding population.

Highly intact, the Complex is important in demonstrating the government’s provision of court and police services in regional centres across Queensland during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is representative of the common co-location of police and court functions in precincts, facilitating the administration of justice on a single site.

Criterion BThe place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland’s cultural heritage.

The Complex’s Lock-up retains the only known intact example of an early padded cell within a 19th century standard timber lock-up in Queensland.

Criterion DThe place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.

Mount Morgan Courthouse and Police Station Complex is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a late 19th/early 20th century justice complex in regional Queensland. Highly intact and with a high degree of integrity, the complex retains its: Courthouse (1899); Lock-up Keeper’s Residence (1900); Lock-up (1887/1900); Police Sergeant’s Residence (1887/1900); and Former Stable (by 1900), designed by the Department of Public Works (DPW) and with open spaces and relationships between buildings that reflects court and police functions, on a site central to the town; and its Police Horse Paddock (1900).

The Courthouse is a highly intact example of a late 19th century courthouse in regional Queensland and is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of its type. This includes its: prominent central location in the town; high quality materials, construction, and design by the DPW; use of classical architectural style and symmetry; and an internal layout of rooms that reflects the court’s functions.

Built as the town’s first police station in 1887, the Police Sergeant’s Residence is highly intact and important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a late 19th century police station in regional Queensland. This includes its: timber-framed and -clad lowset construction; symmetrical design; hipped roof with ventilator; verandahs; U-shaped floor plan with front rooms for official police business, a rear wing of domestic rooms, and a second rear wing for a kitchen and prisoner cells. Although the cells have been detached from the building and extended, they remain nearby on the site (the Lock-up).

Built as the rear wing of the town’s first police station in 1887, separated and extended in 1900 to form a freestanding building, the Lock-up is highly intact and important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a late 19th/early 20th century lock-up in regional Queensland. This includes its: timber-framed and -clad lowset construction; gable roof with roof ventilator and verandah; cells (including a padded cell) of robust construction in a serial arrangement; heavy, metal cell doors with observation hatch and deadbolts; and highset, barred windows.

Highly intact, the Lock-up Keeper’s Residence is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a late 19th century police lock-up keeper’s residence in Queensland. This includes its: unobstructed visual relationship with the Lock-up; timber-framed and -clad lowset construction; gable roof; verandahs; and linear floor plan with projecting rear kitchen/service wing.

Criterion EThe place is important because of its aesthetic significance.

The courthouse is important for its aesthetic significance brought about by its symmetrical, high quality design and construction, and use of classical architectural style by which the Queensland Government sought to convey a sense of order and justice.

Standing in a prominent, elevated location with an open front garden, the courthouse is impressive in the streetscape with attractive views from Hall Street to the building and its front portico.

History

The Mount Morgan Courthouse and Police Station Complex was established 1899-1900, replacing and incorporating buildings from the town’s original courthouse and police station on a new site. The new courthouse and police station complex was built during the peak production period at Mount Morgan’s gold mine to administer the growing population. Located near the centre of Mount Morgan, the complex comprises a Courthouse (1899), Lock-up Keeper’s Residence (1900), a Lock-up, and Police Sergeant’s Residence (both built 1887 as the original Mount Morgan Police Station, a single building, and separated and moved to the site in 1900). The court function was removed from Mount Morgan in 1991, after which the courthouse served as a police station. The buildings are highly intact, include rare features, and are excellent examples of the high quality designs of the Department of Public Works.

Mount Morgan mine [QHR 600751] was Queensland’s most productive gold and copper mine. Established in 1882, it produced more gold per annum than any other mine in Queensland through the rest of the 19th century, peaking in 1889 of with an annual yield of about 323,542oz (9,172kg) of gold. Mining focus shifted to copper in 1906, and Mount Morgan became Queensland’s leading copper producer for nearly 20 years. Over nearly a century of operation, Mount Morgan produced 360,000 tonnes of copper and about 250 tonnes of gold, making it one of the richest single gold mines in the world.[1]

The town of Mount Morgan grew rapidly after the mine was established. Subdivisions were surveyed in 1884, and civic services were established between 1886 and 1891. Police and justice were initially administered from Rockhampton, 40km away, but by 1887 the large scattered population (estimated at 3,000 within a five-mile radius) justified constructing police and court services within the town.[2] Constables were assigned to Mount Morgan in mid-1887.[3] The first police station was designed by the Department of Public Works (DPW) and built by contractor John Wotherspoon in late 1887 and early 1888, at a cost of £755. It stood on a site leased from the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company, some distance from the present complex. It was a lowset timber-framed building with a U-shaped plan, built as a combined station and police residence. It accommodated the senior constable and his family, an office for three constables, two prisoner cells, and a separate stable building. Similar combined police station/residences were built at Irvinebank (1886), Emu Park (1892), and Laidley (1892).[4]

A timber courthouse was constructed next to the police station in 1888. Mount Morgan had been appointed as a place at which Courts of Petty Sessions could be held in October 1887, granting it jurisdiction over minor matters, including criminal misdemeanours, civil disputes, small debts, and administrative matters. The court was presided over by a Police Magistrate who visited the town on scheduled court dates.[5]

Mount Morgan’s population reached 3,514 in 1891, and its policing and justice capability was increased. A resident Police Magistrate/Mining Warden was appointed in 1895, and Mount Morgan’s police presence doubled between 1896 and 1899. Over 900 mining applications, 256 police cases, 242 small debts cases, 11 publican’s license hearings and £1048 of Petty Sessions matters were processed in the courthouse in 1896.[6] The courthouse was too small for the volume of hearings and reportedly in poor condition, so in 1897 Mount Morgan residents advocated for a new courthouse building. Simultaneously, the Rockhampton-based police inspector advised that Mount Morgan’s two-room barracks was too small for the six officers stationed there. The DPW agreed to construct a combined complex with courthouse and police station/barracks, on a site closer to the centre of Mount Morgan. A 1-acre 1-rood (5058.5m2) site adjoining the municipal reserve in Hall Street was gazetted as a police reserve in August 1898. The site was divided roughly in half, the northern half to be used for the courthouse, and the southern half for the police station complex.[7]

The new courthouse, facing Hall Street, was completed by July 1899. Rather than a new building, the original timber police station/residence and the courthouse building were moved to the site in late 1899. With little alteration, the original police station building was re-erected on the southeast of the site, facing Pattison Street, and became a police sergeant’s residence. The original courthouse was re-erected west of it, also facing Pattison Street, and converted to a police barracks (not extant). A standalone lock-up (detached from the original police station and extended) and a new lock-up keeper’s residence were built near the centre of the site. The work was completed by contractors Doyle and Gilbert at a cost of £1,272. The new complex did not include a separate police station, which likely functioned from the police barracks.[8]

The grouping of the courthouse and police facilities with lock-up, accommodation and a stable, in a single complex, followed a common practice in Queensland. Similar complexes were built at Toowoomba, Croydon, Bundaberg, Birdsville, Ravenswood and Roma. The colocation of police and court buildings had numerous advantages. It allowed the entire justice process from arrest to trial to be provided expediently on a single site, facilitated prisoner management for police and kept alleged criminals from the public. Onsite, buildings and fencing were carefully arranged to separate police officers’ families from the prisoners’ pathway from lock-up to court.[9]

The courthouse and police station complex became the administrative centre of the Mount Morgan district. In the absence of a separate government building, the complex housed the mining warden, electoral, banking, insurance, and social welfare facilities. The jury room served as a map room, and the Clerk of Petty Sessions office doubled as the land agent’s office. The court also served briefly as a District Court (1899-1903), with jurisdiction over an area 25 miles (40km) from the courthouse. Courthouse staff and police held social functions in the building. The site was extended to 2 acres (8094m2) in 1913, encompassing a realignment of Central Street.[10]

Mount Morgan’s population peaked in 1909 at just under 10,000, dropping to just under 4,000 by the 1940s. After the last truckload of ore was removed from Mount Morgan mine in 1981, the population dropped below 3,000 people. The court function was removed to Rockhampton in 1991, though the police function remained, and  the complex has since functioned solely as a police precinct.[11]

Courthouse (1899)

The courthouse was designed by the DPW under the supervision of Government Architect Alfred Barton Brady. Tenders were called in May 1898, and contractor John Macfarlane’s was accepted. It was constructed at a cost of £2,995, with purpose-built furniture was supplied by Williams and Graham for £234.[12]

Between the 1870s and early 1900s the DPW, operating from Brisbane to design Government buildings across Queensland, produced a remarkable and substantial body of high quality civic buildings that were ‘equal to any in the country’[13], including customs houses, post offices, and a number of regional courthouses such as those at Maryborough (1877), Bowen (1880), Mackay (1886), Charters Towers (1886), Rockhampton (1896), Roma (1901), and Gympie (1902). By 1899 the DPW was a large team of 20 draftsmen, one junior draftsman, and included other acclaimed Queensland architects Thomas Pye, John Smith Murdoch, and George David Payne.[14]

The Mount Morgan courthouse was characteristic of the DPW’s designs, and the building fits within the notable collection of similar courthouses and civic buildings built in regional centres across Queensland. It was a symmetrical, rendered brick building with Classical Revival stylistic treatments and comprised a rectangular core with a prominent front portico with tall columns. The building had a hipped roof with three ‘Boyles’ ventilators. Rooms projected from each corner of the core, which were connected by side and rear verandahs. Sills and steps were of slate. The style and material of the courthouse were intended to convey a sense of stability, dignity, and the power of the law. The use of brick was uncommon – most Queensland regional courthouses of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were built in timber – and the Mount Morgan courthouse is one of only eleven known surviving 19th century masonry courthouses in Queensland.[15]

Internally, rooms were laid out to delineate the court’s functions. The central and most substantial room was the courtroom (47x32ft) (14x10m). Other rooms were arranged around it, including jury room (20x14ft) (6x4.2m), offices for judges, land agent and petty sessions clerk, barristers’ room, and witnesses’ room (all 14ft2) (4.2m2). Separate entrances for witnesses, defendants, judge, and jurors ensured the correct movement of people through the court, keeping all parties separate before entering the courtroom, and preventing witnesses from hearing court proceedings. Deliberately positioned furniture also defined court functions. The judge or magistrate presided from a raised bench, which faced the main public entrance, dominated the courtroom, and elevated the judge. A Clerk of Petty Sessions’ desk sat directly in front of the bench. A witness box was attached to the bench, near the witnesses’ entrance door. Defendants faced the judge from an elevated dock, located opposite the bench. A barristers’ table stood in the centre of the room between the bench and the dock. The western wall featured a reporters’ gallery, and a jury’s enclosure was on the eastern wall. A public gallery, nearest the entrance, was separated from the courtroom by a hardwood rail running the width of the room, and an 8ft (2.4m) high timber screen near the front door hid proceedings from passing view.[16]

Sessions of the Police, Magistrate’s, Petty Sessions, Warden, Licensing, Summons, Coroner’s, Children’s, Industrial, Small Debts, Inquiry and Fair Rents courts were heard at the courthouse, presided over by a police magistrate, mining warden, petty sessions clerk or justice of the peace. Alterations were made through the 20th century to accommodate government functions. A strong room was added to the rear in 1908 to provide fire-proof storage for court records. In 1917 a bench was installed in the former Clerk of Petty Sessions’ room for the State Savings Bank and State Insurance Office. A Baby and Child Welfare clinic operated from the courthouse from 1935, and was converted to police sleeping quarters in 1940. The Mount Morgan police, outgrowing their buildings, began moving into offices in the courthouse. The former jury room was partitioned, and a door opening was created between it and its side verandah. In 1957 the police inspector complained that the facilities were ‘totally inadequate’.[17] Small reconfigurations followed, as the space occupied by the police gradually increased, but these had little impact on the building.[18]

The courthouse furniture remained in place until 2008 when the courtroom was transformed into a police day room. Two new offices were created in the space using removable partitions. Door openings were created between the former courtroom and witnesses’ and barristers’ rooms. Toilets and a shower were installed in the former jury room, and a holding cell was built into the former Clerk of Petty Sessions’ room. All verandahs were enclosed. Other changes were made to facilitate equitable access and add air-conditioning and other services.[19]

In 2020 the courthouse furniture remains in storage.

Lock-up (1887, moved to site and modified 1900)

The lock-up was originally constructed within a rear wing to the 1887 police station building. It comprised two cells and a verandah. In 1899-1900, this was detached from the rest of the building, moved to the complex site, and extended with three further cells. It was re-erected just east of a new lock-up keeper’s residence, in a fenced prisoners’ yard. After its extension, it was a small lowset weatherboard-clad building with a corrugated iron gable roof and a west-facing verandah accessing the series of cells. An enclosure at the south end of the verandah accommodated a charge office. Accessed via heavy doors, the cells were lined internally and had a small high-set window. The end cell was padded, as recommended by the Rockhampton police inspector in 1897, ‘for the use of persons taken into custody on suspicion of being of unsound mind’.[20] The inspector’s recommendation reflected contemporary practices and attitudes towards mental health. The judicial process was the preferred means of committing people with mental health issues to institutions. The first stage of this process was usually apprehension by the police, reflecting the perceived association between insanity and criminality.[21] However, padded cells could be used for any prisoners considered at risk of harming themselves, a practice which continues into the 21st century.[22]

The cell was originally lined with padded canvas, and replaced in 1941 and 1970 to the same or similar design. Intact early padded cells in standard timber lock-ups are extremely rare; of the 75 known extant standard timber lock-ups in Queensland, Mount Morgan is the only one with a padded cell. Many modern watch houses contain a padded cell, but the padding is of a non-flammable material.[23]

The lock-up has remained largely unaltered since its 1900 re-erection. In the 1940s, the verandah was meshed in, forming a prisoner exercise area. The verandah ceiling has been relined; an enclosed shower cubicle was added to the northern end of the verandah; and toilet pedestals were installed in the two northernmost cells between 1962 and 1966. As standards changed, prisoners were transferred to modern lock-ups in Rockhampton. The early timber cells were decommissioned and used as storage facilities. However, two cells remained in sporadic use, and in 1979, following complaints about its proximity to the lock-up keeper’s residence, the lock-up was turned 180 degrees to face its verandah away from the residence and moved east to its present location further away.[24]

Lock-up Keeper’s Residence (1900)

The lock-up keeper’s residence was built in 1900 to a DPW design. It was a small lowset timber-framed two-bedroom cottage with a gable roof. The rectangular core comprised three rooms (two bedrooms and a sitting room) in a line and had a front and rear verandah. A kitchen and small storeroom projected from the rear at the southern end of the house and an enclosure at the north end of the rear verandah accommodated a bathroom.[25]

The lock-up keeper’s role was performed by one of the police constables stationed at Mount Morgan, and his family occupied the residence. The lock-up was initially located about 3m from the rear of the residence, causing considerable discomfort to the keeper’s family, which at times included small children. In 1939, following complaints about the prisoners’ bad language, lack of privacy, and danger to the family, the rear verandah was ‘boarded up and latticed’.[26] Both verandahs were completely enclosed in 1979.[27]

Police Sergeant’s Residence (1887, moved to site and re-erected 1900)

The police sergeant’s residence, built in 1887 as the original police station/senior constable’s residence and moved to its present site in 1899-1900, required only minor adaptation for use as a sergeant’s residence. The building was a modest, lowset timber-framed building with a front and rear verandah and a gable roof with a ventilator. With a U-shaped plan, after re-erection it accommodated a sitting room, dining room with fireplace, three bedrooms, a kitchen and a detached bathroom. An enclosure on the rear verandah formed a storeroom. All rooms opened onto verandahs, facilitating natural ventilation. The bedrooms on the western side (originally a constables’ office and kitchen), were interconnected, as were the dining and sitting rooms (originally the sitting room and bedroom respectively).[28]

Shortcomings of the residence, including lack of space and tendency to overheat, were reported in the mid-20th century. During the 1930s and 1940s, the sergeant’s four children slept on the front verandah, but a request for a new side verandah ‘sleep-out’ was refused. Both verandahs were eventually enclosed with lattice, and the rear verandah used as a dining area. The storeroom was converted into a bathroom.[29]

Police Horse Paddock and Stable

Horses were essential for 19th and 20th century Queensland policing. Police reserves, including a stable and police horse paddock, were gazetted in all Queensland police towns. At Mount Morgan, a mounted officer was assigned to the station from 1887, and stables were built for both the courthouse and police station by 1900. The police stable was built on the eastern boundary at the centre of the site behind the Police Sergeant’s Residence, opening in this direction, away from the Courthouse. It was a small building of three stalls, harness and fodder room, and housed the police troop horses.[30]

A horse paddock was formed at the sloping western side of the complex, fronting Central Street. Fenced yards around the buildings were arranged to allow the police horses to be led from the stable on the high, flat eastern land to the western paddock. In addition to accommodating the police horses, the paddock served as confiscation and evidence storage for horses and vehicles.[31]

As motor cars replaced horses in Queensland policing from the 1920s, stable buildings were converted to motor garages for police vehicles. Mount Morgan was allocated a police motor cycle in the 1930s but retained its troop horse. A shed was repurposed for the assigned police vehicle in 1939.[32]

The proximity of the stable to the police residence caused distress to the occupants of the residence. In 1948 the stable was proposed for removal to the horse paddock, but the move was refused. By the 1950s, a horse was no longer stationed at Mount Morgan. The Chamber of Commerce proposed the use of the horse paddock for police residences in 1954, which was also refused. Police stationed at Mount Morgan were allowed to use the stable for their private vehicles from 1956. The stable was in poor condition, so they were repaired, extended and converted to accommodate large cars, including the removal of the fodder and harness room.[33]

Other Buildings

The site formerly contained detached toilets which are no longer extant. The other buildings on the site, including radio communications equipment, toilet block, and sheds were constructed after 1960. A new police residence was built on the southwest corner of the site in 1978.[34]

Description

The Mount Morgan Courthouse and Police Station Complex comprises a collection of government buildings standing on a large site near the centre of Mount Morgan. Features of state-level cultural heritage significance are:

• Site Layout and Views
• Courthouse (1899)
• Lock-up Keeper’s Residence (1900)
• Lock-up (1887, moved to site, re-erected, and extended 1900)
• Police Sergeant’s Residence (1887, moved to site and re-erected 1900)
• Police Horse Paddock (1900) and Former Stable (by 1900)

Site Layout and Views

The site has a high flat area along the eastern half occupied by the Courthouse at one end and the Police Sergeant’s Residence at the other, facing opposite directions. Between them in the centre of the site is the Lock-up and the Lock-up Keeper’s Residence, both of which face west, and the Former Police Horse Stable. The western part of the site slopes considerably down to the west and is the former Police Horse Paddock.

The buildings are arranged on the site to clearly express a distinction between the court (north) and police (south) functions, the buildings’ individual functions, and the relationships between buildings.

The Courthouse faces Hall Street, is the most visually striking building on the site, and the only masonry building. It is surrounded by landscaped open space and is prominent within the Hall Street streetscape, with attractive views of the building obtained from Hall Street.

The police station buildings are arranged in accordance with their original functions. The Police Sergeant’s Residence is located facing Pattison Street with an open area of land beside it originally occupied by the police barracks (demolished). Both buildings originally had a public function. The Lock-up Keeper’s Residence and Lock-up retain a visual connection between each other across open space, although the Lock-up has been moved further east from its original location. The Former Stable and Police Horse Paddock retain a clear ‘laneway’ path between them (used for moving horses) running immediately south of the Lock-up Keeper’s Residence.

Courthouse (1899)

The Courthouse is a highly-intact, one-storey, brick building with smooth-stuccoed exterior and hipped roof. It stands on a flat platform of land formed in the sloping terrain.

The building is symmetrically-arranged and its external form expresses the internal spaces, comprising a large central double-height court room flanked by shorter, small rooms (court offices and a witness room). The core roof, verandah roofs, and window hoods are clad with rib-and-pan metal sheets.

Facing Hall Street, the front elevation has a large central entrance portico in a restrained Classical Revival style. It has a broad cement rendered stair and columns and pilasters supporting a deep, moulded entablature. Modest moulded cornices wrap around the building and a short parapet conceals the roof.

Masonry stairs lead up to side and rear timber-framed verandahs, which shelter the lower doors and windows. High-level windows into the court room are above the verandah roof. Two stucco chimneys with octagonal pots rise from the two rooms south of the courtroom.

An early (1908), small extension is attached to the rear (southwest) corner of the building, accommodating a strong room.

Features of the Courthouse also of state-level cultural heritage significance are:

• view of the building and its front portico from Hall Street across the landscaped front entrance area
• front portico rendered stair and concrete floor
• side and rear verandahs including: stairs including slate treads; stop chamfered timber framing; timber floors; open nature without balustrades; beaded board ceiling
• metal ventilation grilles to subfloor space
• stucco scoring (to mimic ashlar coursing)
• timber-framed window hoods and decorative metal brackets
• metal rainwater goods with chamfered square profile and rainheads
• concrete spoon drains
• original and early wall-mounted metal room name signs
• timber doors, windows, and fanlights and original and early hardware (including knobs, keyhole covers, locks, winders, and evidence/marks of missing original hardware)
• internal layout with clear, functional organisation of spaces for its original use
• plaster walls with plaster mouldings
• beaded timber board ceilings
• timber joinery including: skirtings; dado boards and dado rail (courtroom); picture rails; architraves; cornices; fretwork ceiling roses
• clear-finished timber courtroom bench with integrated platform and stairs, drawers some with early keys, and slanted benchtop
• fireplaces including timber surrounds and hearth
• strongroom including: door with its hardware, decorative metal door escutcheon, and (inside face) logo; timber board shelves with metal brackets; and ventilation opening with metal mesh grille

NOTE: joinery and timber furniture courtroom (witness box; prisoners dock; clerk of petty sessions desk; gallery rail; public screen/partition) have been removed from the building c2007 and are in storage

Features of the Courthouse not of state-level cultural heritage significance are:

• rear verandah enclosure
• storeroom enclosure with roller shutter on east verandah
• air-conditioning systems, non-original electric lights, and emergency exit and surveillance systems
• floor tiles and coverings
• bathroom and kitchenette fitouts
• door infill framing and sheeting
• non-original doors and non-original door, window, and fanlight hardware
• ramps

Lock-up (1887, moved to site and extended 1900, turned 180 degrees and moved eastwards within the site 1979)

The Lock-up is a highly-intact, one-storey timber-framed and -clad building that stands at a distance behind (south of) the Courthouse. It is small and lowset with a gable roof clad with corrugated metal sheets and a verandah along the eastern side providing access to a series of five detention cells.

The northern two cells and verandah at this end are the 1887 section from the original police station/senior constable’s residence (the extension line is clearly visible in the weatherboards). The other cells and verandah are 1900. The cells each have a sturdy metal security door with large deadbolts and hatches and high-level openings with bars and gauze.

At the southern end of the verandah is an enclosure accommodating a Charge Office.

The building stands in an open space with a visual connection between it and the Lock-up Keeper’s Residence across its former location.

Features of the Lock-up also of state-level cultural heritage significance are:

• visual relationship with Lock-up Keeper’s Residence
• 1900-1979 location of Lock-up
• weatherboard cladding
• timber stair to verandah
• layout of cells, Charge Office, and verandah
• timber floor boards
• timber windows and doors
• two metal roof fleches
• metal hoods over eastern openings
• cell doors with deadbolts and observation/pass-through hatches; fanlights above with metal screen and bars, high-level opening in opposite wall of cell with metal bars and mesh
• unpainted timber board cell interior (walls, ceiling, and joinery)
• wall pads in padded cell
• small timber access hatches to cisterns on eastern (rear) of building
• timber wall-mounted desk with sloping top in Charge Office
• large pair of timber doors stored in Charge Office (removed from elsewhere on site)
• verandah timber framing (a c1945 alteration from the original open verandah)
• small weatherboard-clad enclosure at northern end of the verandah (a c1962 alteration to accommodate a shower on what was originally open verandah)
• lavatories (c1962)

Features of the Lock-up not of state-level cultural heritage significance are:

• orientation away from Lock-up Keeper’s Residence
• subfloor stumps
• metal grille enclosing verandah (post c1962)
• flat sheet cladding to exterior of Charge Office

Lock-up Keeper’s Residence (1900)

The Lock-up Keeper’s Residence is a highly-intact, modest, low-set timber-framed and -clad house with a gable roof. It faces west across the Horse Paddock to Central Street. It has a front verandah along three front rooms and a back verandah with a small kitchen at the north end and a bathroom at the south end.

The rear verandah has a later lean-to extension accommodating a laundry, which is not of state-level cultural heritage significance.

Features of the Lock-up Keeper’s Residence also of state-level cultural heritage significance are:

• vegetated house yard (none of the individual vegetation is of significance)
• metal window hoods on side elevations
• original verandah posts and balustrade
• original partitions and layout
• single-skin construction with timber internal linings – external walls with horizontal chamfer boards beaded internally and internal partitions with vertical beaded boards
• kitchen lining of narrow vertical v-jointed boards
• high-quality, modest timber joinery (simple round mouldings and architraves on front verandah) and the absence of joinery where it is usually present (no skirtings or architraves internally)
• original doors, windows, and fanlights including original hardware and markings of missing original hardware
• kitchen stove alcove

NOTE: the original metal roof fleche was removed from the building c2015

Features of the Lock-up Keeper’s Residence not of state-level cultural heritage significance are:

• perimeter battening and concrete stumps and slabs of understorey
• front stair and its balustrade
• non-original front verandah enclosure (original verandah framing and balustrade encased or surrounded by non-original fabric is significant)
• non-original rear verandah extension for laundry
• non-original doors and windows
• non-original flat sheet ceiling linings
• kitchen and bathroom fitout and associated later tiles and floor coverings
• trees, tank and tank stand, clothes hoist, concrete paths, fences

Police Sergeant’s Residence (1887, moved to site and re-erected 1899)

The Police Sergeant’s Residence is a highly-intact, modest, low-set timber-framed and -clad house facing south to Pattison Street. Standing in a small house yard, it has a front verandah along three front rooms and a back verandah with a perpendicular rear kitchen wing.

The rear verandah has a later lean-to extension accommodating a laundry, which is not of state-level cultural heritage significance.

Features of the Police Sergeant’s Residence also of state-level cultural heritage significance are:

• vegetated house yard (none of the individual vegetation is of significance)
• metal roof fleche and chimney
• timber-framed window hoods
• original verandah posts
• original partitions and layout
• timber-framed construction with weatherboard external lining, internal wall and partition lining (horizontal beaded boards), and ceiling lining (beaded boards, v-jointed boards)
• high-quality, modest timber joinery (simple round mouldings and architraves on front verandah) and the absence of joinery where it is usually present (no skirtings or architraves internally)
• original doors, windows, and fanlights including original hardware and markings of missing original hardware
• kitchen stove alcove with louvred wall vents
• fireplaces including timber surrounds and hearth

Features of the Police Sergeant’s Residence not of state-level cultural heritage significance are:

• steel understorey stumps
• front verandah screens, screen doors, lattice
• non-original rear verandah extension
• non-original doors and windows
• kitchen and bathroom fitout and associated later tiles and floor coverings
• trees, tank and tank stand, clothes hoist, concrete paths, fences
• non-original chimney cap

Police Horse Paddock (1900) and Former Stable (by 1900)

The Police Horse Paddock is an open grassed area of sloping land along the length of the west side of the site.

Features of the Police Horse Paddock state-level cultural heritage significance are:

• open, grassed space from Hall Street to Pattison Street along Central Street
• open space ‘laneway’ south of the Lock-up Keeper’s Residence running from the paddock to the Former Stable

Features of the Police Horse Paddock not of state-level cultural heritage significance are:

• trees, fences, and any other structures
• police residence (1978) built on the southern part of the paddock and all its associated structures and vegetation

The Former Stable (by 1900) is a small skillion-roofed building standing near the eastern boundary of the site, east of the Lock-up, that has been extended and converted to a car garage. The building has had its feed and harness room (originally on the eastern end) mostly demolished. Its three stalls have been combined into one space and the building has been extended to the south (in two stages) to accommodate two cars. The wall framing stands on short stumps.

The Former Stable was not inspected internally.

Features of the Former Stable of state-level cultural heritage significance are:

• location and relationship to the horse paddock via the ‘laneway’
• timber wall and roof frames, excluding later extensions, standing on short stumps
• earthen floor
• timber remnants of feed and harness room

Features of the Former Stable not of state-level cultural heritage significance are:

• extensions (southern side of building)
• external metal sheet cladding (roof and walls)
• timber-framed windows of glass louvres
• openings on the north side and concrete driveway north through courthouse grounds

Features of Mount Morgan Courthouse and Police Station Complex Not of State-level Cultural Heritage Significance

Features of the place not of state-level cultural heritage significance are:

• all other structures and landscape features including trees not mentioned above

References

[1] The mine leapt into prominence from a ‘celebrated mine’ to ‘the most sensational of all Queensland mines’: Pugh’s Almanac and Queensland Directory for 1888, Brisbane: Gordon and Gotch, p104, and Pugh’s Queensland Official Almanac, Directory and Gazetteer for 1912, Brisbane: Edwards Dunlop & Co, p865. Mount Morgan’s annual yield in 1889 was higher than the yield from the entire northern goldfield division (272,580oz) and southern division (134,495oz). The next highest individual goldfield yield, from Charters Towers and Cape goldfields, was 165,552oz. Acting Under Secretary, Annual Report of the Department of Mines, Queensland, for the year 1889, Brisbane: Government Printer, 1890, p11. Information obtained from Mines Department Annual Reports contained in Queensland Parliamentary Papers; Allom Lovell Marquis-Kyle, Mt Morgan Mine: an appraisal of significance: The first report prepared for Preilya Mines NL, 1994, p18.
[2] Population estimates included visitors, amongst whom, according to the Progress Association, were ‘loafers and bad characters, that require to be dealt with promptly by the law’: Capricornian, 10 September 1887, p26; Meredith Walker, Mount Morgan: a study of the town character and ways and means of conserving and enhancing it, National Trust of Queensland, 1979, p2; Margaret Cook and Margaret Pullar, Police and Justice Study: A report for DERM, August 2011, p10; Queensland State Archives (QSA), item ID 363385, Station inspections, Mount Morgan, inspection 9/10/1898.
[3] Morning Bulletin 2 July 1887 p4; Queensland Figaro and Punch 23 July 1887 p17; Capricornian 9 July 1887 p18.
[4] DPW, Architectural plan/drawing, Mount Morgan Police Station, 1887, QSA Item ID 581385; George Connolly, Report of the Colonial Architect on Public Buildings etc carried out during the half-year ending 30th June 1888, p2; Margaret Cook and Margaret Pullar, Police and Justice Study: A report for DERM, August 2011, pp11-14; Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton) 18 October 1887 p5.
[5] More serious criminal and civil cases were tried in Rockhampton at the District or Supreme courts. Rockhampton’s District Court was part of the Central District Court circuit, which held four civil and two or three criminal sessions in Rockhampton per year. The Supreme Court was declared in 1863 and built in 1886 [QHR 600795]. Pugh’s Almanac, 1887, pp163-164’ Capricornian, 10 September 1887, p26. Queensland Government Gazette, Vol XLI (1887) p168 and Vol XLIV (1888), pp189 & 962; Cook, Police and Justice Study, August 2011, pp11, 59-61.
[6] Capricornian 27 February 1897 p36.
[7] While staffing levels at Mount Morgan increased in the 1890s, some roles had to be filled by other officers: the Police Magistrate also served as the Gold Warden, while a police officer served as Clerk of Petty Sessions. In April 1896 the Mount Morgan Chronicle reportedly described the courthouse as a ‘dismal hole’ which needed additional accommodation, insect removal, and replacement furniture. Daily Northern Argus 9 September 1895 p3; Pugh’s Almanac, 1890-1896; Morning Bulletin, 22 February 1897 p6. Telegraph 4 May 1896 p2. Morning Bulletin, 22 February 1897 p6; Capricornian, 28 August 1897 p33; Centre for the Government of Queensland, Queensland Places: Mount Morgan, www.queenslandplaces.com.au/mount-morgan, accessed 12 March 2012; Queensland Government Gazette, Vol 68 No 88, 16 October 1897 p842 and Vol 70 No 66, 27 August 1898 p618; Survey Plan M31111 (1898).
[8] The original courthouse/police barracks building was described as the police station when it was de-roofed in a 1929 storm. It was demolished in 1980. Queensland Government Gazette, Vol LXIX p1442; Statement of contracts entered into for public buildings during the year ending 30th June, 1899, DPW Annual Report p6; QSA, C251 644-352, 26 June 1980, 9 July 1980; Department of Public Works Annual Reports, 1899-1900 pp6&16; 1900-1901 p4; Capricornian 24 June 1899 p25; Brisbane Courier 8 July 1899 p4.
[9] Other courthouse and police complexes with three or more of these elements include Toowoomba [QHR 601710], Pomona [QHR 602515], Croydon [QHR 600437 and 601153], Bundaberg [QHR 601762], Birdsville [QHR 600460], Cleveland [QHR 601933], Mackay [QHR 600673], Ravenswood [QHR 601204], Roma [QHR 601285], Rosewood [QHR 601101], Yungaburra [QHR 600477], Warwick [QHR 600948], Irvinebank, and Howard. Cook and Pullar, Police and Justice Study, 2011, p35. The Mount Morgan correspondent to Rockhampton’s Capricornian newspaper praised the proposal to collocate the courthouse and cells ‘as the present plan of conveying persons about to be tried through the streets is most objectionable’: Capricornian 30 September 1899 p28. Gina McLellan, The Roma Court House and Police Precinct Conservation Study, thesis for degree of Bachelor of Architecture, 1992, p48.
[10] Capricornian 30 March 1912 p29 (announcement of polling results for Legislative Assembly member), Morning Bulletin 9 March 1918 p13 (returning officer, courthouse); Queensland Post Office Directory 1917 (insurance); Western Star and Roma Advertiser, 24 October 1925 p8 (distribution of unemployment benefits); Morning Bulletin 1 March 1935 p8 and Central Queensland Herald 16 September 1954 p12 (baby clinic); QSA, Item ID 301246, report of electric lights installed, 20 February 1940 and Police memo 23 December 1942 (baby clinic converted into constable accommodation); Capricornian 17 August 1912 p44; Morning Bulletin 4 July 1913 p10 and 28 May 1919 p5; Queensland Government Gazette Vol 101 No 34, 2 August 1913, p319; Survey Plans M31111 (1898) and RN1582 (1897).
[11] Centre for the Government of Queensland, Queensland Places, Mount Morgan, https://queenslandplaces.com.au/mount-morgan, accessed February 2020; Project Services, Heritage Report: Mount Morgan Police Station Redevelopment for Queensland Police Service, 2006, p7.
[12] QSA, Item IDs 581384, 581388 and 581389, Architectural Drawings, ‘Mount Morgan New Court House’; Annual report of Public Works Department and Plan Room Batch Cards; Letter, Secretary of Public Works, 28/8/1898; Brisbane Courier, 8 July 1899, p4; 4 September 1899, p4; and 8 November 1899, p3.
[13] Administrative Services Department, Boggo Road Gaol: Conservation Analysis by the Heritage Buildings Group, Q Build Project Services, Administrative Services Department for Department of Justice and Corrective Services, January 1992, p46.
[14] Donald Watson and Judith McKay, Queensland Architects of the 19th century: a biographical dictionary, South Brisbane: Queensland Museum, 1994, p149; Administrative Services Department, Boggo Road Gaol: Conservation Analysis, 1992, pp45-6.
[15] Other surviving 19th century masonry courthouses are at Ipswich (1859, QHR600575), Toowoomba (1878, QHR600848), Townsville (Magistrates Court (former), 1877, QHR600929), Maryborough (1877, QHR600714), Bowen (1880, 600044), Bundaberg (1884, QHR601762), Charters Towers (1886, QHR600403), Rockhampton (Supreme Court, 1887, QHR600795), Warwick (1887, QHR600948) and Birdsville (1890, QHR 600460). Brisbane’s masonry Supreme Court, built in 1877-9, was destroyed by fire in 1967. McLellan, The Roma Court House and Police Precinct Conservation Study, 1992, p17; Cook, Police and Justice Study, 2011, pp 64-5, 79-81, 108; Cook and Pullar, Police and Justice Study, 2011, pp79-80; Entry on the Queensland Heritage Register, Charters Towers Court House [600403]; Ian Cameron, 125 years of State Public Works in Queensland 1859-1984, Bowen Hills: Boolarong Publications, 1989, pp83-4.
[16] The interior iron work was to be finished in white paint and the timber was to be varnished. Skirting boards, architraves, interior doors, fanlights, mantelpieces, desks and tables were to be cedar. Information for this historical description was soured from Department of Public Works plans dated 1898 and 1959, refurbishment plans dated 2008, and the 1898 Public Works Department specification. The reference to cork linoleum is from Morning Bulletin 8 November 1899 p3. The linoleum does not appear to have had the desired effect, as in 1934 the Police Magistrate complained of the building’s poor acoustics and ventilation, and the newspaper reported that the inability of the court to hear the witnesses had been a problem ‘ever since the Mount Morgan Police Court was built’. Evening News (Rockhampton) 26 November 1934 p9; The Week 8 July 1898 p13; Cook and Pullar, Police and Justice Study, 2011, pp61-62.
[17] QSA, Item ID 309805, Batch file, public works – C series, Mount Morgan Police Station, Police offices, 22 July 1957.
[18] The strong room was erected by D Kelleher at a cost of £131 and still extant. Fittings and repairs were undertaken to the value of £16 at the same time. Return of Expenditure on State Public Buildings from 1st July 1907 to 30th June 1908, Annual Report of the Department of Public Works, p17; QSA Plan Room Batch Cards; Department of Public Works, New Strong Room at Court House, Mount Morgan, 1908; Morning Bulletin 15 February 1908 p6, 1 March 1935 p8 and 11 September 1954 p3; QSA, Item ID 309805, Batch file, public works – C series, Mount Morgan Police Station, Police offices, 22 July 1957; QSA, Item ID 301246, Batch file, public works – C series, Mount Morgan Court House, Police memo 23/12/42; Department of Public Works drawing, Mount Morgan Court House, new lay out and alterations, 1 July 1959.
[19] Tender drawings, ‘The Mount Morgan Replacement Police Station’, Department of Public Works, 2008. Courtroom joinery and furniture (witness box, prisoners dock, clerk of petty sessions desk, gallery rail, and public screen) was removed from the building and securely stored.
[20] QSA, Item ID 363385, Administration file, police, Mount Morgan Station inspections, 18/6/1897, 23/6/1898, 31/12/1898, 18/2/1899, 25/7/1899, 22/9/1899.
[21] Mark Finnane, ‘From dangerous lunatic to human rights?’ in Catharine Coleborne and Dolly MacKinnon, Madness in Australia: histories, heritage and asylum, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 2003, pp26-31; Milton James Lewis, Managing Madness: psychiatry and society in Australia 1788-1980, Canberra: Australian Government Printing Service, 1988, pp1-9.
[22] Annual Report of the Department of Public Works for the year 1901, p4; Personal communication, Roma Police Station (April 2012).
[23] QSA, police file A/41374, correspondence 8 November 1915; QSA, Item ID 309804, Batch file, public works – C series, police station, Mount Morgan Police Station, report 1 July 1941; Item ID 604213, Batch file, public buildings, Mount Morgan Police Station, 23 September 1970; QSA, items 309804, 1 July 1941; and 604213, 23 September 1970. Of the two known early masonry lock-ups (non-standard design), only Bundaberg (1900) has a padded cell: Entry on the Queensland Heritage Register, Bundaberg Police Station Complex (former)[601762].
[24] QSA, police file A/41374, and item 604213, correspondence 772/64; Drawing C251-347/1; QSA item 604213, correspondence 2 October 1963 and 18 August 1966; QSA Item 581393, Department of Public Works drawings, ‘Mount Morgan Police Buildings’; QSA Item 309804, ‘Mount Morgan Police Station, Enclosing of Cells Veranda’; Cook, Police and Justice Study, 2011, pp33-5; personal communication with 77 police stations during March and April 2012; QSA item 604213, letter 19 March 1979; production orders 9 March 1979 and 29 November 1979.
[25] Annual Report of the Department of Public Works for the year 1901, p4; Plan, Lock-up keepers quarters, in National Trust of Queensland, Mount Morgan: A study of the State Government Buildings, Brisbane: National Trust of Queensland, 1979, p83.
[26] QSA, item 309084, reports 1 July 1939, 1 July 1940, 1 July 1941; and item 604213, letters 9 September 1971 and 19 March 1979.
[27] QSA, item 604213.
[28] Capricornian 24 June 1899 p25; Annual Report of the Department of Public Works for the year 1901, p4; Queensland Government Gazette, Vol XLI (1887) p168; Department of Public Works drawing, ‘Plan of Police Station Mount Morgan’, 1887; Queensland Government Gazettes Vol LXXI, 27 May 1889, p1321; and Vol LXXII, 1899, p133.
[29] QSA, Item ID 309804, Batch file, public works – C series, police station, Mount Morgan Police Station, reports 1 July 1939 and 1 October 1940; Department of Public Works, Mt Morgan Police Station, New Verandah to Serg Qrs, April 1940 [verandah not installed].
[30] Entries on the Queensland Heritage Register, Mackay Court House and Police Station [600673] and Rewan Horse Breeding Station (former) [650094]. Mount Morgan’s police paddock, a 38 acre site on the Dee River, was gazetted in 1889: Queensland Government Gazette Vol 48 No 47, 26 October 1889 p655. The police stable may have been built in 1887 at the former police site and re-erected on the current site in 1900. Tenders were called for alterations to the existing Mount Morgan stable in 1899 (Queenslander 3 June 1899 p1047); for a new stable for the court in 1899, with J Macfarlane’s £55 tender accepted (Telegraph 24 June 1899 p7, Brisbane Courier 4 July 1899 p4); and a stable in conjunction with the lock-up keeper’s quarters, undertaken by Doyle and Gilbert (Telegraph 3 July 1899 p2). The stable on site in 2020 closely resembles the plans prepared for the stable in 1887 (QSA, Item ID 581385, Plan of Police Station Mount Morgan, 1887). W Ross Johnston, The Long Blue Line: A History of the Queensland Police, Bowen Hills: Boolarong Publications, 1992, p36; Morning Bulletin 2 July 1887 p4; Telegraph 19 January 1897 p2.
[31] QSA Item 309805 (1953). This part of the site was officially gazetted within the police reserve in 1913: Queensland Government Gazette, Vol 101 No 34, 2 August 1913 p319; Capricornian 4 July 1908 p44.
[32] Johnston, The Long Blue Line, 1992, p235; Queensland State Archives, Item ID 309804, Batch file, public works – C series, police station, Mount Morgan Police Station, report 1 July 1940.
[33] QSA, Item ID 309805, Batch file, public works – C series, police station, Mount Morgan Police Station, letters 14 July 1956, 18 May 1957, 9 January 1961 and 17 January 1961.
[34] QSA, Item ID 309806, Batch file, public works – C series, police station, Mount Morgan Police Station, file C251 644-352.

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