Ipswich Grammar School Buildings are a heritage-listed group of private school buildings at Ipswich Grammar School, Woodend Road, Woodend, Ipswich, City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. They were built from 1863 to 1972. They were added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
History Ipswich Grammar School was the first secondary school established in Queensland and its original building was constructed in the early 1860s, constituting a fine example of Gothic Revival architecture.
The term "grammar school" dates as far back as the early days of Christianity when the Church maintained the connection between Christian education and the study of "grammar" or, more precisely, classical languages and literature. While the history of grammar schools dates from these early origins, English schools teaching grammar date from the 15th century when William of Wayneflete established the Free Grammar School. During the 18th and 19th centuries, grammar schools in Britain began expanding the curricula beyond the confines of classics and the Ipswich Grammar School was established in this climate of educational change, expansion and centralization.
In stark contrast, education in pre-Separation Queensland was limited to the teaching of reading, writing, arithmetic and religious instruction, and was often a parochial venture conducted from the parlours of private establishments or homes. When Queensland was declared a separate colony from New South Wales on 10 December 1859, the new Queensland Government faced the increasing need to provide an educational system for the new colony. Two significant pieces of legislation were enacted in 1860 to facilitate the development of Queensland education - the Education Act which saw the creation of a Board of General Education and the Grammar Schools Act 1860 which encouraged the establishment of grammar schools by providing a government subsidy of when an equal sum of money was raised by donation or subscription in any district.
Early efforts were made to establish a grammar school in Brisbane, but sectarian rancour resulted in the suspension of the proposal. In Ipswich, however, progress was made quite rapidly with subscribed by June 1861, but it was not without rankled debate. On 20 August 1861, the first meeting was held to discuss the establishment of the Ipswich Grammar School, which was chaired by local Mayor John Murphy and attended by some 200 people. Although sectarian rivalries resulted in the meeting ending in chaos and brawling, and a similarly turbulent meeting was staged one week later, it was resolved at the latter gathering in favour of establishing Ipswich Grammar School by 281 votes to 199 votes.
Disgruntled Roman Catholics, who believed they were not fairly represented in a committee to facilitate the establishment of the Grammar School, subsequently withdrew their money from the fund. This caused only a minor setback and the committee was able to report it had acquired all but of the necessary funds by 11 March 1862. Two weeks later, the first Trustees were elected and in April 1862 they decided to call for plans and specifications with a prize of for the best submission and for the second best proposal. Ultimately, Benjamin Backhouse was the only one to respond to the Trustees call and his plans were accepted after some modifications to make allowance for toilets in the School.
Backhouse was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, in 1829 and found early employment as a stonemason with his father before working on his own as a builder-architect. In 1852 he emigrated to Victoria, and, following a sojourn in England in 1861, he returned to Australia, where he settled in Brisbane. After winning the competition for Ipswich Grammar School, there was a dispute between Backhouse and his then business partner, Thomas Taylor, over credit for the design. It is likely, however, from Backhouse's other work, which included over 100 buildings in Queensland, that Ipswich Grammar School was his design.
The Trustees had a more enthusiastic response to a call for tenders following the acceptance of Backhouse's plans, with several replies received. With a quote of , the submission of the Ipswich building firm McLaughlin & Ferguson was successful. McLaughlin & Ferguson was a relatively new business, but the partners, David McLaughlin and William Lackey Ferguson, were most likely longstanding friends who first became acquainted in their Irish hometown of Newtown in Limavardy.
By September 1863, work on Ipswich Grammar School had progressed well and it was announced in The Queensland Times that the school would:"be conducted as nearly as possible upon the plan of the best public schools of the Mother Country . . . . The school buildings situated on the western hill - overlooking the town of Ipswich and from that elevated position command a varied and extensive view of the surrounding country". The school became a landmark of Ipswich and a reflection of the growing importance of the town as a centre for business and industrial activity. Its opening was suitably majestic with the Queensland Governor, Sir George Bowen, presiding over the event on 25 September 1863. Within 2 weeks, the school received its first pupils and in its first 3 years student numbers steadily increased but waned in the subsequent 3 years owing to the worsening economic climate and the opening of the Brisbane Grammar School in 1869. This was a period overseen by the School's first headmaster, Stuart Hawthorne, who was born in Ireland and migrated to Australia in the 1840s.
Hawthorne served as headmaster until 1868 and during his time extensions to the Great Hall were carried out by McLaughlin & Ferguson in 1865 at a cost of for the buildings and for the fittings. In the next 32 years, Ipswich Grammar School had just 2 principals - John Macrae from 1869 to 1875 and Donald Cameron from 1875 to 1900. Although the period from the 1870s to the turn of the century was characterized by undulating economic fortunes, it was a period that represented an era of expansion for the school with pupil numbers reaching a peak in the mid-1880s and further building improvements and ground work being carried out. In 1876, a tender of was accepted for "laying down of a cricket ground and clearing the paddock". The following year, the highly esteemed architect, Francis Drummond Greville Stanley, whose work came to include the Queensland Supreme Court (no longer extant), General Post Office and Queensland National Bank building in Brisbane, was employed on the less illustrious job of designing the school's gymnasium shed as well as other additions and alterations. The work was carried out by John Farrely at a cost of . In other developments around this time, water was laid on at the School in 1879 and 4 years later a gas supply was installed. The School also had a verandah added in 1890, which was built by contractors Worley & Whitehead.
At the turn of the 20th century, Charles Alfred Flint became principal of the school and remained there until 1907. A covered balcony was designed in Flint's first year at Ipswich Grammar School by George Brockwell Gill, who had previously worked on Ipswich Girls' Grammar School and Ipswich Technical College. Gill was also employed in 1921 to design a two-storey building for the school, which became known as Bradfield House and was built by Mr Pickles at a cost of . In the first year of Flint's headmastership an application was also lodged with the Lands Department to sell a portion of the School grounds. The application was unsuccessful, but it was renewed some years later with approval granted in March 1910, when Bertram George Lawrance was principal. A sale was realized the following year with 2½ acres at the northeastern end of the school grounds released at a price of . The money raised from this sale as well as a government subsidy were used to build and equip a new science building, designed by Gill, as well as new servants' quarters and a room for sick boarders in 1912.
Soon after the outbreak of the First World War, Richard Alexander Kerr became headmaster of Ipswich Grammar School and he remained there until 1945. These were obviously tumultuous and uncertain times, but the school flourished under the leadership of "The Boss" as Kerr was affectionately known. Between 1914 and 1930 student numbers more than doubled from 96 to 198, and demand for extra teaching space resulted in the construction in 1923 of 4 brick classrooms in a two-storey building on the western side of the Masters' Common Room and a reconditioning of the old museum in 1930 to cater for Geography and History classes. This period also saw the laying of a sports ground, which cost a total of and was opened on 13 June 1925. With the Great Depression of the 1930s and the outbreak of the Second World War, government spending on education was reduced and Ipswich Grammar School had no further building developments during that time.
Following the end of the Second World War, William George Henderson became headmaster of the school and was succeeded by 4 other principals to 1968. Building expansions once more became necessary as student enrolments began to increase. In 1946 a new wing was added for boarders and called The Murray Hancock Memorial Block, named after an Ipswich Grammar School Old Boy who had died in the Second World War. The following year, the War Memorial Library was opened and in 1954 a brass tablet was erected to commemorate those former students who died in the two World Wars. The pressure on accommodation caused by the increase in boarders during the 1950s resulted in the School's dining room being enlarged and provision made for a new kitchen, laundry and ablution block. Undoubtedly the most significant building achievement in this period was the construction of a new block costing over and designed by the architect Dr Karl Langer. The foundation stone was laid on 16 September 1961 and the building consists of 13 classrooms, 2 science demonstration rooms, 3 laboratories, offices, masters' rooms, wash room, and locker area.
The 1970s was a period of growth for the School, as evidenced by the building programme of the time. In 1972, the Fox and Hancock dormitory towers were designed by Stephen Trotter and built by KD Morris & Sons. That same year the War Memorial Teaching Complex, the Earle Williams Building and headmasters' residence were also constructed. Five years later, the science building that was built in 1912 was refurbished to accommodate what is currently known as the Music School and an open-air theatre was built in the School grounds. In 1978, the Earle Williams Building was extended and the following year a swimming pool, gymnasium and tennis courts were installed.
In more recent times, the School has continued to expand and that growth is reflected in its physical development. Between 1980 and 1982, the original building of 1863 was refurbished and Bradfield House was converted into accommodation by Bruce Buchanan. In 1985, Buchanan was again employed to design a new Art School, which was completed by renovating an existing war memorial boarding house. Two years later, the Clive Wyman Building (also designed by Bruce Buchanan and David Pagendam Architects in association) was opened by the then Education Minister, Lin Powell, and used to house the school's library and computer facilities. The late 1980s also saw the construction of a new $2.5 million administration facility and clock tower and in 1990 a cricket storage shed as well as a new scoreboard were erected in the school grounds.