Endrim, Woodstock Road tram shed, and tram track

Endrim, Woodstock Road tram shed, and tram track are a heritage-listed group consisting of a house, a tramway and a tramway stop at 6 & 28 Woodstock Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. They were built in 1906 by the Brisbane Tramways Company Limited. Endrim is also known as Arlington and "Boss" Badger's residence. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 23 March 2018.

History Endrim (originally Arlington), the Woodstock Road tram shed, and tram track are located in Toowong, approximately west of the Brisbane CBD. It is at the Toowong terminus of a former passenger tram line, completed by the Brisbane Tramway Company in 1904. Endrim is a residence built above the Toowong terminus in 1906 by the Brisbane Tramway Company for its general manager Joseph Stillman "Boss" Badger. The passenger waiting shelter shed was built at the terminus in 1924 by the Brisbane Tramway Trust at the request of the Toowong Progress Association. Together they demonstrate the evolution of Brisbane's settlement and the influence of the Brisbane tramway system and Joseph Badger on the spread of suburban development.

Passenger trams began operating in Brisbane after the Tramways Act 1882 was passed, allowing a local authority or private company to construct, maintain and operate a tramway. The Metropolitan Tramways Company (MTC) was granted a construction order for a line from Woolloongabba to Breakfast Creek in April 1884. Steel rails were ordered from English steelworks Dick Kerr and Co, laid from January 1885, and full services started in May 1886.DW Campbell "Centenary of Brisbane Tramways", Trolley Wire August 1985 p3Tramways Act 1882 (Queensland) via AustliiCapricornian (Rockhampton) 24 November 1883 p6Queensland State Archives, Companies Index 1863-1959Brisbane Courier, 16 September 1882 p5GR Steer, "Brisbane Tramways: their history and development" Historical Society of Queensland Journal Vol 3 Issue 3, 1944, pp209-243, p209Brisbane Courier 21 May 1884 p6, 9 January 1885 p4Queenslander 24 May 1884 p828The Week 31 May 1884 p15Howard Clark & David Keenan, Brisbane Tramways: The Last Decade, 2009, p4Campbell, Trolley Wire, pp3,7. Residents petitioned the company to extend tramlines to the suburbs, with lines opened to Bulimba, New Farm and Boundary Street in 1886. In 1892, after a legislative amendment, MTC received permission to convert the tramway system to electric power. However, the company encountered major financial difficulties, and shareholders agreed to sell MTC in December 1893.Campbell, Trolley Wire, p7The Tramways Act of 1882 Amendment Act of 1890 (Queensland) ss3, 9, 12, via AustliiQueenslander 15 February 1890 p318, 22 October 1892 p80217 December 1892 p1186Telegraph 20 February 1892 p4Brisbane Courier 13 December 1893 p6.

The Brisbane Tramways Company (BTC), created by a London syndicate in 1895, purchased the MTC later that year and took over tram operations. It quickly embarked on electrifying the tramway system, engaging American company General Electric (GE), which sent engineer Joseph Stillman Badger to Brisbane to oversee the project. Badger had commenced his career in telephones before moving to railway engineering for the Edison Company in 1890. Intending to make the Brisbane tramway system "an exhibition one for Australia",Brisbane Courier 25 June 1896 p6. Badger ran the first electric tram on 21 June 1897, just over a year after his arrival. Badger accepted the position of General Manager of BTC and moved his wife Carrie and two sons to Brisbane. Their first home was Bellevue, a rented house on Miskin Street, Toowong.GR Ford, "Joseph Stillman Badger, The Brisbane Tramway Company Limited and Queensland", Trolley Wire December 1977, pp3-30, pp4-5David Burke, One American Too Many, p9, Telegraph 23 December 1895 pp5,17,21QSA Agency ID 7134, Brisbane Tramways Company Limited descriptionTelegraph 28 May 1896 p5Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser 24 June 1897 p4The Tramways Act of 1882 Amendment Act of 1890Post Office Directories, 1898-1903Brisbane Courier 22 June 1897 p7.

Under Badger's management, the electric tramway system expanded across Brisbane. Horse-drawn tram rails were replaced with weightier rails, accommodating heavier rolling stock. Local councils petitioned BTC for extensions to encourage settlement in previously undeveloped suburbs. Tramlines could reach areas not serviced by railways, and the mere promise of a tram service sparked land sales and population growth. Between 1898 and 1900, lines were extended to Paddington, New Farm, Ascot, West End and Ipswich Road.Telegraph 28 January 1896 p5BCC Heritage Unit citationBrisbane Courier 25 June 1896 p6

An extension to Toowong was discussed from 1900. BTC's preferred route ran too close to the railway, so Badger proposed a variation "along Norwood Street instead of Dean or one of the other streets".Telegraph, 18 July 1900 p6. Notably, Badger's Bellevue had frontage to Norwood Street. The tramline was ultimately run along Milton Road to the Toowong Cemetery, opening in July 1904, and up Dean Street to a terminus at the intersection of Woodstock Road and Miskin Street, opening over a month later.Brisbane City Council Heritage Unit citation, EndrimBrisbane Courier 9 January 1903 p4, 4 January 1904 p4 and 23 July 1904 p6Telegraph 17 August 1904 p6 and 26 August 1904 p2Burke, One American Too Many, p31Leigh Chamberlain and Lindy Salter, Toowong: A tram ride from the past, Toowong and District Historical Society, 2008, v.

Badger and BTC promoted the tramways heavily in the early 20th century. Their innovations included "picnic trams" (a concept which seem to have originated in London, but was promoted in Scotland as a Brisbane initiative)Evening Telegraph (Dundee, Scotland), 31 August 1904 p4. which could be hired for special events; tram day trip suggestions for tourists; and tram rides around the suburbs for visiting dignitaries. BTC also offered to supply electricity to areas along tramway lines, installing a demonstration electric light on a tower on Miskin Street.Queensland Post Office Directories, 1903-4, Brisbane Courier 9 June 1902 p6, 13 May 1903 p6, 16 November 1907 p6Telegraph 16 December 1903 p7, 16 September 1904 p2, 21 September 1907 p6, 27 May 1908 p5, 15 October 1908 p7Queensland Figaro, 21 January 1904 p6, 7 July 1904 p15Truth 26 July 1908 p1The Week 22 January 1909 p16Burke, One American Too Many, p46.

Amidst BTC's growth, Badger moved into boarding accommodation in the city while his wife and sons lived in America for the boys' education. In 1905 BTC employees acquired an 1870s villa, Collina, and its nearly elevated site, fronting Woodstock Road and adjacent to the Toowong tram terminus. Badger and his housekeeper resided in Collina from around June 1905. In 1906, with Carrie Badger and their youngest son due to return to Brisbane, construction began on a new house to replace Collina. The designer of the house is not known.Certificate of Title Nos 32855 & 168356Brisbane Courier, 19 September 1874 p8, 23 September 1882 p8, 19 September 1885 p8, 16 March 1886 p6, 1 September 1906 p7Telegraph, 9 September 1903 p3, 7 October 1903 p7, 14 April 1906 p151906 Queensland State Electoral Roll, Electoral District of Toowong, p42Queensland Post Office DirectoriesBurke, One American Too Many, p47.

The house has a number of unusual features which reflected its ownership by BTC and occupation by Badger. Unconventionally, its subfloor structure (posts and beams) was tram rails. The rails, stamped "DICK KERR & CO PHOENIX 1884", were from the first order for MTC's horse-drawn tram system and had been removed as part of BTC's electrification upgrade. Badger had personal and professional interests in electrical innovations, serving as member and president of the Queensland Electrical Association and inventing electrical devices to use in the tramways. Features of the house which were likely installed for Badger include an early electric light system and fittings and a hot-water system with parts manufactured by Brisbane foundry Smith Faulkner and Co (which manufactured the hot water system operated under this name between 1887 and 1916). These would have been uncommon elements in a Queensland home in 1906.Brisbane Courier, 13 May 1903 p6. Telegraph, 16 May 1904 p2Daily Standard (Brisbane), 29 November 1934 p4Queensland State Archives Companies Index 1863-1959Telegraph 12 Feb 1887 p5Brisbane Courier 2 August 1916 p5.

BTC's Superintendent of Buildings, William McLean, called for tenders for excavating and levelling a site in Toowong, likely for the Badgers' residence, in April 1906. In May 1906 Badger approached the Toowong Town Council and offered to plant ornamental trees on Woodstock Road. By mid-July, advertisements for the sale of a house were referring to "Mr Badger's new residence" as a nearby landmark.Telegraph, 16 May 1906 p3 & 13 July 1906 p16. A tennis court was built in the grounds some time before 1909, and a motor garage was added before 1913; Badger, a motoring enthusiast, was an early member and later president of the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland.Longhurst, A Road Well Travelled: RACQ's first 100 years, pp71-2Brisbane Courier 21 May 1884 p6, 15 November 1901 p4, 20 March 1909 p7Telegraph 16 May 1904 p2, 28 December 1905 p2. Mrs Gore had the garage removed in 1913: Telegraph 17 March 1913 p12.

Carrie Badger returned to Australia in September 1906, taking up residence in the newly-named Arlington. She undertook charity work, taught Sunday school, and hosted socials at Arlington, including tennis events and an afternoon tea in Arlington's "pretty gardens" for the Russian consul and his wife.Queensland Figaro, 14 May 1908 p14. Struck down by sudden illness in 1909, she died in July, and was buried in the Toowong cemetery.Queensland historical deaths, Reg £B11198Brisbane Courier, 8 July 1909 p7, 10 July 1909 p7Telegraph, 10 July 1909 p31909 Queensland State Electoral Roll, Electoral District of Toowong, p90Burke, One American Too Many pp49-50.

Already somewhat controversial, Badger became a polarising figure after his wife's death. Well-educated, energetic and credited with the tramway system's success, he was a symbol of cosmopolitan progress and was a member of one of Brisbane's elite social circles. He determined where tramlines would be constructed, influencing the development of Brisbane's suburbs. However, he was also renowned for his authoritarianism. Answerable only to shareholders, he held unquestioned power over BTC and its employees. While Badger paid for employees' medical care where necessary, BTC workers were amongst the lowest paid in Australia. Attempts to form a union were resisted with threats of unemployment, and Badger forbade uniformed employees from wearing Australian Tramways Employees Union badges.Burke, One American Too Many, pp24,48,78Evans and Ferrier (eds), Radical Brisbane, p142Hadwen, "The Tramway and General Strike of 1912", p641.