Our beautiful new office has a story that dates back almost 130 years.
Thanks to our clients for the kind messages about our office since Thompson Partners moved into Albion on July 1. Many clients have asked about the story of this building, which dates to the 19th century. It sits across two lots that first came into common ownership in 1891 when butchers Thomas Daw and Frederick Slack bought the property. Arthur Drury purchased the property in 1901 and continued it as a butcher shop (on the northern Sandgate Rd corner of the current building). In 1918 when the Queensland Labor Government decided to operate butcher shops amongst other businesses to combat price increases on basic family food provisions, the property was leased and it became one of the first of 90 State Butcher shops operated in Queensland.
In 1937 after Arthur Drury passed away, the property was purchased by prominent Brisbane solicitor Vincent Macrossan. The Macrossan family is part of Queensland’s legal fabric. Vincent’s father John was Colonial Secretary and a leading proponent of Australian federation. Two of Vincent’s brothers, Hugh and Neil, were Chief Justices as was Vincent’s son, John. In 1937 Council records confirm that Vincent added three additional shops to the butcher shop fronting Sandgate Rd as well as a second storey comprising two residential flats. The family of the late John Macrossan sold the building in 2017 to our firm partner Mark Thompson and his wife Angela. Mark and Angela have carefully restored the building to the art deco architectural style of the 1937 renovation.
We are very proud of our “new but old” office building and look forward to THOMPSON PARTNERS playing our part in adding to its great ownership and tenancy history. If you haven’t already visited and had an office tour, we are looking forward to showing you around when you visit next.
