Collection: Queen Alexandra House: Coorparoo

The Queen Alexandra Home in Brisbane is a heritage-listed building that reflects both the city’s late nineteenth-century residential architecture and its early twentieth-century social welfare history. Originally constructed in 1886 as a substantial private villa known as Hatherton for businessman Reuben Nicklin, the property was later acquired by the Methodist Church in 1911 and converted into the Queen Alexandra Home for Children, providing accommodation and care for orphaned and disadvantaged children 1&2. The complex was expanded with additional wings in the early twentieth century to accommodate growing numbers, becoming an important charitable institution until its closure in 1960 2. In subsequent decades, the site was adapted for educational and community uses, and it remains listed on the Queensland Heritage Register, recognising its architectural significance and its role in Brisbane’s social history 1&3.

References:

• Queen Alexandra Home - Wikipedia 1
  
• Queen Alexandra Home for Children - Find & Connect 2
  
• Queen Alexandra Home - Heritage Places 3