governmentprintingoffice

The striking gothic arched William St section of this office was designed by colonial architect FDG Stanley and built in 1874 after an earlier wooden printing office had been demolished. As the first purpose-built government printery in Queensland, it went on to function as the state printery for 120 years. And with the ongoing expansion a second building - complete with a printer’s devil face on the keystone over the doorway – was built in 1910 on George St. There are also two printer’s devil gargoyles crouched on the parapet, one holding a G and the other a P. The printer’s devil has its origins in the days when newspapers were seen as heresy for printing stuff that was not related to God. This particular building is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a young man who was caught up in and killed by the printing presses when he climbed in to see why one had stopped working. In 1984 the government printing offices moved on and the 1874 building housed the Sciencentre for a brief period in 1991 the Public Service Club moved in and remains today. Source: www.mustdobrisbane.com/visitor-info-arts-culture-history/...

Twenty minutes later ...

The imposing gatehouse: srnsw:

Thanks State Records for the huge size. That has to be the NSW Governor, Admiral Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson, GCB, GCMG (1843 – 1910)(NSW Governor 1902-09), his wife Florence Alice Stewart, and a daughter. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Rawson - see illustrations. Also adb.anu.edu.au/biography/rawson-sir-harry-holdsworth-8162

Those were the days Photo ! ☺

great capture

From the wikipedia and adb articles (linked above) - Florence, the wife, 'a kind gentle-voiced motherly grey-haired woman' died at sea in 1905, and daughter Alice took over her mother's duties. I wonder if this is Alice in the photo? The Alice Rawson School for Mothers was named after her - So, the photo is between 1902 and 1905.