page_title: Yungaba Immigration Centre
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Yungaba Immigration Centre / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Yungaba Immigration Reception Centre, Brisbane, Part Block Plan, 2 March 1949
context_page_description: Yungaba Immigration Centre is a heritage-listed former immigration hostel at 102 Main Street, Kangaroo Point, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, alongside the Brisbane River. It was designed by John James Clark and built c. 1885 by William Peter Clark. It is also known as Yungaba Immigration Depot, Immigration Barracks, and No.6 Australian General Hospital. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
  In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Yungaba Immigration Centre was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "state shaper".
context_section_description: Yungaba is a two-storey brick institutional building designed as an immigrant depot in 1885 by John James Clark, the Queensland Colonial Architect. Following his dismissal shortly after, the plan was developed by Edward Henry Alder and Robert Henry Mills. Constructed by William Peter Clark, the building is described as being of Italianate/Queensland/Institutional style.
  Following the subdivision of Kangaroo Point in 1843-44, lots 21 and 22 were purchased by Judah and Isaac Solomon and Thomas Adams. Some time later John "Tinker" Campbell, a neighbouring land-owner, purchased a share in both lots and transferred his boiling-down works to that location to gain the benefit of the small stream which crossed the properties. Following a series of financial transactions, the land was eventually purchased by Robert Douglas in 1853 for £400. Douglas constructed a house on lot 21 which he named "The Willows". Douglas was a prominent and popular person in Brisbane society at that time although some scandal arose when it was revealed that he had sold his Kangaroo Point property to the government for £14,000 in 1884.
  The government had been aware for some time that the immigration facilities at William Street were inadequate for their needs. The decision to acquire the land at Kangaroo Point was justified by the need to provide "pleasant surroundings" for those who were recently arrived in the colony. The pattern of immigration fluctuated wildly over the years and the period immediately preceding the construction of the Kangaroo Point depot, immigration had been at an all-time high. William Peter Clark, the successful tenderer for the work, ran into a series of difficulties with the construction which resulted in almost a year's delay in the completion. The interior layout was designed by William Hodgen and arranged in a manner typical of institutional buildings of the time. Married quarters were in the form of separate cubicles on the ground level, and single quarters (segregated by gender, and in dormitory form) on the upper level. Symmetrical pairs of laundry and privy facilities were ranged to the rear of the building.
  The first residents were passengers on the migrant ship Duke of Buccleuch who landed on 6 December 1887.
  The first administrator was William Edward Parry-Okeden. Parry-Okeden was already a highly competent and practical man with a reputation for fair-dealing and vigorous commitment to his occupation. He and his family moved to Brisbane from Blackall to take up his appointment at the Immigration Depot. Later in life he was to be appointed Under Colonial Secretary and to play an active role in both the management of Aborigines, the organisation of the Native Police and the resolution of the shearers' strikes in 1891 and 1894. Following the floods of 1887, Parry-Okeden and his wife refurbished "The Willows" which continued as their residence during his four years as immigration agent.
  From the outset Parry Okeden saw that a number of critical issues needed to be addressed before the depot could operate efficiently. Problems dogged the project throughout its early years. From the start, difficulties were experienced due to poor drainage resulting from the re-direction of the natural drainage into a stormwater drain. Subsequent drainage works had varying degrees of success but the building soon showed signs of rising damp which was exacerbated by the poor quality bricks used during construction. Gas and water connections were either very basic or completely absent from vital parts of the building, there was no wharf facility at which to disembark the immigrants and, once landed, there was no facility for isolating those suspected of suffering contagious disease.
  For a long time it was argued that the damp problem was a result of rain beating on the sides of the building, rather than due to poor site drainage. In 1891 the verandahs on the eastern end of the northern side of the building were extended to shelter the walls from the rain. A matching verandah extension at the western end was not constructed until 1899 as the 
caption: Part Block Plan, 1949
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