Brisbane Grammar School

Brisbane Grammar School was established in 1868 following the Grammar Schools Act passed by the Queensland Government in 1860. It was the second school in Queensland under this act, with Ipswich Grammar School being the first. The first school location was in Roma Street, Brisbane City, designed by Benjamin Backhouse, and was formally opened by HRH Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, on 21 February 1868. Under the direction of Headmaster Thomas Harlin, the school started in February 1869 with four teachers and ninety-four students. In 1881, to make way for the Roma Street railway station, the school was moved to Gregory Terrace in Spring Hill. After opening a boarding house in 1886, science labs were added in 1912. In 1916, a war memorial honoring 600 student enlistees was unveiled by Queensland Governor, Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams. A former pupil, Brigadier General Lachlan Chisholm Wilson, presented a captured Ottoman Army field gun to the school in 1921. To celebrate its centenary, the school built a new library and assembly hall in 1969. Work on the off-campus Northgate ovals started in the mid-1990s, resulting in six fields for cricket, rugby union, and soccer matches. In 2000, the Indoor Sports Centre was completed, and the old gymnasium was later refurbished into the new Centre for Art. In 2002, the school expanded with the addition of a new middle school, taking in grade 6 and 7 students in 2003. This middle school acts as an independent school with its own teachers and schedules. Grade 6 and 7 students mainly use the middle school but also utilize the Upper School facilities for activities like physical education and assemblies. The middle school started admitting year 5 students in 2014 with an intake of 100 new students.