Robert Skerrett Exton acquired the title for the land on 17 April 1907. RS Exton constructed a building at 333 Ann Street to continue business. During the 20th century, Exton worked on the Brisbane City Hall and the Regent Theatre.įollowing the dissolution of the Exton and Gough partnership, RS Exton and Co was formed and George Gough established a separate painting and decorating business in Albert Street.
#Brisbane warehouse blue letters facade signage windows#
Exton and Gough provided stained glass windows for St Stephen's Cathedral and St Patrick's Church in the Valley. During the 1880s Exton and Gough expanded their business to incorporate a department for the manufacture of stained glass, the only of its kind in Queensland.Įxton and Gough quickly assumed a reputation for high quality work and were commissioned for prestigious projects including Government House (George Street), the Treasury Buildings, Customs House, the Smellie and Co Warehouse, the Wesleyan Methodist Churches in Brisbane and the Valley. Exton and Gough also provided paint supplies for tradesmen and were agents for embossed metal ceilings and importers of art glass and wallpapers of the latest European design. Services included painting and decorating, and signwriting. Typical of most painters and decorators of the nineteenth and earlier twentieth centuries, Exton and Gough and their employees provided a wide range of services for the householder or business person building or improving their premises. The partnership continued here and with branches in Toowoomba and Rockhampton until 1907 when it dissolved. In 1883 the partnership moved from Exton's earlier premises to 526 Queen Street, opposite Petrie Bight. George Gough was a painter and decorator of many years experience.
In 1882 the partnership of Exton and Gough allowed an expansion of Exton's solo concern. By 1880 Exton had moved to premises at 337-9 Queen Street, Brisbane.
Exton arrived in Brisbane and in the 1870s established himself as a glazier in Harcourt Street, Fortitude Valley. Both men were from Lincolnshire, England.
In 1882 Robert Skerrit Exton established a painting and decorating partnership with George Gough. Robert Skerrett Exton was a prolific painter, decorator and glazier who practiced in Brisbane from 1882 until 1921. Recently, the building was partially demolished and the façade only survives. The warehouse was designed by Brisbane architect, Claude W Chambers. The former RS Exton and Co Building was constructed in 1907 as the premises of the renowned painters and decorators, RS Exton and Co. Through its position on Ann Street and the quality of the external detailing, the remnant building demonstrates the ethos and significance of the RS Exton and Co firm. Criterion H The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland’s history. The RS Exton and Co Building (Part) comprises a well designed warehouse façade of aesthetic and architectural value which contributes to the scale and architectural quality of this area of Ann Street.
Criterion E The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. Significance Criterion A The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland’s history.Īs the only known premises of the RS Exton and Co business, or its predecessors, to survive, the building façade at 333 Ann Street has important and rare associations with a prolific and well known painting, decorating and stained glass business who were responsible for work to many of Queensland's outstanding nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings.