Albion is an inner north-eastern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Albion had a population of 3,446 people.
The name Breakfast Creek comes from Breakfast Point, which was a rocky point of the downstream side of the creek and was named by explorer John Oxley during his 1823 exploration of the Brisbane River.
In 1860 John Petrie opened a quarry at Albion. It occupied a site that today would be in the vicinity of Comus Avenue, loosely bounded by Crosby Road to the south, Morgan Street to the east, Tower Street to the north, and Lapraik Street to the west (27°25′54″S 153°02′58″E / 27.4318°S 153.0495°E).
The name Albion comes from the Albion Hotel built by Thomas Hayseldon (also written as Hazeldon), which was so called because the white wall of Petrie's quarry reminded Hayseldon of the England's white cliffs (Albion being an old name for England, from the Latin albus meaning white). From 1866 to 1870, the proprietor was Edward Hudson. The low lying parts of Albion came into the limelight when a swampy area near the Breakfast Creek was designated as the racecourse. In 1885, it became the headquarters of the Smithfield Pony Club and later in 1895 of the Albion Park Racecourse. Many Chinese migrants settled here and the Temple of the Holy Triad was built on the Higgs Street for the local community in 1885-86.
On 17 May 1890 the Breakfast Creek Hotel opened. The French Renaissance style hotel has remained a prominent landmark to this day, despite going under water in floods in 1893, 1898, 1974, 2011 and 2022.
Breakfast Creek Sportsground was officially opened on Saturday 31 August 1899. Proprietors Michael Gannon and Andrew Lang Petrie drained a swamp to create a major recreational facilities, occupying 26 acres (11 ha) of a 30-acre (12 ha) site. The facilities included a racetrack, trotting track, bicycle track, fields for various sports such as cricket, football, tennis and lacrosse, a skating rink, and a lake for model boats. There were grandstands and a ballroom and concert hall with supper rooms and refreshment areas with 100 electric lights. There was a 435-foot (133 m) "switchback railway" (a roller-coaster) with four falls. The Sportsground is now the Albion Park Paceway.
Breakfast Creek State School opened on 7 July 1890 and closed on 11 August 1961. It was on the western side of Agnew Street (27°26′25″S 153°02′48″E / 27.4404°S 153.0468°E). Following the closure of the school, the Fortitude Valley Opportunity School relocated into the buildings, becoming Newstead Opportunity School. Later it was renamed Newstead Special School (27°26′25″S 153°02′49″E / 27.4404°S 153.0469°E). It closed in 1996.
On 27 September 1880, eight blocks of land of "Corunna Estate" were advertised for auction by John Cameron.
In 1883, a Baptist church opened in Albion.
In December 1884, "Albion Township Estate" made up of ninety-one allotments of land were advertised to be auctioned by Arthur Martin & Co., Auctioneers. A map advertising the auction shows the proximity of the estate to Breakfast Creek.
On 28 October 1899, sixty allotments of land of Albion Hill estate, being re-subdivisions 1 to 60, of subdivision of section 3 of portion 162, Parish of Enoggera, were advertised for auction by Isles, Love & Co. The advertising map states the estate's proximity to Albion Train Station, with 76 trains daily. The land for sale was situated between Camden St, Albion, and Ford St and Old Sandgate Rd (now Bonney Ave), Clayfield.
A first meeting of the Church of Christ took place on 1 January 1911 at the Good Templar's hall in Stoneleigh Street involving members of the Ann Street congregation. On 6 January 1912 a separate congregation was formed in Albion. Land for a church was bought at 86 McLennan Street in 1913 and the church was opened in 1915. In 1929, the Albion congregation helped to establish a new congregation in Kedron. In 1992, the Albion and Kedron congregations merged to form the Brisbane North congregation and the Albion church was sold in 1997.
On 5 December 1926, Roman Catholic Archbishop James Duhig laid the foundation stone for St Columban's College at "Highlands" at 451 Sandgate Road (27°25′42″S 153°02′47″E / 27.4282°S 153.0463°E). The school officially opened on Sunday 29 January 1928 as a school for boys operated by the Christian Brothers. In 1985 the Christian Brothers passed the management of the college to the Brisbane Diocese. This triggered a number of changes, a phasing out the primary school to focus on secondary schooling. In 1996 the school accepted enrolments from girls and in 1997 the school relocated to Caboolture. The Albion site has been redeveloped as The Clayfield retirement village but three heritage buildings have been retained on the site: Highlands, O'Driscoll Hall and Whytecliffe.
On 25 February 1929, a plan was drawn up for the Frank Mann Estate, Subdivisions 1 to 4 of Resubdivision 1 and Subdivision 1 of Resubdivision 1 of Subdivision A of Resubdivision 2 of Subdivisions 51 to 54 of Portion 149, Parish of Enoggera, County of Stanley.
In 2013, the A$29m state-of-the-art Bupa National Cricket Centre was completed at the Allan Border Field. The centre now serves as the headquarters of the Queensland Cricket Association.
The Brisbane bid for the 2032 Summer Olympics includes building an athlete's village in Albion. Another is proposed at the Gold Coast.
In the 2016 census, Albion had a population of 2,296 people.
In the 2021 census, Albion had a population of 3,446 people.
History info courtesy of Wikipedia
