Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Memorial Technical College

Queensland's first technical college was established in Brisbane in 1882 with the Brisbane Technical College Act was passed in 1898.  During this time, technical colleges which opened outside of Brisbane were initiated and run by independent boards, not governed by regulations.  The Ipswich Technical College was the first to be established outside of Brisbane, with other early colleges opening in Warwick (1906), Mount Morgan (1909) and Toowoomba (1910).

At a public meeting held in June 1891, the Mayor, Headmaster of Ipswich Grammar School, and the Chairman of The Queensland Times, accepted a Government offer of £250 to begin technical education in Ipswich, with the first classes commencing in August of that year.  Prior to this, a limited range of courses had been offered through the School of Arts.  Initial subjects included book-keeping, drawing, algebra and geometry, with dress-making, cookery, ambulance work, geography, history, Latin and English soon added to the curriculum (coal mining was added in 1897).

Lessons were held at the Ipswich Middle School and other rented premises around Ipswich, including a foundry.  In 1893, financial difficulties, brought on by the 1890s Depression, saw a cessation of teaching activities until 1897, when classes resumed in the O'Sullivan Building in Brisbane Street. 

A public meeting in January 1897 determined to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (which was to occur on 20th June 1897) with the erection of a new technical college.  £1,000 was raised by the Ipswich community, supplemented by a government grant of £2,000.  Council provided land on the corner of Limestone and Ellenborough Street, which had been part of the Central Gardens (88 Limestone Street).  Architect George Brockwell Gill was commissioned to design a two-storey plus basement brick building, to be built by contractor H. Woodford, with brickwork by George Williams.

The Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Memorial Technical College was open by Lord Lamington, Governor of Queensland, on 4th June 1901.  

The college had been managed by a local committee, until the creation of the Board of Technical Education in 1902, which brought together thirty-four technical colleges across Queensland.  The board regulated education, advised the Minister for Public Instruction and, from 1903, ran the annual examinations.  In 1905 the board was abolished, replaced by a separate branch in the department.

By 1910, with an expanding student population, an electrical laboratory had opened in the basement.  Also in that year, Council vested the site where the building was located with the Minister for Public Instruction.

In 1912 a Mine Manger's Certificate course, issued by the Department of Mines, was added, along with a Mechanical and Electrical Diploma Course, which was issued by the University of Queensland.

An extension in 1915 enabled Domestic Science classes and a new brick building, fronting Ellenborough Street, was added in 1917, the top floor of which was devoted to a Commercial Day School, Engineering Diploma courses and laboratories.  The ground floor was used as a Lecture Hall, Library, Dressmaking Room, Drawing Office, and Teachers' Rooms.  The basement held the Engineering Workshops, Storerooms, Patternmaking Shop, Plumbing Shop and Blacksmith Shop.

A new building (Limestone Street side, extended in 1941) was opened in 1924 to house high school classes, as the Domestic Science School, Commercial Day School and Preparatory Trade School had been given high school status in 1922.  In 1930 the three schools were merged to form the Ipswich Technical High School.

To the south of the high school, a workshops building was constructed in 1937, used as the mining, science and student amenities area, with a canteen on the ground floor.

During World War II, the site was used for defence trainees.  In 1944, the complex extended over the road in Ellenborough Street, with a new Machine Shop and, in 1945, a Woodworking Shop.  A Plumbing Shop was added in 1947, constructed by Commonwealth Reconstruction Trainees.

In financial trouble since 1948, collage administration was taken over by the Queensland Government in July of 1951.  In 1962 the Technical High School was separated from the Technical College, becoming the Ipswich State High School, based at Brassall.

Style: Classicism

Construction periods: 

• 1897–1915, Queen Victoria Silver Jubilee Memorial Technical College - Technical college
• 1917, Queen Victoria Silver Jubilee Memorial Technical College - School 
• 1924–1941, Queen Victoria Silver Jubilee Memorial Technical College - Classroom block 
• 1937, Queen Victoria Silver Jubilee Memorial Technical College - Workshop building