Why Is Clayfield Called “Clayfield”?
Today, Clayfield (QLD) is known for beautiful Queenslanders, leafy streets and some of Brisbane’s most desirable homes. But the suburb’s name has a fascinating industrial connection - one that goes back to the clay pits and brickworks of the 19th century!
Brisbane City Council records that the name Clayfield is derived from the fine white-grey sedimentary clay that was mined in neighbouring Albion, particularly between Morgan and Sykes Streets, from the 1860s.
The clay was used in local brickmaking, and the area came to be known as the “clay fields” - giving the suburb its distinctive name.
One of the most important figures in this story was John Petrie, Brisbane’s first Lord Mayor and one of the colony’s best-known builders and contractors.
In September 1858, Petrie acquired a holding of just under 20 acres near the corner of Oriel Road and Sandgate Road.
When the Petrie family’s earlier brickyard in Fortitude Valley began running short of suitable material, a second brickyard was established on this new property.
By around 1860, Petrie’s brickmaking operation was underway. The site was then considered part of Albion, an area that included parts of what we now know as Albion, Ascot, Clayfield and Hamilton.
Petrie’s works became one of the earliest industries in the district and employed a considerable number of people. By 1884, a small community had developed around the brickyard, with workers and their families living there.
And here's a wonderful surviving connection to that forgotten industry…
The “Dahlow” house in nearby Ascot was built around 1892 for Isabella Petrie, John Petrie’s daughter, and her husband James Ross Coutts.
The house stands on land that formed part of the former Petrie brickyards, and its face-brick walls still contain bricks bearing the “Petrie” brand.
So the connection isn't just in the history books - part of the old brickworks survives in the walls of the house itself.
You can read more about Dahlow here: https://heritage.brisbane.qld.gov.au/heritage-places/79
But Petrie wasn't the only brickmaker operating in the wider district.
Other brickworks, quarries and clay pits developed throughout the Albion–Clayfield area, helping supply materials for Brisbane's rapidly expanding population and building industry. The Albion brickworks were particularly important in the residential development of Brisbane's inner north.
Then came a major change.
In 1882, the North Coast railway opened through the district, with a line running from Eagle Junction to Ascot via Clayfield. The railway greatly improved access to Brisbane and helped encourage further residential development.
By the late 1880s, several large residences had appeared, and Clayfield was beginning to rival Hamilton as one of Brisbane's most desirable northern suburbs.
Then, in 1901, a tram line began operating along Sandgate Road, running from Breakfast Creek to Wagner Street and further opening up the suburb for residential development.
The old industrial landscape gradually began giving way to houses, gardens and residential estates.
Petrie's brickworks had already shut down in 1890, following a combination of difficult economic conditions and a strike. After John Petrie's death in 1892, the family business struggled during the severe economic downturn of the early 1890s and was declared insolvent in 1894. The brickyard was permanently closed and the property passed to the Australian Joint Stock Bank.
Then came the next chapter.
In 1903, the former 20-acre property was subdivided, and allotments were offered for sale as the Petrie Estate. Interestingly, advertisements that year still referred to the land as “Petrie's Brickyards.”
The transformation was underway.
What had once been a working brickyard was becoming residential land.
And that brings us back to the name…
CLAYFIELD.
The suburb's name preserves the memory of the clay deposits and brickmaking industry that once helped shape this part of Brisbane.
The pits, quarries and brickworks have largely disappeared beneath the modern suburb, but their legacy survives - not only in the name Clayfield, but in surviving buildings like Dahlow, where Petrie-branded bricks remain part of the walls.
History really can be hiding right beneath your feet!
MAP NOTE: Tℎis map ℎas been reconstructed using ℎistorical maps, documents and otℎer available reference material to indicate tℎe approximate locations of tℎe former brickworks and quarry. Wℎile every effort ℎas been made to ensure ℎistorical accuracy, some details, boundaries and locations may be approximate or contain errors. Tℎis map is intended as a visual guide only and sℎould not be regarded as a definitive ℎistorical survey.
Brick works Image Note: Artistic interpretation - may contain ℎistorical inaccuracies or imperfections. Created solely for educational and non-commercial ℎistory storytelling.
