Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1868-1996 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent and medium
29 parcels, 1 plan
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
Cameron Bros was a leading Brisbane real estate agency and property management firm founded in 1866 by Tasmanian-born John Cameron (1834-1902), though its beginnings trace back to 1864. After arriving in Brisbane in the early 1860s, John Cameron worked as a livestock auctioneer with A Tyman Auctioneering, then entered into an auctioneering partnership with Charles Trundle. It was around this time he introduced land subdivision to Queensland. The partnership and the firm, Trundle and Cameron, dissolved in June 1864. John then joined Arthur Martin at Martin's City Auction Mart as a land auctioneer. In 1866, following the economic crisis of that year, and by mutual arrangement with Martin, John severed the connection and created a firm under his own name. He retired at the end of 1886. In 1887, the auction branch of the business passed to his brother-in-law, Richard James Cottell, and the agency business passed to John's sons, John Samuel Cameron (estate agent), Waverley Fletcher Cameron (auctioneer) and Stuart William Cameron (solicitor). By the second half of 1888, the brothers were trading under the name Cameron Bros.
Over the decades the firm's clients included many of the city's most prominent property owners. One of their clients was the Mayne family, whose properties included the heritage-listed Brisbane Arcade and the Regent Theatre. They also organised the transfer of land in St. Lucia to the University of Queensland on behalf of the Mayne family.
In 1991, David Cameron, the great-grandson of founder John Cameron, took over Cameron Bros, having previously been in partnership with his father, John Cameron, and uncle, Richard Cameron. Three years later in 1994, David's son, Stuart, joined the family business. Under David Cameron's leadership, and up until the early 2000s, Cameron Bros was the oldest still family-owned and -operated real estate firm in Queensland. In mid-2002, the business name Cameron Bros continued under the control of Dascam Pty Ltd, until it was dissolved in 2006. Around this time, the Cameron Bros records were transferred to the Fryer Library by Stuart Cameron. In 2025, records relating to Cameron Bros' management of the Mayne family properties were transferred to the Fryer Library by McGees Property, Brisbane (formerly Isles Love and Company).
Name of creator
Biographical history
Stuart Cameron is a member of the Cameron family that founded and controlled Cameron Bros, one of Brisbane's oldest and most enduring real estate firms. He received his tertiary education from Griffith University and the Queensland University of Technology. After a career in banking, Cameron managed the family business before moving to other positions in the Brisbane property valuation industry. He arranged for the transfer of Cameron Bros records to the Fryer Library.
Repository
Archival history
Collection previously titled as: Records, 1868-1996
Collection alternatively titled as: Cameron Brothers Collection.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Bound volumes created by Cameron Brothers, recording their clients' estate holdings, real property transactions, chattel sales and rental business, and the financial accounts of the firm itself. Also includes legal papers of the Mayne Family, and an architectural drawing of the lobby of the Regent Theatre, which was to be named the Capitol Theatre, in Brisbane.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Please check conversion chart at end of finding aid document.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Unrestricted access.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright applies.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Some volumes very fragile.
Finding aids
Uploaded finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Alma MMS ID
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Cameron Bros (Subject)
- Regent Theatre (Brisbane, Qld.) (Subject)
- Mayne family (Subject)
- Mayne, James O'Neil, 1861-1939 (Subject)
- Mayne, Mary Emelia, 1858-1940 (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Revised
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Revised, Kymberley Doyle, 16-Jul-2025.
Revised, Linda Justo, 3-Jun-2022.
Migrated from LMS: April 2019, P.A.