Andrew Petrie

Andrew Petrie (June 1798 – 20 February 1872) was a Scottish-Australian pioneer, architect and builder in Brisbane, Queensland.

Early life Andrew Petrie was born in June 1798 in Fife, Scotland, to parents Walter Petrie and Margaret (née Hutchinson). Petrie along with the other mechanics, constructed the Australian College to repay the voyage from the United Kingdom funded by Lang. After construction finished, Petrie went into partnership with George Ferguson as building contractors in Sydney. This partnership lasted for two years when Petrie went into business on his own. Petrie won numerous projects and was favoured by the Government to construct many of their projects. Constructing government projects at the time, meant utilising convict labour and so their training and supervision was a key component in the construction process.

Career in Queensland The quality of his work impressed his superiors so much that, when in 1837 there was an urgent appeal from the Moreton Bay Settlement of New South Wales for a competent builder to repair crumbling structures, Petrie was sent there as Superintendent of Works. A year after arriving in the colony Petrie and his family moved into a stone house he built at what is now known as Petrie Bight. He also made inspections of government owned sheep and cattle and placed a number of beacons on navigational hazards in the Brisbane River.

Petrie's charge took him to several convict outposts and gave him a taste for travel and exploration. His private journeys soon added to knowledge of the immediate environs of the settlement. In the new surroundings he was able to pursue two main interests: as builder and architect he was responsible for most of the important structures that arose; and he made many more journeys. He was the first European to climb Mount Beerwah, one of the Glass House Mountains seen by James Cook, and he was also the first to bring back samples of the bunya pine. In 1842 with a small party in a boat he discovered the Mary River and brought back to the settlement two 'wild white men', James Davis or 'Duramboi' and David Bracewell or 'Wandi'.

The break-up of the Moreton Bay Penal Colony began in 1839, but it was not until 1842 that it was well advanced and that the district was declared open for settlement. During this time in 1840, Andrew founded the Petrie construction business and when the convict station was removed in 1842 Petrie saw the opportunity at last of a free community, and with his family remained to contribute to its formation and is acknowledged as the first free settler of Queensland

From 1849 to 1850 Petrie and his construction firm built Bulimba House.

Later life In 1848 he lost his eyesight because of incompetent surgery after an attack of sandy blight. Despite this condition he still was able to design ferry landings, floating public baths and a bridge over Breakfast Creek.