St John's Cathedral Inc history

The Brisbane cathedral movement began in earnest in 1887 as a celebration of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee – St John's was to be paid for by public subscription but the construction of the cathedral in one campaign was found to be financially impossible.

In April 1889, Pearson's plans for the cathedral were approved for the original site bounded by George, Elizabeth and William Streets.

Pearson died in November 1897, two weeks before Webber presented fresh plans to the cathedral chapter.

In 1898, Frank Loughborough Pearson (John Pearson's son and partner) was entrusted to carry out his father's design.

In 1899, the cathedral chapter approved Pearson's revised plans only to be forced to reconsider the entire cathedral when the state government bought the original intended site.

The first stage of construction began in 1906 and took four years to complete.

In 1947, Field-Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein laid a foundation stone for a further two bays of the nave, but construction ceased after the laying of the foundations.

The copper-clad western spires were lifted into position on 1 March 2008 and subsequently blessed by Bishop John Parkes.

The Archbishop of Brisbane, Phillip Aspinall, officially reconsecrated the completed cathedral on 29 October 2009, attended by about 1,500 people, 108 years after the laying of the foundation stone.