Newstead House is Brisbane's oldest surviving residence. Darling Downs pioneer, Patrick Leslie and wife Kate recognized the knoll above Breakfast Creek as an ideal site for their home.

On the 9th of April 1845, Patrick with his brother-in-law Police Magistrate, John Clements Wickham attended a land sale at the old convict barracks in Queen Street, Brisbane.Patrick purchased two blocks of land in the name of his father, each 17 acres, at an upset price of one pound per acre while Wickham bought an adjoining block of 25 acres. The purchase was later incorporated into the Newstead estate.

Patrick traveled between the family property of Canning Downs and Brisbane to supervise the building of Newstead Cottage, and Kate, who was pregnant with her second child, stayed with her sister Anna in Brisbane.

Patrick had decided that he would farm Newstead Cottage and supply fresh vegetables and fruit to Brisbane. The soil was very fertile and with no shortage of water, Patrick was able to supply top quality produce.

Patrick, however, came to believe that Cleveland would be the up and coming centre of the new settlement and, in 1847, less than a year after occupancy, sold Newstead Cottage to his brother-in-law, John Wickham, returning to the Darling Downs where he prospered and at the first land sale in Warwick in 1848 Patrick Leslie bought the first allotment. Patrick is credited with choosing the site for the city of Warwick.

Captain John Clements Wickham, the Police Magistrate and later the Government Resident, was anxious to move from the Commandant's Cottage to his own home. He and his wife, Anna had taken up residence there in 1839 and with two children found the living conditions were lacking in space and less than satisfactory.

On arrival at Newstead Wickham altered the plain two-story cottage with stone foundations, plastered brick walls, and a slate roof, making it a focus for Brisbane's social life and unofficial government house. Anna took ill after the birth of her third child and the family travelled to Sydney to obtain medical treatment but Anna died in 1851 leaving Wickham alone to attend to his duties at Newstead.

In 1857 he married Miss Ellen Deering, and their first child, John was born at Newstead.

When the Moreton Bay District was separated from New South Wales in 1859, Wickham expected to be named the new Governor however George Ferguson Bowen was appointed and a bitterly disappointed Wickham left Newstead and returned to Scotland with his family soon after.

After Wickham's departure in 1859 the house was rent out and subsequently leased by the first Attorney-general of Queensland, Ratcliffe Pring early in 1860. Subsequently George Harris, a Brisbane merchant, politician and ship-owner first leased and then purchased the House in 1862. George's wife, Jane Harris (nee) Thorn was the daughter of a prosperous Ipswich storekeeper.

The Harrises remained at Newstead for twenty-seven years during which time they made substantial changes to the fabric of the house. Just as Captain Wickham had expanded on the Leslie's cottage, so George Harris expanded on the Wickham house.

The Harris house was exciting and elegant - the place to be seen in Brisbane. The Harrises were always at the centre of the "action"! Four children were born at Newstead -George Edmund, John Ernest, Edith Maud and Evelyn Jane. When Edith Maud married George Taylor from Toowoomba the grounds of Newstead were transformed with countless coloured lanterns and numerous temporary buildings to accommodate the many guests.

Evelyn Jane married Richard Gardiner Casey, pastoralist and company director and their son, also Richard Gardiner Casey became Governor-General of Australia in 1965.

George Harris lost Newstead in 1876 (following some bad business decisions combined with an extraordinary lavish lifestyle) when he obtained a mortgage on Newstead from James Taylor (his daughter's father-in-law) for ten thousand pounds.They were forced to sell the House to Taylor, a pastoralist, investor and politician, but they remained as tenantsfor some time.

James Taylor began to subdivide the Newstead estate and in 1878 the sale of four portions as house lots resulted in the house site being reduced to 10 acre and the suburb of Newstead was born.

In 1891 Taylor sold the property to the William Perry, one of the founders of the iron-mongery business, Perry Bros who leased it to Lewis Flegeltaub and family. The Flegeltaubs moved out in 1894 and James Clark took over the lease. In 1896 Herbert Perry and his family moved into Newstead. In 1898 the House changed hands again, this time the firm Lysaght Bros and Co purchased the old house which then remained vacant for some time.

Occupants during the early 1900s were the Robbins family and the Heaslop family who moved out in 1911 followed by the Lambart family who sold the property to the city of Brisbane in 1918. The Brisbane city Council used it for their Superintendent of Parks. From 1932 the Royal Historical Society made use of  Newstead House restoring parts as a museum. In 1939 the Newstead House Trust Act was passed to preserve the property, making Newstead House one of the first examples of Australian built environment to be preserved by its own act of parliament. Today, the House is managed by the Board of Trustees of Newstead House on behalf of the people of Queensland.

During World War II the house was occupied by the US military for three years. An Australian-American War Memorial was erected in the grounds in 1951.

After the war,  Newstead House was opened to the public as a museum, largely through the efforts of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland. In 1975 the Friends of Newstead, a group of enthusiastic volunteers, was formed to assist the Newstead House Trust with the conservation and presentation of the House.

Today Newstead House is painted and furnished in the exuberant style of the Victorian period.

A 40 page illustrated history of the House is available at a cost of $5.50 (plus postage)).