A proud history
150 Years
Founding
Sir Charles Lilley (1827-1897), former Premier and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, pioneered to revolutionise education across the state by establishing a girls’ school. His vision to establish a girls’ school was so far ahead of its time that it was viewed as a radical ‘experiment’. In 1882, the decision was made to separate from Brisbane Grammar School and operate independently under the Grammar Schools Act. Two years later, in 1884, the School relocated to its current site on Gregory Terrace. The original Main Building still stands proudly in Spring Hill, symbolising Girls Grammar’s unique heritage, its role in the development of education for girls in Australia, and its unwavering commitment to establishing the educational foundation for young women to contribute confidently to their world.
1875
1877
Sir Charles Lilley is appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees. Sarah Cargill is appointed Lady Principal.
1878
Mary Mackinlay is appointed Lady Principal.
1882
Miss Sophia Beanland is appointed Lady Principal. The school curriculum expanded and BGGS separated from Brisbane Grammar School.
1884
Brisbane Girls Grammar School relocated to its current site in Gregory Terrace.
1887
Sir Samuel Walker Griffith is appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees; two years later in 1889, Charlotte Pells becomes Lady Principal.
1890
After concluding her position at the School in 1889, music teacher Anne (Annie) Wight and her sister Isabel (Betty) boarded the ill-fated RMS Quetta bound for England. Annie was later memorialised via the School’s music program’s Annie Wight Memorial Medal.
1896
Eliza Fewings is appointed Lady Principal, replaced by Milisent Wilkinson in 1900.
1899
The Old Girls Association is established. They gift the School’s first and current Honour Board featuring impressively four Rhodes Scholars: Elizabeth Woods (1977); Elsina Wainwright (1994); Caitlin Goss (2009); and Josephine Auer (2015).
1904
Sir Hugh Nelson becomes Chair of the Board of Trustees, succeeded by John Laskey Woolcock in 1906.
1913
Our School Magazine was first published in 1913 and continues to this day. Mary Atkinson Williams is appointed Headmistress, succeeded by Jane Walker in 1914.
1915
1925
Kathleen Mitford Lilley (past student and granddaughter of Sir Charles Lilley) is appointed as Headmistress and the first School uniform is introduced. Ms Lilley’s leadership guides the School through the aftermath of WW1, the Great Depression and WW2.
1952
The School’s first Parents and Friends Association is established, Louise Crooks is appointed Headmistress, and John England becomes Chair of the Board of Trustees.
1958
The Kathleen Lilley Library is opened.
1964
The House system is introduced, and Year 8 students commence secondary schooling.
1968
Yvonne Bain becomes the first woman Trustee.
1977
The Fathers Group is established, and Judith Hancock is appointed Principal.
1979
On 21 April 1979, 19 students and four adults were travelling by bus on an outdoor education exhibition led by staff member, Mr John Stamford. As the bus travelled slowly along a country road, a section of the roadway collapsed, causing the bus to roll down a steep slope. Mr Stamford, his wife Janelle and two Year 10 students, Helen Gahan and Jillian Skaines, lost their lives in the accident, with many others seriously injured.
1986
1987
Dr McCrae Grassie is appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees. The Marrapatta Memorial Outdoor Education Centre is opened at Imbil, a permanent memorial to those who lost their lives in the Christmas Creek bus accident in 1979.
1995
The McCrae Grassie Sports Centre is opened.
1996
Dr Cherrell Hirst becomes the first woman Chair of the Board of Trustees.
1999
The Mothers Group Archive Centre is officially opened in 1999 to actively collect, preserve, research and document our school’s rich history and artefact collection (dating back to 1875).
2000
‘Nil Sine Labore’ is introduced as the new School song, and still stands today.
2002
The School’s Boarding House is closed, while Amanda Bell is appointed Principal.
2007
The new Cherrell Hirst Creative Learning centre is opened for the first time, and Elizabeth Jameson is appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees.
2013
The Rangakarra Recreational and Environmental Education Centre opens at Fig Tree Pocket, and Jacinda Euler is appointed Principal.
2015
2017
The Dorothy Hill Observatory commences operation at the School’s Marrapatta campus.
2019
Julie McKay is appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees.
2020
The Science Learning Centre is opened.
2021
The School’s new wellbeing facility, the Floreamus Centre, opens.