Albion, Queensland

Albion is an inner north-eastern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Albion had a population of 2,296 people.
Geography.
Albion is bounded by Wooloowin in the north, Ascot in the east, Newstead in the south, and Windsor to the west, with Breakfast Creek defining the suburb border in its south and south-west. Sandgate Road, a major road on the north side of Brisbane, runs through the middle of the suburb. A variety of housing styles, from former workers' cottages through to modern brick homes and unit blocks, can be found in Albion.
Breakfast Creek is a neighbourhood within the west of the suburb ().
The Albion Park Paceway, first established in the 1880s, is a harness racing club and greyhound racing track found in Breakfast Creek, a locality in southern Albion.
History.
The name "Breakfast Creek" comes from "Breakfast Point", which was a rocky point of the downstream side of the creek and was named by explorer John Oxley during his 1823 exploration of the Brisbane River.
The name "Albion" comes from the Albion Hotel built by Thomas Hayseldon (also written as Hazeldon), which was so called because the white wall of John Petrie's quarry reminded Hayseldon of the England's white cliffs (Albion being an old name for England, from the Latin "albus" meaning white). From 1866 to 1870, the proprietor was Edward Hudson. The low lying parts of Albion came into the limelight when a swampy area near the Breakfast Creek was designated as the racecourse. In 1885, it became the headquarters of the Smithfield Pony Club and later in 1895 of the Albion Park Racecourse. Many Chinese migrants settled here and the Temple of the Holy Triad was built on the Higgs Street for the local community in 1885-86.
Breakfast Creek State School opened on 7 July 1890. It closed on 11 August 1961. It was on the western side of Agnes Street ().
On 27 September 1880, eight blocks of land of "Corunna Estate" were advertised for auction by John Cameron.
In December 1884, "Albion Township Estate" made up of ninety-one allotments of land were advertised to be auctioned by Arthur Martin & Co., Auctioneers. A map advertising the auction shows the proximity of the estate to Breakfast Creek.
On 28 October 1899, sixty allotments of land of Albion Hill estate, being re-subdivisions 1 to 60, of subdivision of section 3 of portion 162, Parish of Enoggera, were advertised for auction by Isles, Love & Co. The advertising map states the estate's proximity to Albion Train Station, with 76 trains daily. The land for sale was situated between Camden St, Albion, and Ford St and Old Sandgate Rd (now Bonney Ave), Clayfield.
On 5 December 1926 Roman Catholic Archbishop James Duhig laid the foundation stone for St Columban's College at "Highlands" at 451 Sandgate Road (). The school officially opened on Sunday 29 January 1928 as a school for boys operated by the Christian Brothers. In 1985 the Christian Brothers passed the management of the college to the Brisbane Diocese. This triggered a number of changes, a phasing out the primary school to focus on secondary schooling. In 1996 the school accepted enrolments from girls and in 1997 the school relocated to Caboolture. The Albion site has been redeveloped as The Clayfield retirement village but three heritage buildings have been retained on the site: Highlands, O'Driscoll Hall and Whytecliffe.
In the , Albion had a population of 2,296 people.
Heritage listings.
Albion has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Demographics.
In the , Albion recorded a population of 1,986 people, 48.4% female and 51.6% male.
The median age of the Albion population was 33 years, 4 years below the national median of 37.
67.7% of people living in Albion were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 69.8%; the next most common countries of birth were New Zealand 4.4%, England 3.1%, India 3%, Italy 1.2%, China 1.1%.
79% of people spoke only English at home; the next most popular languages were 2.1% Italian, 1.2% Mandarin, 1.1% Nepali, 1% Arabic, 0.8% Punjabi.
Of the total population in Albion, 1.2% were Indigenous persons.
In wealth terms, the median weekly individual income in Albion is approximately A$200 higher than the Australian average, and a median weekly family income A$220 higher. The suburb has a significantly higher proportion of residents that have never married (49.0%) compared to the Australian average (33.2%) and, in turn, a lower proportion of married persons (29.6% vs 49.6%).
Transport.
On the Queensland Rail City network, Albion is serviced by Albion railway station on the Airport, Doomben, Caboolture, Shorncliffe and Sunshine Coast lines.
Historically, Albion lay on the Clayfield tram line, along Sandgate Road. It was operated by the Brisbane City Council until 13 April 1969.
Education.
There are no schools in Albion.The nearest primary schools are Windsor State School in neighbouring Windsor to the west, Wooloowin State School in neighbouring Wooloowin to the north, Eagle Junction State School in neighbouring Clayfield to the north-east, and Ascot State School in neighbouring Ascot to the east. The nearest secondary school is Kedron State High School in Kedron to the north.