It was designed in 1857 by William Claydon Wakefield for John Panton and was built on the earliest site to be occupied by Europeans in Ipswich.

served as Premier of Queensland while living at Claremont and the house was for many years an important social and political centre in Ipswich.

[1] In 1827, the Commandant of the Moreton Bay Penal colony sent a group of convicts up the Bremer River to quarry and process limestone for building purposes.

In 1838 George Thorn was appointed Superintendent of Convicts at Limestone and lived with his family in a cottage to the north west of where Claremont now stands.

[1][3] In 1842, when Moreton Bay was opened for free settlement, the first survey of Limestone was made and this land was divided into blocks and sold.

By 1852 it was held by several owners, but all the northern parts of section XXXVI were later acquired by John Panton, the son of the New South Wales Post-Master General, who had moved to Limestone in 1851 and had established himself successfully as a merchant.

The site is at the head of navigation of the river and is just upstream of the Pool, an area which permitted steam boats to turn and which was then close to the wharves.

His acquisition of this site and location of the warehouse emphasise the importance of the river to Ipswich as a trading centre before the coming of the railway.

Only a few years after this, in the early 1860s, Panton experienced financial difficulties and sold Claremont to George Thorn, who was by then a leading figure in Ipswich.

[1] In 1874, a section of land running between Claremont and the river bank was resumed as part of the construction of the Brisbane to Ipswich Railway.

[1] In 1964 the property was purchased by the Queensland Sub-Normal Children's Welfare Association and at this time some alterations were made to allow the house to be used as a hostel.

Landscaping was also done at this time, including the re-use of stone blocks from either the kiln or demolished sections, in order to form garden terraces.

Claremont and its grounds demonstrate the evolution of Ipswich from a convict outpost for burning limestone, to an important early mercantile centre and a major city of Queensland.

Claremont has a strong association with John Panton and with the Thorn family, who were connected with the site from the earliest European occupation and who contributed to the development of Ipswich and of Queensland.