[1] The former Jack & Newell Building appears to have been erected in 1911 as new premises for Fearnley & Co. Ltd, shipping and commission agents, on land held in the name of the company's managing director, Dr John Hastings Reed of Cairns.

In 1893 (the year which appears on the front of the present building) the partnership was dissolved, and JG Fearnley, commission, forwarding and shipping agent was established.

In October the same year Fearnley announced his intention of moving his family to the south, and left his business under the management of accountant Lionel Draper of Cairns from 9 December 1905.

However, early in 1911 Cairns contractors Hanson and Sons were reported to have won the contract to erect new brick premises for Fearnley & Co. Ltd, time 4 months and price around £2,300.

[1] Jack & Newell's acquisition of the former Fearnley & Co. Ltd premises in the late 1930s continued the association of the building with the shipping and forwarding business.

[1] The plan form of the building is rectangular, with the Wharf Street boundary responding to the subdivision of land in this area where the grid pattern of the city meets Trinity Inlet at an angle.

Each side of these elements are pairs of timber double hung windows at ground and first floor level between capped pilasters.

The facade is finished at the top with a stepped parapet slotted at each side and with a semicircular decorative honeycomb brick element centrally positioned over a cornice that extends across the width of the building.

[1] The side walls step down from the Wharf Street elevation forming a parapet to the skillion roof over the upper storey.

The remains of a timber stair with a geometric pattern balustrade survive in the northeast corner of the ground floor of the front section.

[1] The upper floor of the building is divided into rooms off a central hall by three quarter height tongue and groove panelled partitions with glazing over.

The former Jack & Newell Building is important in illustrating the early 20th century establishment of Cairns as the principal port of Far North Queensland.

In particular, it illustrates the development of port facilities and improved warehousing in the Wharf St district following establishment of the Cairns Harbour Board in 1906.

Along with the nearby Barrier Reef Hotel, it is one of only two buildings which survive to illustrate the early-established and important connection between the businesses in the Wharf-Abbott-Lake Street area and the adjacent wharves.

The former Jack & Newell Building demonstrates the principal characteristics of a masonry warehouse associated with shipping and commission agency work, illustrated in particular by the survival of office partitioning on the upper floor, display space on the lower floor of the front section, and warehousing facilities in the rear single-storeyed section.

The relationship between the double and single storeyed sections of the building remains clear, and adds to our understanding of the functioning of an early 20th century Queensland shipping agency business.

The inclusion of a small upper-storey front balcony is indicative of the physical and functional relationship of the building to the wharves opposite.