People in the 1860s and 1870s

Settlers outside a hut in the bush, Gympie, 1870s

The colouring of this photo gives a wonderful immediacy to this photograph of a group of settlers near Gympie. Frustratingly, we don’t know why they are, and can’t trace any of their journey through archival records.

This post will introduce you to some of the people of Queensland in the 1860s and 1870s, captured in photographs that have been stored in the collections of the Queensland State Library and Australian National Library.

Some of the people will be have names and biographies, others, sadly, will just be people captured at a moment in their lives.

albert victor drury

Beneath that truly impressive black beard, a proud paternal smile can just be discerned. It’s unusual, and charming, to see a Daddy and daughter photo from this era.

This is Albert Victor Drury, clerk to the Executive Council from 1867 to 1903. He was born in Brussels to a distinguished English family, and used his tact and diplomacy to great effect in his career in Australia. Rather than considering himself stranded in a colonial wilderness, Drury was fascinated by his new country and the people he met, and kept a marvellous collection of Australiana.

Drury and his wife Mary had six children. They lost a daughter, Frances, in infancy in 1865, and son Alexey to a shark attack in 1880.

Drury’s home, Cairnsville (Heritage listed)

the archer family

Archer family outside the Military Barracks, c 1870

Mr & Mrs Archer in their garden behind the Bank of New South Wales, 1870s. If that’s a bougainvillea, it’s massive. Ouch.

Five Archer Brothers, Brisbane, 1868. I can just imagine the photographer saying “Now, don’t watch the birdie, don’t smile!”

There were so many Archers. Thirteen in all, and seven of the male Archers were involved in Queensland’s early European history. Originally from Scotland, the family moved to Norway in the 1820s, and then to Australia, where the Archer sons made their presence felt, opening up the Fitzroy River, the Rockhampton area, Woodford and the Brisbane River Valley. After researching them individually and then collectively, I have decided to use the nice, straightforward, Wikipedia table:

From Wikipedia. Really, it’s the only succinct way to account for all the Archers.

james Robert dickson

James Dickson and family, outside their Residence “Toorak” at Hamilton, 1872. Another large Victorian family – they had thirteen children to house.

Sir James Robert Dickson, originally of Plymouth, Devon, England made an absolute fortune as an auctioneer and agent in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in the 1860s. He built Toorak House for his large family, and retired from auctioneering to have a go in banking and politics.

Dickson succeeded as a banker, becoming Chairman of a couple of financial institutions, but politics really made his name. He became Premier of Queensland, and was Minister for Defence in the first Federal Parliament. Tragically, he died one week after taking office.

Surprisingly, given the relentless passion Queenslanders – Government and private – have for tearing down old buildings and replacing them with glass-fronted concrete blocks, Toorak House survives, and is on the Heritage Register.

The spiller family

Spiller Family in National Dress, Rockhampton 1871

The information for this photo reads: “Spiller family from the Isle of Wight and Devon, who settled in the Rockhampton area. Could possibly be Samuel Spiller in the back row.” Not the Pioneer Plantation, Mackay Spillers, who found the use of South Pacific Islander workers so much cheaper than hiring properly paid labour.

w.h. Knowles and family

W H Knowles was a highly successful greengrocer in Brisbane throughout the 1870s. The only adverse press coverage he received was a brief mention in the municipal cases for driving his carriage around at night without lights.

WILLIAM BOAG

An early photographer who loved to capture seascapes and happy families at the beach, Boag was also clever enough to have a mobile darkroom. His work has survived, and is part of the collection of the Qld State Library.

group photos

Students at the Normal School, Brisbane 1872

The Normal School was so called because it was nondenominational. Here are the tykes and teens from 1872. Rather relaxed and happy, compared to the heavily-policed misery of School Photo Day when I was a child – Proper Uniform, Line Up According to Height, Do Not Slouch, Do Not Grin, Do Not Talk.

WORKERS AT JOHN PETRIE’S

Staff of John Petrie’s Building Works, Brisbane 1867

Andrew Petrie and his son John basically built Brisbane. The sound structures, tastefully designed and executed are buildings with the Petrie stamp. These men worked hard, and they worked well.

Family in front of cottage, Margaret Street, facing east, 1871

I don’t know who these people are, but there they were in 1871, in front of a pretty little cottage with an attic, verandah and picket fence. Presumably this was the part of Margaret street that did not count as Frog’s Hollow.

Photographs are in the State Library of Queensland collection.

Wikipedia helped me decipher the Archer family tree.

The Brisbane Courier contained the information about W H Knowles’ driving habits.

D. D. Cuthbert, ‘Dickson, Sir James Robert (1832–1901)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1981, Volume 8, (MUP), 1981.

J. T. Maher, ‘Drury, Albert Victor (1837–1907)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, first in hardcopy 1972, Volume 4, (MUP), 1972.