Dr. Frederick Cumming in the 1860s. Henceforth, apart from one (disastrous, of course) toe-dip in the politics of West Moreton in 1867, Dr. Cumming would be known for his medical practice. There would be controversy, financial problems and some rather questionable verse. His experience of Brisbane in the 1860s would culminate in his return toContinue reading “How NOT to Win Friends and Influence People in Colonial Queensland – Part 3.”
Author Archives: Karen B
Amateur historian and writer.
How NOT to Win Friends and Influence People in Colonial Queensland – Part 2.
Dr. Cumming and Politics Toowoomba and Mr. Groom If there were factions in Ipswich society, they were completely outdone by the shenanigans taking place on the Darling Downs. Toowoomba and Drayton seethed at one another. Skirmishes took place in the correspondence pages of the Darling Downs Gazette, a new A.S. Lyons newspaper, which first issuedContinue reading “How NOT to Win Friends and Influence People in Colonial Queensland – Part 2.”
How NOT to Win Friends and Influence People in Colonial Queensland – Part 1.
Dr. Frederick Cumming, M.D. Ipswich Dr. Frederick Cumming spent sixteen years in Queensland, living and working in Ipswich, Drayton, Brisbane and on the diggings near Gympie. Due to his somewhat combative nature, combined with a perhaps misguided desire to influence local politics, his time in the Colony was a turbulent one. In later years, heContinue reading “How NOT to Win Friends and Influence People in Colonial Queensland – Part 1.”
Twaddle, Nonsense and Scurrilous Doggerel: Social Media Wars in Colonial Queensland.
Rants, scurrilous personal attacks, incoherent fury – colonial Queensland’s social media had it all. The medium was not the billionaire-owned, algorithm-powered app, but the Letters to the Editor column of the newspaper of your choice. One could put fountain pen to paper, pay one’s postage, and sit back in anticipation of one’s Views being broadcastContinue reading “Twaddle, Nonsense and Scurrilous Doggerel: Social Media Wars in Colonial Queensland.”
Salt Beef, Suet and Dyspepsia
Cooking in the EARLY YEARS OF THE colony 1840-1844 When the Moreton Bay establishment was first thrown open for free settlers, it was a rather grim prospect for those accustomed to shopping and cooking at Home or in Sydney. Here’s Tom Dowse on the state of Queen Street (the one real thoroughfare of Brisbane Town),Continue reading “Salt Beef, Suet and Dyspepsia”
Advice to Wives and the Ladies’ College
I found the following pieces when browsing the Queenslander of the late 1860s (it was for other research, and I have no life). Seeing a heading “Advice to Wives,” I prepared myself for a migraine-inducing eyeroll, only to read on, and find some surprisingly progressive sentiments being expressed. One can only imagine the feelings thatContinue reading “Advice to Wives and the Ladies’ College”
On this day: A Night of Fires, 1866
October 8, 1866 From the Brisbane Courier. GREAT FIRE IN THE CITY. TWELVE HOUSES DESTROYED. A FIRE, only surpassed in magnitude by the two great fires of a year or two ago, occurred in Queen-street last night, being the third great conflagration which has happened in the principal thoroughfare of the city. It took placeContinue reading “On this day: A Night of Fires, 1866”
Tales from the Proserpine: the orphan who lived long and prospered.
The Proserpine was converted from a cattle ship to a prison hulk in 1863, and was repurposed again in 1871 to “to receive boys of the criminal class.”[i] The criminal class included children who had been brought before the Bench as neglected. Neglected children are held, by the sixth clause of the Act, to meanContinue reading “Tales from the Proserpine: the orphan who lived long and prospered.”
Richard Daintree’s Queensland
Richard Daintree (1831-1878) was a geologist and photographer who worked on the Victorian Goldfields after graduating from Cambridge University. In 1865, Daintree moved to North Queensland and began recording his observations, leading to an appointment as Government Geologist for the region. His Victorian works are justly celebrated, but he also managed to capture the earliestContinue reading “Richard Daintree’s Queensland”
Waterloo, Trafalgar and Dunwich
Veterans of the Napoleonic Wars must have been a tough breed. A handful of them lived hard lives in Queensland, still working at hard physical labour in their seventies and eighties. There was no aged pension, and injury or illness in a labouring man removed their only means of earning a living. The Dunwich BenevolentContinue reading “Waterloo, Trafalgar and Dunwich”
Moreton Bay and More 