Author Archives: Karen B

Amateur historian and writer.

Harry Shepperson: the stationer who ran away with the actress.

NOTABLE BRISBANE PIONEERS Henry William Shepperson was a well-known and respectable book-seller and stationer in Brisbane in the 1860s and 1870s. He produced beautiful calendars and religious pamphlets for St John’s Anglican Cathedral. Harry was active in the Masons, and was married with children, two of whom sadly died in infancy. He was an enthusiasticContinue reading “Harry Shepperson: the stationer who ran away with the actress.”

Thomas Warry

Notable Brisbane Pioneers Old Brisbane throws up some unusual characters, not least the distinguished Thomas Symes Warry. In his relatively short life, he was a prize-winning chemist, a Member of the Legislative Assembly, Magistrate and, briefly, the centre of a peculiar scandal involving the possession of a severed head. Thomas S Warry was born inContinue reading “Thomas Warry”

Ladies’ Fashions of the 1800s

AN EARLY FASHION VICTIM The first European women in Australia were of two distinct classes – Government/Military wives and poor convict women. The latter were largely immune to the variations in high style. The former were prey to the slings and arrows of outrageous fashion – foremost among these was Mary Bligh Putnam. Mary accompaniedContinue reading “Ladies’ Fashions of the 1800s”

Coaches, Railways, Cabs and New-Fangled Automobiles

How we got from A to B in old Queensland. Cobb & Co. Cobb & Co was founded in Victoria in 1853, by an American with a splendidly American name, Freeman Cobb. It was a version of the pony express at first, trading as “American Telegraph Line of Coaches.”  Horses were changed regularly, and speedContinue reading “Coaches, Railways, Cabs and New-Fangled Automobiles”

A Horsewhipping for Christmas

Mr Wimble publicly horsewhipped Mr Draper, editor of the Cairns Chronicle, on Christmas night, owing to some personal remarks published in the Chronicle reflecting on Mr Wimble’s private character. Police Court proceedings will be taken against Mr Wimble. [i] Public horsewhipping was a peculiarly 19th century method of dealing with a private grievance. It wasContinue reading “A Horsewhipping for Christmas”

Lewis the Swift and the Same Old Joe

Brisbane’s newspaper classifieds were enlivened considerably in the 1870s by a gentleman who signed himself “Lewis the Swift.” Lewis was a builder by trade, willing to quote on big jobs and small, and able to branch out into sanitary works, business agency and just about anything his lively business mind turned to. His ads areContinue reading “Lewis the Swift and the Same Old Joe”

Strange Trick of the Imagination

(From our Windmill Reporter.) On Wednesday last, the Tide Surveyor of Customs* happened to be strolling down Queen Street, pondering probably on the great degeneracy of the present age, so far as regards the desire to drink grog without paying the duty, and whistling to himself the popular air of “Will Watch, the bold smuggler,Continue reading “Strange Trick of the Imagination”

Uh, Wish You Were Here?

Brisbane and Queensland Postcards through the years Ah, postcards. Memories of the luridly-coloured “Greetings From Sunny (insert own sunny destination here),” sent from faraway places like Caloundra and Burleigh Heads. Well, it took us half the day to get there, what with the ancient Fiat’s radiator overheating as we trundled along behind slow caravans, andContinue reading “Uh, Wish You Were Here?”

The Soldier Convicts of Moreton Bay

The military detachments who served at Moreton Bay had some interesting prisoners to manage. As well as the twice-convicted felons, there were men who might have served alongside them at one time, had it not been for war or arduous remote postings. Veterans of the Napoleonic Wars Among the soldier convicts at Moreton Bay inContinue reading “The Soldier Convicts of Moreton Bay”