Convict Snapshot: George Baxter George Baxter had led a law-abiding and successful sort of life until he got a job with rules he didn’t fully understand. He was a veteran of the 95th Regiment, and part of the Royal Veterans’ Company formed to populate New South Wales with useful, non-criminal settlers once their service wasContinue reading “Habeas Corpus and a Sudden Visitation of God”
Author Archives: Karen B
Amateur historian and writer.
Gentlemen with Aliases – Part 2
Meet Victor Hugo, Winston Churchill (the Plain Turkey), Professor toshima et al The 19th century was a time for criminals to adopt aliases that reflected their disruptive outlaw ways – The Wild Scotchman (James McPherson) and Henry Hunter, The Wild Frenchman, rode the backroads in the 1860s, nicking horses and emptying the mails. The SnobContinue reading “Gentlemen with Aliases – Part 2”
What do you have to do to go to Moreton Bay?
A survey of some early cases Criminal sentencing is a polarising topic – it’s not harsh enough on some criminals, too harsh on others. The press and public periodically lament the judiciary’s lack of community awareness. Life means life etc. Modern Australia does not have the death penalty, but it was well and truly onContinue reading “What do you have to do to go to Moreton Bay?”
The Brisbane Flood Anniversary
On the tenth anniversary of the floods that drenched Brisbane, Ipswich, Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley, let’s revisit the first flood to be widely photographed – the 1893 disaster. Views of the floods in Southern Queensland The water came up and the children came out… Of course, this sort of photo disturbs the modern viewer.Continue reading “The Brisbane Flood Anniversary”
It’s a living!
Work and business between 1860 and 1900. E.W. Cohen was an entrepreneurial chap. He was the Dentist and Chemist at Longreach, and unusually, at least to modern minds, this business included a billiards saloon. And here’s Mr Cohen in the 1880s at his establishment in nearby Arrilalah. Here, he’s the surgeon dentist, druggist and purveyorContinue reading “It’s a living!”
All in the family.
Family and group photographs in Queensland in the 1800s. Father regrets posing for a photograph so soon after being thrown from a horse in the middle of a cyclone. Son regrets being in the same photo as Pater. Wedding day It was not customary to smile for photographs in the 1800s – I suspect ColonialContinue reading “All in the family.”
Classifieds in Old Brisbane Town
Newspaper classified advertisements can provide an invaluable insight into the wants and needs of a time and place. Some are utterly inexplicable to modern readers. Here’s a selection from various decades. THE EARLY YEARS Wants and needs were pretty basic in the first decade of free settlement. Trade, buildings, getting the mail. The Experiment wasContinue reading “Classifieds in Old Brisbane Town”
How 1849 came to Brisbane
From the Windmill Reporter When the iron tongue of the Experiment’s bell announced to the universe the arrival of midnight, strange and diabolical sounds issued from the neighbourhood of South Brisbane. A combination of roaring, yelling, singing, and huzzaing, mingled with the spirited barking of youthful dogs, and the melancholy howling of the more agedContinue reading “How 1849 came to Brisbane”
From Kangaroo Point to the Mountstuart Elphinstone
As seen by the Windmill Reporter, 3 November 1849. Our Windmill Reporter was a regular feature in the early days of the Moreton Bay Courier. Claiming to reside in the Old Windmill in Spring Hill, the writer observed local growth and progress. In this dispatch, the author notes the first signs of civilisation at KangarooContinue reading “From Kangaroo Point to the Mountstuart Elphinstone”
Recreation and family life in Queensland in the 1880s
Old photographs show a moment in time, places that are vanished or changed beyond recognition. How we used to live can show how much people have changed, or not. Sport A cricket team in an unidentified Queensland town in the 1880s. The sportsmen, attired in cricket whites with hats – bowler, wide-awake and cabbage-tree, ratherContinue reading “Recreation and family life in Queensland in the 1880s”
Moreton Bay and More 