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!”
Author Archives: Karen B
Amateur historian and writer.
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”
A Notorious Rogue and Vagabond
John Longbottom FIGHTS THE LAW At York in January 1817 a young sailor was convicted of burglary and sentenced to seven years’ transportation to New South Wales. Even for a man accustomed to sailing, the prospect of a journey to the other side of the planet would have boggled the imagination. The fact that aContinue reading “A Notorious Rogue and Vagabond”
The Rake’s Progress
In the Queensland Police Service Watch-house Entry Books, a photograph of a respectable-looking middle-aged man is accompanied by a string of aliases, each more bizarre than the last. He could be the local vicar, but for all of those names. He was imprisoned for bigamy, something that was far more common in those far-off daysContinue reading “The Rake’s Progress”
Incipient Signs of Rowdyism in the Streets.
In the late 1840s, colony of Moreton Bay and its surrounding districts had been open to free settlers for several years, but was struggling with the need for labour, institutions and infrastructure. The convict buildings left about the place had deteriorated, and there was little economic stimulus to create new facilities for the town. TheContinue reading “Incipient Signs of Rowdyism in the Streets.”
People in the 1860s and 1870s – Group Portraits
How photographers presented the people of Queensland Photography was a relatively new art in the 1860s and 1870s in Queensland. There were enthusiastic amateur snappers, like G.H. Verney, and professionals who journeyed through the Colony, capturing the people they met. Sometimes group photos have individual details that fascinate the modern eye. Here’s a selection ofContinue reading “People in the 1860s and 1870s – Group Portraits”
Moreton Bay and More 