Aspley Aspley, 12 kilometres north of the CBD, was a semi-rural area until Brisbane’s housing belt expanded in the 1970s. There were land sales in the area more than 120 years prior to that, and the area around the Gympie Road became home to small farm holdings, such as the Matthews’. Gympie Road was theContinue reading “A-Z of Old Brisbane: Aspley and Auchenflower.”
Author Archives: Karen B
Amateur historian and writer.
A-Z of Old Brisbane: Ascot and Ashgrove.
Ascot through the years. Ascot and Ashgrove are now inner Brisbane suburbs, being 6 and 5 kilometres from the Central Business District respectively. The history of Ascot is intertwined with the name Eagle Farm, although Eagle Farm is today a separate suburb. In the 1830s, the Female Factory was located at Eagle Farm, and theContinue reading “A-Z of Old Brisbane: Ascot and Ashgrove.”
My Top Fives (so far).
I seem to have been posting since February 2019 (more than five years!), and I can’t help but reflect on some of the stories I’ve come across since I first bit the bullet and began to blog. (Links to the posts are in the title headings.) The following are my personal “top five” in severalContinue reading “My Top Fives (so far).”
A-Z of Old Brisbane: Alderley and Annerley.
Alderley The suburb of Alderley officially came into being in the late 1870s, with the establishment of a post office. The suburb took its name from Alderley Edge in Cheshire England, according to the nice, helpful people of Wikipedia. Alderley is bordered by Newmarket and Enoggera in modern Brisbane, and in recent decades, Alderley’s proximityContinue reading “A-Z of Old Brisbane: Alderley and Annerley.”
Bridal Fashion in old Queensland.
Ruffles, flounces and tiny waists never went out of style. Miss Hirst, pictured on her wedding day in 1872, is the very picture of the Victorian bride. She is veiled and ruffled, with butterflies embroidered on the netting over the skirt. In the original photograph, her headpiece had details hand-painted in, and I suspect thatContinue reading “Bridal Fashion in old Queensland.”
The A-Z of Old Brisbane: Adelaide Street
One of the main thoroughfares of Brisbane’s Central Business District. Established before Brisbane had a business district. 1842 – Adelaide Street is named. Moreton Bay had been proclaimed as a place of free settlement, and Lieutenant Owen Gorman and his Regiment had been recalled, handing over management to Dr Stephen Simpson until Captain Wickham couldContinue reading “The A-Z of Old Brisbane: Adelaide Street”
The A-Z of Old Brisbane -Albion
From a bush hotel on the way to the beach to an inner-urban suburb. In 1864, Thomas Hayselden advertised for a Publican’s License to turn his property on the Sandgate Road into an “Inn or Public House” under the sign of the Albion Hotel. Sandgate was a popular seaside hamlet, but it was a deucedContinue reading “The A-Z of Old Brisbane -Albion”
The Wedding Party.
There’s nothing like a big family wedding. It’s a chance to get everyone you love together to celebrate the happy occasion of your wedding. It’s a chance for future in-laws to carry out minute social inspections of each other. (The results of which will inevitably be damning, and will be aired after any occasion atContinue reading “The Wedding Party.”
Cheer up, ladies!
It’s just until death you do part… It was a societal norm that one didn’t grin like an idiot when one’s photograph was being taken. The time for exposure in early photographs was such that holding a smile for that long would result in an unhinged appearance. However, we’re so accustomed to wedding photographs showingContinue reading “Cheer up, ladies!”
The Star of the Stage.
Brisbane gradually developed a theatre scene in the 1860s. Population growth spurred a desire to see entertainments beyond improving lectures at the School of Arts, travelling circuses and magic lantern shows. 1860s Brisbane played a small, but vital, part in the growth of a theatrical dynasty that would be celebrated throughout Australia and “home” inContinue reading “The Star of the Stage.”
Moreton Bay and More 