At the commencement the feeling against the accused was very, strong, but as the story unfolded itself, and the crown witnesses were found, with one exception, to be coloured people-the solitary exception being a disgruntled ship’s carpenter belonging to the Hopeful-some of whose evidence was strongly suspected of being tainted, a complete revulsion of feelingContinue reading “The Witness for the Prosecution”
Category Archives: ‘Blackbirding’
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”
February 6, 1872 – the Peri tragedy.
On February 6 1872, a schooner was noticed lying waterlogged off Rockingham Bay near Cardwell in North Queensland. Crew from the H.M.S. Basilisk boarded her and found a terrible scene. Three dead bodies, and fourteen starving Pacific Islanders with no food or fresh water. The Police Magistrate from Cardwell, alerted to the horror found inContinue reading “February 6, 1872 – the Peri tragedy.”
People in the 1860s and 1870s
The colouring of this photo gives a wonderful immediacy to this photograph of a group of settlers near Gympie. Frustratingly, we don’t know why they are, and can’t trace any of their journey through archival records. This post will introduce you to some of the people of Queensland in the 1860s and 1870s, captured inContinue reading “People in the 1860s and 1870s”
Work and Business in the 1860s and 1870s
Separation from New South Wales, exploration and the gold rushes of the 1860s had opened up Queensland. Towns were proclaimed, from the tropical north to the far west, and businesses and infrastructure followed. Railways would gradually cross the colony, replacing the bullock teams and carts that slowly dragged goods across rough bush tracks and over creeks.Continue reading “Work and Business in the 1860s and 1870s”
Moreton Bay and More 