Timothy Duffy was an Irish convict, who had been transported for highway robbery in 1822, and who became a familiar and well-liked figure in early Brisbane as the Bay Fisherman. His progress towards reform and respectability was slow, and some would say, incomplete. He liked a drink, hated a bailiff, and could curse with legendaryContinue reading “The Bay Fisherman.”
Category Archives: Brisbane in the 1860s
The Career of “Professor” Russell in Queensland
Part 1 – the professor of the comb and scissors 19th century Queensland was a place where a person could change their fortune and make a new life. In some cases, people completely reinvented their lives. An ambitious hospitality worker married her way up to the squattocracy, not troubling herself with the messy and expensiveContinue reading “The Career of “Professor” Russell in Queensland”
The Burning of the Fiery Star
THE BURNING OF THE FIERY STAR The logbook of Chief Officer William Sargent showed that the Fiery Star took twelve days to reach the south end of New Zealand, passing by on the 12th of April 1865. The journey had been proceeding as planned, although strong seas had destroyed two of the longboats on theContinue reading “The Burning of the Fiery Star”
The Fiery Star in Brisbane
On 31 March 1865, the clipper Fiery Star sailed from Moreton Bay, bound for London. She had brought over 500 immigrants to Queensland on 20 November 1864, but her return journey would be a rather less crowded affair – eight in Saloon, eight in Second Cabin, and twenty-one steerage passengers. She would also be takingContinue reading “The Fiery Star in Brisbane”
Public Enemy No. 1 in Colonial Queensland
A menace. Larcenous. Infernal. A nuisance. Horrid. Abominable. Laws were passed against it but had little effect. Newspaper letter-writers railed for decades. Vigilantism broke out. Fights ensued. Blood was shed. Men went armed. The sleep of innocent families was murdered. Jonquils were destroyed. Even orchids. What was this scourge, this menace to peaceful society? TheContinue reading “Public Enemy No. 1 in Colonial Queensland”
How NOT to Win Friends and Influence People in Colonial Queensland – Part 3.
Dr. Frederick Cumming in the 1860s. Henceforth, apart from one (disastrous, of course) toe-dip in the politics of West Moreton in 1867, Dr. Cumming would be known for his medical practice. There would be controversy, financial problems and some rather questionable verse. His experience of Brisbane in the 1860s would culminate in his return toContinue reading “How NOT to Win Friends and Influence People in Colonial Queensland – Part 3.”
The Grub Train and the Emu Hunt That Never Was.
Prince Alfred visits Queensland. We bowed and scraped to Prince Alfred. We inflicted upon him massacred anthems and a series of mismanaged receptions. The children of St Mary’s at Ipswich made a banner that got his name wrong –Welcome Alfreda? We might have bored him, and almost certainly irritated him, but at least we didn’tContinue reading “The Grub Train and the Emu Hunt That Never Was.”
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”
Life on the Rivers
A leisurely tour of river views from the 19th century. No raging torrents or floods, just peaceful river views.
The Roma Street Waterhole
“At the back of Rankin and Morrow’s Store, George Street, was large waterhole, a continuation of a chain of these running from the present Market reserve. The town was supplied with water for domestic purposes from this. There was no enclosure of any kind or any convenience of raising water. The waterman simply backed theirContinue reading “The Roma Street Waterhole”
Moreton Bay and More 