1871 Edition. The go-to man for oyster parties. J Hampson sold fruit, coffee and hot pies, but above all, he sold OYSTERS!!! Bottled oysters, stewed oysters (an acquired taste, presumably), collapsed oysters (what?). Oh, and fresh ones in the shell. That’s a relief. J Hampson was also prepared to cater for Oyster Parties. Whatever thatContinue reading “The Discerning Shopper’s Guide to Gympie.”
Category Archives: Businesses
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”
Who Lives in a Place Like This? Part 3.
The Sketch Map of Brisbane Town in 1844, and the stories behind it. 31. Taylor Shappart There was no Taylor Shappart in Brisbane in 1844. There was a tailor, John Sheppard, who lived and worked at Brisbane at the time, and later moved to Ipswich. I suspect that between the Gerler’s understanding of English namesContinue reading “Who Lives in a Place Like This? Part 3.”
Who Lives in a Place Like This? Part 2
The Sketch Map of Brisbane Town in 1844, and the stories behind it. 16. Wright’s Hotel At first, hotels were few in old Brisbane Town. The hospitable Scot, Alexander Wright, was the proprietor of one of the larger and more respectable ones, The Caledonian Hotel, between Queen and Ann Streets. Mr Wright boasted of theContinue reading “Who Lives in a Place Like This? Part 2”
Who Lives in a Place Like This? Part 1.
The Sketch Map of Brisbane Town in 1844, and the stories behind it. A rough, sketched map of Brisbane town in 1844 reposes in the John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. It is attributed to Carl Friedrich Gerler, who arrived in Brisbane as a missionary to the Zion Hill establishment in 1844. The buildingsContinue reading “Who Lives in a Place Like This? Part 1.”
Inns and Hotels of Renown
A guide to places to stay from 1870 to 1890. Rock of Cashel Hotel, Sugarloaf, via Stanthorpe, Queensland, ca 1870. Unidentified photographer. State Library of Queensland. Britannia Hotel in Stanthorpe, 1872. Photographer: William Boag, c. 1838-1878. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Miner’s Refuge Hotel at Broadwater near Stanthorpe, ca 1872. Photographer: William Boag,Continue reading “Inns and Hotels of Renown”
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!”
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”
Mr Higgins and his menagerie.
Charles Higgins had an eventful life in the Colony of Queensland. He kept pet tigers at Toombul, when it was then in the country. He ran a menagerie of exotic wild animals in George Street in the heart of Brisbane Town, suffered a severe mauling at same, donated iguanas to the Museum, and featured in a numberContinue reading “Mr Higgins and his menagerie.”
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”
Moreton Bay and More 