Category Archives: Early Photographs

The A-Z of Old Brisbane in colour: MacGregor to Murarrie.

MacGregor In old Brisbane, the area that became known as MacGregor was farmland. The Henderson family settled at MacGregor, and built their farm there. But they didn’t call it MacGregor… Manly Manly is a bayside suburb of Brisbane, in Waterloo Bay. Just about everyone who went to Manly had their camera with them, providing usContinue reading “The A-Z of Old Brisbane in colour: MacGregor to Murarrie.”

The A-Z of Old Brisbane – “L” places and people in colour.

Lamington, Baron The last Governor of the colony of Queensland, and decidedly the most photogenic Governor we’ve ever had, was Lord Lamington. Or, to be more accurate, Charles Wallace Alexander Napier Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, GCMB, GCIE, FRSGS (29 July 1860 – 16 September 1940). Despite the long-argued connection, or possible lack thereof, between His ExcellencyContinue reading “The A-Z of Old Brisbane – “L” places and people in colour.”

On this day: A scene in the Supreme Court.

6 March 1882. On 6 March 1882, a sensation occurred in the Queensland Supreme Court. It was reported on for weeks afterwards, debated and dissected endlessly. It was a conflict between two well-known – the Honourable Justice George Rogers Harding and the barrister, Mr. Frederick ffoulkes Swanwick. Justice Harding (1838-1895) was a distinguished jurist andContinue reading “On this day: A scene in the Supreme Court.”

Lantern slides of outback life.

The George Washington Wilson Company’s slides of the goldfields. Celebrated photographer George Washington Wilson didn’t make the journey to the goldfields of North Queensland in 1890. By then, he was in old age, and the journey would have been too taxing (besides, he was making enough money to have studios under his command). One ofContinue reading “Lantern slides of outback life.”

A Group Photo for the Ages.

It gives us a date and a place – Mount Victoria on 18 September 1892. The setting is a quite charming cottage with a brick chimney, somewhere in the countryside. The edges of the photo are blurred, there are 30 figures posed in front of the house, and the silhouette of a woman indoors. ThereContinue reading “A Group Photo for the Ages.”

Panoramas of Old Brisbane.

Windmill Hill, or as it became later, Wickham Terrace, afforded townsfolk an outstanding view of Brisbane Town. Several photographers stood more or less on the same spot and recorded the view through the 19th and early 20th centuries in a series of panoramas. In the process, they recorded enormous growth, historic buildings under construction, andContinue reading “Panoramas of Old Brisbane.”

The Mackay district in glass plate negatives.

One of the many glass plate negative series in the State Library’s digital collection shows people and scenery in the Mackay area around the 1870s-1880s. There aren’t many pictures, and some are badly damaged. Others depict First Nations people, and I’m uncomfortable about uploading those, given cultural sensitivities, and the fact that the photographs wereContinue reading “The Mackay district in glass plate negatives.”

The Past in Colour.

Lantern Slides and Tinted Slides The first set of colourised slides of Brisbane in the State Library collection depict the flood of 1893. Adding some (slight) colour to them brings out some detail that would be lost in black and white, particularly the height of the water compared to the banks and houses. Brisbane landmarksContinue reading “The Past in Colour.”

A Visit to the Ekka (or the Show).

(Translation for non-Queenslanders: A visit to the Royal National Association Exhibition, an annual city-country fair held in Brisbane. It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors over its fortnight of operation. Sort of like a State Fair. Because Australians in general and Queenslanders in particular have to shorten names, it became “the Ekka.” In my family,Continue reading “A Visit to the Ekka (or the Show).”