It was 1847. The convict settlement was gone and free settlers had begun to come in to Brisbane Town. A few small houses and stores had begun to crop up on the main street – Queen Street – and at remote places like South Brisbane and Kangaroo Point. A few rough pubs and inns cateredContinue reading “The Fatal Effects of Intemperance.”
Category Archives: Old Brisbane Town
Another Despatch from the Windmill Reporter.
Moreton Bay Courier, 25 December 1852. From our Windmill Reporter Pistol HOT weather, and hard work at Charet’s[i] celebrated gold field in this neighbourhood, make me little inclined to communicate with you after my long silence, more especially as I am rather alarmed about one Pistol[ii], whose admiring friends run about frightening all the oldContinue reading “Another Despatch from the Windmill Reporter.”
The Hard Times
Tales from Early Queensland The first European inhabitants of Queensland consisted wholly of those who had no choice in their destination. They were the convicts, soldiers and officials who made up the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement. Upon its demise in 1842, very few remained to take part in the opening-up to free settlement. The ColonialContinue reading “The Hard Times”
History in our midst – the Mooney Memorial Fountain.
On Eagle Street, an ornate Victorian drinking fountain sits in the midst of towering buildings, Moreton Bay fig trees and oblivious foot traffic. It was erected in the memory of a young volunteer fireman, James Mooney, who died of scalding and burns in March 1877, trying to save a block of buildings in Queen Street.Continue reading “History in our midst – the Mooney Memorial Fountain.”
The Archaeology of Old Brisbane Town
This is the first of an occasional series of posts highlighting Old Brisbane discoveries and observations made during excavations. The Commandant’s Cottage In 1986, construction workers at a site between George and William Streets discovered some of the sub-structure of the Moreton Bay Commandant’s Cottage. Although the building itself was long gone, the footprint wasContinue reading “The Archaeology of Old Brisbane Town”
The Brisbane Flood Anniversary
On the tenth anniversary of the floods that drenched Brisbane, Ipswich, Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley, let’s revisit the first flood to be widely photographed – the 1893 disaster. Views of the floods in Southern Queensland The water came up and the children came out… Of course, this sort of photo disturbs the modern viewer.Continue reading “The Brisbane Flood Anniversary”
All in the family.
Family and group photographs in Queensland in the 1800s. Father regrets posing for a photograph so soon after being thrown from a horse in the middle of a cyclone. Son regrets being in the same photo as Pater. Wedding day It was not customary to smile for photographs in the 1800s – I suspect ColonialContinue reading “All in the family.”
How 1849 came to Brisbane
From the Windmill Reporter When the iron tongue of the Experiment’s bell announced to the universe the arrival of midnight, strange and diabolical sounds issued from the neighbourhood of South Brisbane. A combination of roaring, yelling, singing, and huzzaing, mingled with the spirited barking of youthful dogs, and the melancholy howling of the more agedContinue reading “How 1849 came to Brisbane”
Moreton Bay and More 