rockhampton – Moreton Bay and More

Rockhampton in Colour

The magic lantern slide photographer and their trusty aide with the love of dayglo blue skies visited Rockhampton and recorded its wide streets and beautiful buildings. A combination of gold rush money and something that I believe is called “town planning” resulted in the picturesque city on the Tropic of Capricorn.

The Huguenot and the Chinese Interpreter.

In 1871, Charles Dean married Temperance Bouchard at Fortitude Valley in Brisbane. Nothing terribly unusual about that – both were single and of marriageable age. However, the backstory of their lives, and how they came to meet and eventually marry each other is quite extraordinary. The groom was a Singapore-born Chinese businessman and interpreter. TheContinue reading “The Huguenot and the Chinese Interpreter.”

Rowdyism in Rockhampton

Rowdyism is our most prominent fault, and this prevails most while the steamers are in. The Courier’s Rockhampton Correspondent, 1861 Rockhampton surged into existence rather suddenly, from a few demountable public buildings thrown together in response to a nearby gold rush in 1858, to a thriving and beautifully planned young city in the early 1860s.Continue reading “Rowdyism in Rockhampton”

The Magisterial Fracas at Rockhampton

Rowdyism in Rockhampton On 12 November 1863, a scandal that had been hinted at over the dinner tables of Rockhampton broke out in the most sensational fashion. Two prominent men of the town, who also held the Commission of the Peace as Magistrates were charged with committing assault in the public streets. At 10 inContinue reading “The Magisterial Fracas at Rockhampton”

The Snob.

Part 1 – Edward Hartigan’s Early Years. In the years between Separation (1859) and Federation (1901), Queensland had its share of storied criminals. Some terrorised the roads for a few years but were captured and imprisoned– the Wild Scotchman was probably the most celebrated. There were infamous murderers who went to gaol or the gallowsContinue reading “The Snob.”

“A Double Fraud, Double Treachery and Double Infamy.”

Judge Innes, Rockhampton District Court, 17 June 1867, sentencing a bigamist. Bigamy in Colonial Queensland – PART ONE Moreton Bay Courier, 1859 Whoever W.H.G. of Nanango was, he or she would have done well to take note of Brown’s Billy’s warning in the Courier’s classifieds in October,1859. Bigamy attracted stiff sentences of penal servitude, notContinue reading ““A Double Fraud, Double Treachery and Double Infamy.””