Brisbane Race Days. The Moreton Bay Races, 1846. The first edition of the Moreton Bay Courier contains the first-ever account of the local race day. Four years after the Settlement was opened to people other than soldiers and convicts, the local ‘gentry’ raced their horses at New Farm. “Boasting more than an average of respectability!”Continue reading “A Day at the Races.”
Tag Archives: Early Photographs
Queensland Ladies Wear the Fashions of the 1800s.
This sketch by Charles Rawson of the Rawson men admiring their wives’ new outfits (all the way from England!), shows how the better-off women stayed in touch with fashion. Decima and Winifred would have been the toast of Mackay in 1877 in their actually-from-England finery. Lesser mortals had to be content with at best, theContinue reading “Queensland Ladies Wear the Fashions of the 1800s.”
The Discerning Shopper’s Guide to Gympie.
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.”
The Meaning of Hard Work.
1880, Gympie, Queensland. A group of 35 men are photographed just before going below ground at the No. 1 North Phoenix mine. Some are quite young, others raw-boned, haggard from years of hard work. The men gaze at the camera warily, wearily. They know that accidents are common in their line of work. If theyContinue reading “The Meaning of Hard Work.”
The Early History of Maryborough in Photos.
The 1860s and 1870s. Few Queensland towns have had their infancy as carefully recorded in photographs as Maryborough. The State Library of Queensland’s digital collection has included a wealth of historical photographs from the Fraser Coast Regional Libraries, and we can now see Maryborough grow over the years in pictures. Early Homes. The contrast betweenContinue reading “The Early History of Maryborough in Photos.”
The Flood – 1893.
On this Day – Floodwaters rise to 6 feet over Edward Street. There have been so many catastrophic floods in Queensland – whether caused by tropical cyclones, low pressure systems or, in the elegant parlance of today’s news reports, “rain bombs.” The 1893 flood was the first natural disaster to be thoroughly recorded by photographers.Continue reading “The Flood – 1893.”
Faces from Old Queensland.
A brief survey of photographs of Queenslanders in the second half of the 19th century. Seen and not heard. And not happy about it. These studio photographs show serious and perfectly posed Victorian children. Nobody fidgeted. Not even the dog. I imagine that nobody dared. (Due to certain similarities in the eye and forehead shapeContinue reading “Faces from Old Queensland.”
Christmas Cheer in Old Queensland
how we celebrated back in the day Following a string of particularly gloomy Christmas leaders, the Moreton Bay Courier was pleased to report a small outbreak of charity in 1860: CHRISTMAS DAY. – Tuesday and yesterday were generally observed as holidays, the town having quite a deserted appearance on the first mentioned day. Picnics andContinue reading “Christmas Cheer in Old Queensland”
Richard Daintree’s Queensland
Richard Daintree (1831-1878) was a geologist and photographer who worked on the Victorian Goldfields after graduating from Cambridge University. In 1865, Daintree moved to North Queensland and began recording his observations, leading to an appointment as Government Geologist for the region. His Victorian works are justly celebrated, but he also managed to capture the earliestContinue reading “Richard Daintree’s Queensland”
Homes, Decor and Gardens in the 19th Century.
How did people live in a certain time and place? What were their homes and lives like? Thanks to the invention of photography, we can see some of colonial Queensland, from the slab and bark huts built by Europeans as they started their lives on the land they had claimed, to the substantial and class-definedContinue reading “Homes, Decor and Gardens in the 19th Century.”
Moreton Bay and More 