Ascot through the years. Ascot and Ashgrove are now inner Brisbane suburbs, being 6 and 5 kilometres from the Central Business District respectively. The history of Ascot is intertwined with the name Eagle Farm, although Eagle Farm is today a separate suburb. In the 1830s, the Female Factory was located at Eagle Farm, and theContinue reading “A-Z of Old Brisbane: Ascot and Ashgrove.”
Tag Archives: Early Photographs
Bridal Fashion in old Queensland.
Ruffles, flounces and tiny waists never went out of style. Miss Hirst, pictured on her wedding day in 1872, is the very picture of the Victorian bride. She is veiled and ruffled, with butterflies embroidered on the netting over the skirt. In the original photograph, her headpiece had details hand-painted in, and I suspect thatContinue reading “Bridal Fashion in old Queensland.”
The Wedding Party.
There’s nothing like a big family wedding. It’s a chance to get everyone you love together to celebrate the happy occasion of your wedding. It’s a chance for future in-laws to carry out minute social inspections of each other. (The results of which will inevitably be damning, and will be aired after any occasion atContinue reading “The Wedding Party.”
Cheer up, ladies!
It’s just until death you do part… It was a societal norm that one didn’t grin like an idiot when one’s photograph was being taken. The time for exposure in early photographs was such that holding a smile for that long would result in an unhinged appearance. However, we’re so accustomed to wedding photographs showingContinue reading “Cheer up, ladies!”
A Day at the Races.
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.”
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.”
Moreton Bay and More 