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.”
Tag Archives: Early Photographs
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.”
Holidays Ahoy!
Two weeks of sweet Spring freedom are drawing near for the State’s schoolchildren. Let Colonial Queenslanders be your guide to recreation and getaway ideas. So, let’s make sure we’re dressed as formally as possible, and remember to bring your paints and brushes or your new-fangled camera. In and Around Brisbane A Trip to the GardensContinue reading “Holidays Ahoy!”
Uh, Wish You Were Here?
Brisbane and Queensland Postcards through the years Ah, postcards. Memories of the luridly-coloured “Greetings From Sunny (insert own sunny destination here),” sent from faraway places like Caloundra and Burleigh Heads. Well, it took us half the day to get there, what with the ancient Fiat’s radiator overheating as we trundled along behind slow caravans, andContinue reading “Uh, Wish You Were Here?”
Ordinary Lives
Brisbane on camera 1870-1900 A Draper’s Business in Queen Street A moment in Queen Street, captured by photographer Richard Daintree, presumably from a window across the street. The building at the far left is a “commerce court”, and C W Fegan & Co are open for business in a building proudly established in 1861. TheContinue reading “Ordinary Lives”
Who Lives in a Place Like This? Part 1.
The Sketch Map of Brisbane Town in 1844, and the stories behind it. A rough, sketched map of Brisbane town in 1844 reposes in the John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. It is attributed to Carl Friedrich Gerler, who arrived in Brisbane as a missionary to the Zion Hill establishment in 1844. The buildingsContinue reading “Who Lives in a Place Like This? Part 1.”
The Five Stages of Inebriation and the 19th Century Scribe.
The court reporters of the 19th century had a distinctive turn of phrase. Flowery and humorous when describing the fairly harmless activities of the town tosspots, their penny-a-lining output is best illustrated by “The Five Stages of Inebriation,” a series of photographs taken in the 1860s by Charles Percy Pickering. (These gems, currently reposing theContinue reading “The Five Stages of Inebriation and the 19th Century Scribe.”
Vice-Regal Families
Being Governor of the Colony of Queensland was not an easy task. The Colony separated from New South Wales in 1859, with the arrival of Sir George and Lady Bowen, transitioning to a State in 1901 with Lord and Lady Lamington. In between those dates, the men and women of the first families were testedContinue reading “Vice-Regal Families”
Moreton Bay and More 