The Free Settlement Edition. The Brisbane Riot. Kind of. On the night of the 2nd October 1849, a riot took place in Queen Street in Brisbane. At least, it was kind of a riot. A group of a dozen rather drunk men assembled noisily in Queen Street at about 11 pm. The Chief Constable, withContinue reading “Only in Brisbane.”
Tag Archives: Newspaper stories
Policing the Colony
Policing in the early days at Moreton Bay had its challenges. There were hundreds of convicted criminals about – former convicts on tickets of leave and in indentured service. The free men and women of the town tried to foster a sort of civic pride and dignity, but their efforts were undermined by an itinerantContinue reading “Policing the Colony”
“What? Beer makes you drunk?”
A surprising discovery in Brisbane in the late 1840s. The great Australian tradition of drinking one’s wages arrived at Moreton Bay with the Europeans in 1824. Soldiers and public servants at the settlement had cellars, and enterprising convicts could sometimes lay their hands on some of their contents. Free settlement meant liquor licenses, public drinkingContinue reading ““What? Beer makes you drunk?””
Who Lives in a Place Like This? Part 3.
The Sketch Map of Brisbane Town in 1844, and the stories behind it. 31. Taylor Shappart There was no Taylor Shappart in Brisbane in 1844. There was a tailor, John Sheppard, who lived and worked at Brisbane at the time, and later moved to Ipswich. I suspect that between the Gerler’s understanding of English namesContinue reading “Who Lives in a Place Like This? Part 3.”
True Crime in 1840s Brisbane
As reported by the Moreton Bay Courier With the exception of the murder of Robert Cox at Kangaroo Point in 1848, and the relatively distant frontier violence perpetrated by and on European settlers, life was fairly quiet in Moreton Bay in the 1840s. Still, there are columns to fill, and readers to shock, so theContinue reading “True Crime in 1840s Brisbane”
Found Dead in the Bush
There were few more haunting fears for the lone traveler than that of becoming ill or injured and of dying alone, in the middle of nowhere. 19th century Europeans had little idea of bushcraft – how to find edible plants, how to locate clean drinking water, even how to dress and when to travel toContinue reading “Found Dead in the Bush”
Personal and Commercial.
A Tour of the Classifieds The plaintive personal advertisements for missing friends mentioned in the previous post often sat cheek by jowl with truly bizarre advertising content – gossip and rabble-rousing, and a number of inscrutable items that would only be understood by your average colonial Victorian perusing the local organ of record. The veryContinue reading “Personal and Commercial.”
175 years ago, the Moreton Bay Courier was born
On Saturday 20 June 1846, the Moreton Bay Courier was published for the first time. Four years had passed since free settlers had been allowed in to the district, and some enterprising individuals decided that a local newspaper would be just the ticket for an outpost of New South Wales, some 500 miles from theContinue reading “175 years ago, the Moreton Bay Courier was born”
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.”
Marriage and crime
Bigamy is much less common today. Paperwork is digitised, and marriage is no longer the sole criteria under which two mutually attracted adults may live under one roof. And for that, women should be eternally grateful. One hundred years ago, an unhappy or hasty marriage was for life. The law was written to preserve theContinue reading “Marriage and crime”
Moreton Bay and More 