History of Brisbane
Brisbane,
Queensland,
Australia, is named for
Sir Thomas Brisbane (
1773–
1860),
British soldier and colonial administrator born in
Ayrshire,
Scotland. Sir Thomas Brisbane was
Governor of New South Wales at the time that Brisbane was named.
Prior to European
settlement, Brisbane was occupied by
Aboriginal tribes.
The region was first explored by Europeans in
1797, when
Matthew Flinders made a landing at what is now
Woody Point in
Redcliffe. A permanent settlement in the region was not founded until half a century later, when
New South Welsh Governor Brisbane was requested by
Sydney free settlers that the worst convicts be sent elsewhere.
On
October 23 1823, Surveyor General
John Oxley set out with a party in the cutter
"Mermaid" from
Sydney to "survey Port Curtis [
now Gladstone],
Moreton Bay and
Port Bowen, with a view to forming convict settlements there". The party reached Port Curtis on
November 5. Oxley suggested that the location was unsuitable for a settlement, since it would be difficult to maintain.
As he approached
Point Skirmish into Moreton Bay, he noticed several
Indigenous Australians approaching him, led by several white bedraggled timbergetters. The white men turned out to be shipwrecked timbergetters by the names of
Thomas Pamphlett,
Richard Parsons,
John Finnegan and
John Thomson who had left Sydney on
March 21 of the same year to sail along the coast in search of cedar. They had been living with the Indigenous tribe for seven months.
After meeting with them, Oxley proceeded approximately 100km up what he later named the
Brisbane River in honour of the then-Govenor Brisbane. Oxley explored the river as far as what is now the suburb of
Goodna in the city of
Ipswich, about 20km upstream Brisbane's
central business district. Several places were named by Oxley and his party including Breakfast Creek (at the mouth of which they cooked breakfast), Oxley Creek and Seventeen Mile Rocks.
In
1824, the first convict colony was established at
Redcliffe Point under
Lieutenant Miller. Meanwhile, Oxley and
Allan Cunningham explored further up the Brisbane River in search of water, landing at the present location of
North Quay. Only one year later, in
1825, the colony was moved south from
Redcliffe to a peninsula on the
Brisbane River, site of the present Central Business District, called "Mean-jin" by the local Turrbul inhabitants. The settlement was named "Edenglassie" (in honour of
Edinburgh and
Glasgow,
Scotland) by British pioneers but was subsequently renamed to match the river. The official population of Brisbane at the end of
1825 was "45 males and 2 females".
The colony was originally established as a "prison within a prison" - a settlement, deliberately distant from
Sydney, to which convicts who reoffended while serving their sentences could be sent as punishment. It soon garnered a reputation, along with
Norfolk Island, as being one of the harshest penal settlements in all of
New South Wales.
Private settlement near the area was forbidden for many years. As the inflow of new convicts decreased steadily, the population began to decline. In
1838, the area was opened up for free (as distinct from forced) settlement, beginning with a group of
Lutheran missionaries from
Germany who were granted land in what is now the northside suburb of
Nundah. In 1839 the first three surveyors, Dixon, Stapylton and Warner arrived in Moreton Bay to prepare the land for free settlement. Larger numbers of European settlers in the
1840s took advantage of the abundance of timber in local forests. Grazing and farming took hold quickly on the fertile land of the coastal plain, and the
convict colony was eventually closed.
Throughout this period, the interests of the local indigenous population was rarely given due regard. A rare exception was the settler, Tom Petrie, who befriended and supported the local Turrbil people, helping many to resettle away from the growing city. Petrie's name is now associated with the suburb of Petrie in
Pine Rivers Shire, north of Brisbane.
Queensland was formally established as a self-governing colony of Britain separate from
New South Wales in
1859.
Originally the neighbouring city of Ipswich was intended to be the capital of Queensland but it proved too far inland to allow access by large ships and so Brisbane was chosen as the capital instead. However it was not until
1902 that it was officially designated a city.
Severe flooding in the
1890's devastated the city and destroyed the first of several versions of the
Victoria Bridge. Even though gold was discovered north of Brisbane, around
Maryborough and
Gympie, most of the proceeds went south to Sydney and Melbourne. The city remained an underdeveloped regional outpost, with comparatively little of the classical Victorian architecture that characterized southern cities.
The first railway in Brisbane was built in
1879 when the line from the western interior was extended from Ipswich to
Roma Street Station. First horse drawn, then electric
Trams operated in Brisbane from
1885 till
1969. Tramway employees stood down for wearing union badges on
18 January,
1912 sparked Australia's first
General strike, the
1912 Brisbane General Strike which lasted for five weeks.
In an effort to prevent overcrowding and control urban development, the
Parliament of Queensland passed the
Undue Subdivision of Land Prevention Act 1885, resulting in Brisbane and other Queensland cities having very low population densities and covering large areas compared to similar Australian cities.
This legislation, together with the advent of efficient public transport in the form of steam trains and electric trams encouraged the spread of the city. Although the initial tram routes reached out into established suburbs such as
West End,
Fortitude Valley,
New Farm and
Newstead later extensions and new routes encouraged housing developments in new suburbs, such as the western side of
Toowong,
Paddington,
Ashgrove,
Kelvin Grove and
Coorparoo. This was a pattern of development to continue through to the
1950s, with later extensions encouraging new developments around Mt Gravatt, Stafford,
Camp Hill and Enoggera. Generally the train lines linked established communities, although the Mitchelton line (later extended to Dayboro, before being cut back to Ferny Grove) did encourage suburban development out as far as Keperra.
Subsequently, with the advent of private transport in the form of cars, land between tram and train routes was developed for settlement, for example Ekibin, Tarragindi, Everton Park, Stafford Heights and Wavell Heights.
In
1924, the City of Brisbane Act was passed by the Queensland Parliament, amalgamating the Cities of Brisbane and South Brisbane; the Towns of Hamilton, Ithaca, Sandgate, Toowong, Windsor and Wynnum; and the Shires of Balmoral, Belmont, Coorparoo, Enoggera, Kedron, Moggill, Sherwood, Stephens, Taringa, Tingalpa, Toombul and Yeerongpilly to form the current City of Greater Brisbane, now known simply as the
City of Brisbane, in
1925. To accommodate the new enlarged city council the current
Brisbane City Hall was opened in
1930. Many former shire and town halls became the nucleus of Greater Brisbane's public library network.
[[Image:MacArthur-Museum-notice.jpg|thumb|left|160px|A notice about the MacArthur Museum [
1] at
MacArthur Central]]
Due to Brisbane's proximity to the
South West Pacific Area theatre of
World War II (Second World War), the city played a prominent role in the defence of Australia. The city became a temporary home to thousands of Australian and
American servicemen. Buildings and institutions around Brisbane were given over to the housing of military personnel as required. The present-day
MacArthur Central building became the Pacific headquarters of U.S. General
Douglas MacArthur, and the
University of Queensland campus at
St Lucia was converted to a military barracks for the final three years of the war. St Laurence's College in South Brisbane was also used as barracks due to its great vantage point over the city. And during this time the school moved out to Greenslopes to continue classes.
Newstead House was also used to house American servicemen during the war.
Brisbane was used to mark the position of the "
Brisbane Line" - a controversial defence proposal, allegedly formulated by the
Menzies government, that would, upon a land invasion of Australia, surrender the entire northern part of the country. The line was, allegedly, at a latitude just north of Brisbane and spanned the entire width of the continent.
On
November 26 and
November 27 1942 rioting broke out between
US and Australian
servicemen stationed in Brisbane. By the time the violence had been quelled one Australian soldier was dead, and hundreds of Australian and US servicemen were injured along with civilians caught up in the fighting. [
2] Hundreds of soldiers were involved in the rioting on both sides. This incident, which was heavily censored at the time and apparently was not reported in the US at all, is known as the
Battle of Brisbane.
|
The consequence of years of inadequate civic finances - a city largely unsewered, with outhouses behind each home. The city was not completely sewered until the early 1970s |
Immediately after the war, the Brisbane City Council, along with most governments in Australia, found it difficult to raise finances for much-needed repairs and development. Even where funds could be obtained materials were scarce. Adding to these difficulties was the political environment encouraged by some aldermen, led by Archibald Tait, to reduce the city's rates (land taxes). Ald Tait successfully ran on a slogan of "Vote for Tait, he'll lower the rate." Rates were indeed lowered, exacerbating Brisbane's finances.
Although Brisbane's tram system continued to be expanded, roads and streets remained unsealed. Water supply was limited, although the City Council built, and subsequently raised the level of the
Somerset Dam on the
Stanley River. Despite this most residences continued to rely heavily on rainwater stored in tanks.
The limited water supply and lack of funding also meant that despite the rapid increase in the city's population, little work was done to upgrade the city's sewage collection, which continued to rely on the collection of
nightsoil. Other than the CBD and the innermost suburbs, Brisbane was a city of "thunderboxes" (
outhouses) or of
septic tanks.
What finances could be garnered by the Council were poured into the construction of
Tennyson Powerhouse, and the extension and upgrading of the
powerhouse in
New Farm Park to meet the growing demands for electricity.
Work continued slowly on the development of a town plan, hampered by the lack of experienced staff and a continual need to play "catch-up" with rapid development. The first town plan was adopted in 1964.
1961 saw the election of
Clem Jones as Lord Mayor. Ald Jones, together with the new town clerk
J.C. Slaughter sought to fix the long term problems besetting the city. Together they found cost-cutting ways to fix some problems. For example new sewers were laid 4 feet deep and in footpaths, rather than 6 feet deep and under roads. In the short term, "pocket" or local sewerage treatment plants were established around the city in various suburbs to avoid the expense of developing a major treatment plants and major connecting sewers.
They were also fortunate in that finance was becoming less difficult to raise and the city's rating base had by the 1960's significantly grown, to the point where revenue streams were sufficient to absorb the considerable capital outlays.
Under Jones' leadership, The City Council's transport policy shifted significantly. The City Council hired American transport consultants Wilbur Smith to devise a new transport plan for the city. It recommended the closure of most suburban railway lines, closure of the tram and trolley-bus networks, and the construction of a massive network of freeways through the city. Under this plan the suburb of
Woolloongabba would have been almost completely obliterated by a vast interchange of three major freeways. Although the trams and trolley-buses were rapidly eliminated between 1968 and 1969, only one freeway was constructed, the trains were retained and subsequently electrified. The first train line to be so upgraded was the
Ferny Grove to
Oxley line in 1979. The train line to
Cleveland, which had been cut back to
Lota in 1961, was also reopened.
Brisbane has been inundated by four severe
floods of the Brisbane River — in
1864,
1893,
1897 and
1974. A comprehensive flood mitigation scheme was instituted for the Brisbane River catchment area in the aftermath of the 1974 flood. Since then the city has remained flood free during unbroken cycles of drought, locust plagues and outbreaks of infectious, insect-born diseases including
malaria,
Dengue fever and
Ross River virus. During this period real estate values in Brisbane have risen 15 fold.
Brisbane hosted the
Commonwealth Games in
1982 and the
World's Fair in
1988.
Later in that decade, emission control regulation had a major effect on improving the cities air quality. The banning of backyard
incinerators in 1987, together with the closure of two local
coal fired
power stations in 1986 and a 50 % decrease in lead levels found in
petrol, resulted in a lowering of pollution levels.
*
1770 Capt.
James Cook sails up Queensland coast with botanist
Joseph Banks; names
Cape Moreton,
Point Lookout and
Glass House Mountains. Takes possession of eastern Australia, naming it
New South Wales.
*
1799 Capt.
Matthew Flinders explores
Moreton and
Hervey bays; names Red Cliffe Pt (now
Redcliffe),
Pumice Stone River (Passage). Also lands on
Coochiemudlo Island.
*
1823 Emancipated convicts
John Finnegan,
Richard Parsons and
Thomas Pamphlett shipwrecked off Moreton Is while looking for timber (a fourth person,
John Thomson, died at sea). Following a quarrel, Parsons continues north while others stay on the island.
*1823 Surveyor-general
John Oxley arrives at
Bribie Island to evaluate
Moreton Bay as a site for penal settlement. Discovers Finnegan and Pamphlett who guide him to the
Brisbane River; names
Peel Island,
Pine River and
Deception Bay.
*
1824 Oxley discovers Parsons and returns him to Sydney.
*1824 First commandant Lt.
Henry Miller arrives at Red Cliffe Pt from Sydney with soldiers, a storekeeper and their families, John Oxley, botanist
Allan Cunningham, stock and seeds.
*1824 First settler born in colony named Amity Moreton Thompson.
*
1825 Shipping channel via South Passage found; settlement moves to Brisbane River; first convict buildings built along William St.
*1825
Edmund Lockyer of 57th Regiment explores Brisbane River. Notes flood debris 100 feet above river levels at
Mt. Crosby, finds first coal deposits. Names
Redbank after soil colour.
*
1826 Capt.
Patrick Logan takes over as commandant of colony. Achieves extensive stone building program using convict labour. Discovers
Southport bar and
Logan River*
1827 Allan Cunningham leaves
Hunter Valley to seek link via New England Tableland to
Darling Downs.
*1827
Indigenous resistance leader "Napoleon" exiled to
St Helena Island. Aborigines raid maize plots, resist advances. Frequent conflict until
1840s.
*1828 Cunningham discovers gap in
Great Dividing Range, providing access from Moreton Bay to Darling Downs. Also explores Esk-Lockyer basin and upper Brisbane Valley in 1829.
*1829 Moreton Bay Aborigines seriously affected by smallpox.
*
1830 Capt. Logan mysteriously murdered near
Esk, commemorated in folk song
Convict's Lament.
*
1831 Moreton Bay settlement population reaches 1241, including 1066 convicts.
*
1833 Ship
Stirling Castle wrecked on
Swain Reef; first of many ships to wreck on Queensland coast over next 40 years.
*
1836 Quaker missionaries report Moreton Bay Indigenous population infected with
venereal disease from
American whalers.
*
1837 Brisbane's pioneering Petrie family arrives in Moreton Bay.
Andrew Petrie (builder and stonemason) is clerk of government works; stays on with wife Mary and five children after penal settlement closes. Son John becomes Brisbane's first
mayor; other son Tom writes sympathetically about local Indigenous people.
*
1839 Calls to cease convict transportation successful; Moreton Bay is closed as a penal settlement. 2062 men and 150 women served sentences at the settlement, half of them being
Irish; 10 percent died, 700 fled, 98 never recaptured.
*
1840 Escaped convict
John Baker surrenders after 14 years of living with Indigenous Australians.
*
1841 Indigenous people Merridio and Neugavil are executed at Wickham Terrace windmill for the
murder of surveyor Stapylton and his assistant in
Logan.
*
1842 New South Welsh Governor
George Gipps proclaims Moreton Bay a free settlement. Land is offered for sale from Sydney.
*
1846 Squatter and entrepreneur
Evan Mackenzie succeeds in making Brisbane a port independent from Sydney.
*1846 Recorded population of Moreton Bay area is 4000 Aborigines and 2257 migrants.
*
1848 First 240 government-assisted
British migrants arrive in Brisbane. First
Chinese labourers arrive.
*
1849 Rev Dr J.D. Lang, local clergyman and journalist, brings his first English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish migrants with unauthorised promise of land grants. Government rations issued to prevent starvation. Lang envisages a colony of self-sufficient, thrifty and hard-working farmers, workers and artisans.
*1849
Brisbane School of Arts established.
*1849
William Pettigrew arrives in colony. He later becomes the mayor of Brisbane in
1870 and is a member of the
Queensland Legislative Assembly between
1877-
94.
*
1850 Areas beyond inner Brisbane suburbs, such as
Bulimba,
Coorparoo,
Enoggera,
Nundah,
Sherwood and
Stafford are used for agriculture and grazing until the
1880s.
*1850 Displaced Aborigines from Bribie Is, Redcliffe Peninsula and Wide Bay make gunyah camps in
Breakfast Creek/
Eagle Farm region (until 1860s).
*1850
Arthur Lyon sends sample of cotton from
New Farm to
Great London Exhibition.
*
1851 Influenza epidemic hits Brisbane (lasting in
1852).
*
1855 Nearly 1000
German migrants arrive in Brisbane after political unrest and the introduction of compulsory military training; most settle in the
Nundah area.
*
1862 Old Government House is completed.
*
1867 Parliament House opens.
*
1885 Horse drawn tram system commences operation.
*
1893 Brisbane floods.
*
1897 Electric trams introduced.
*
1899 Queensland Museum leaves the
old State Library Building to move into
"Exhibition Hall" (later called the
Old Museum), at Gregory Terrace,
Bowen Hills.
*
1901 Celebrations held to mark
Federation, on New Year's Day.
*
1901 Fire alarms and pillar hydrants introduced to Brisbane city streets.
*
1902 Central Railway Station in Ann Street,
Brisbane completed.
*
1902 Brisbane officially designated city status by the
Government of Queensland.
*
1909 Government House opens at
Bardon *
1909 University of Queensland opens near Parliament House.
*
1922 Queensland Government purchases privately owned tram system and establishes the Brisbane Tramways Trust.
*
1925 Amalgamation of 25 local government areas to form the City of Greater Brisbane.
*
1925 Queensland Government transfers responsibility for the tram system from the Brisbane Tramways Trust to the
Brisbane City Council.
*
1927 Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary founded
*
1928 Sir Charles Kingsford Smith lands in Brisbane, from
San Francisco,
USA, after the first flight across the Pacific Ocean.
*
1930 Brisbane City Hall opened.
*
1939 Forgan Smith building completed at the St. Lucia campus of the University of Queensland. (Forgan Smith building was named after the, then,
Premier of Queensland)
*
1942 General Douglas MacArthur arrives in Brisbane and takes offices in the AMP building (later called
MacArthur Central) for the Pacific campaign during
World War II*
1946 Following a delay caused by
World War II the
University of Queensland begins its move from George Street, Brisbane, to its
St. Lucia campus, which it completes in
1972*
1964 Adoption of first Brisbane Town Plan
*
1965 Queensland Institute of Technology (later
Queensland University of Technology) established
*
1968 Brisbane City Council announces conversion of tram and trolley-bus systems to all-bus operations
*
1969 Tram and trolley bus systems close, new
Victoria Bridge opened
*
1974 Brisbane River flooding, the result of continual heavy rain from
"Cyclone Wanda", causes major damage across city
*
1982 Commonwealth Games*
1984 Queensland Performing Arts Centre opened at the
Queensland Cultural Centre*
1986 Queensland Museum moves to the
Queensland Cultural Centre *
1986 Tennyson and
Bulimba coal-fired power station closed down
*
1988 State Library of Queensland leaves the
old State Library Building to move to the
Queensland Cultural Centre *
1988 Expo 88 held at reclaimed industrial land at
South Brisbane*
1989 Queensland Institute of Technology changed status to
Queensland University of Technology. (The decision to upgrade the QIT to a University in it own right was a result of the high quality and excellence of the teaching and research within the QIT, and was taken prior to the Dawkins reforms)
*
1991 International Convention of
Lions Clubs International*2001
CHOGM conference, scheduled for Brisbane, but postponed after heightened security concerns resulting from
terrorist attacks on
New York City. Instead it was held in
Coolum in early 2002
*
2001 Goodwill Games*
2002 7th annual conference of the
World Wide Web consortium*
2003 International Convention of
Rotary International* 2005 bus hoax calls
*
Our Queensland: The Great Unknown Comprehensive local newspaper outline of regional history.
* J.R. Cole, Shaping a City: Greater Brisbane 1925-1985, Brisbane 1984
* G. Greenwood and J. Laverty, Brisbane 1859-1959, BCC, 1959
