Brisbane

“ Brisbane grew slowly. There was no special attraction to induce people to leave the more populated districts of New South Wales, and bury themselves in so remote a settlement. There was the fever which attacks settlers in all newly opened settlements, the blacks were dangerous, and that the place was a station for doubly and trebly convicted felons told against it. But the rich Darling Downs came to be regarded as a pastoral paradise, and squatting occupation spread rapidly in the interior, so that its expansion told slowly but surely on the outpost. ”

“ From Stanthorpe on the frontier of Queensland the country was much the same as that through which our 306friends had traveled from Newcastle, except that its character was more tropical the further they went northward. They reached Brisbane in the evening, and were out immediately after breakfast on the following morning to view the sights of the place, which were fewer than those of Sydney and Melbourne, as the city is not as large as either of the others mentioned. The entire population of Brisbane and its suburbs does not exceed one hundred thousand. ”

“ The word, therefore, went forth that Brisbane was no longer to be a place of exile for criminals. It was to be the home of free men and the capital of a new district. In 1841 Governor Sir George Gipps arrived from Sydney, and laid out the plan of what is now a handsome city. Blocks of land were offered for sale to free settlers, and eagerly bought. ”

“ Brisbane and I were struck with the same idea; we seemed to behold, transported into this rich climate and under the splendid firmament of latitude 34, those admirable parks, created and sustained at so great an expense by the high aristocracy of England....
Nature has done all. All is prepared, all is arranged: we have only to raise those buildings which the eye is astonished at not finding; and nothing is appropriated nor separated by the selfish exclusiveness of civilized man; nothing is cramped. ”

“ Brisbane, the capital of the second largest of the six states of Australia, has more than two hundred thousand people, and is the fourth city in size on the continent. During the last half century it has had a phenomenal growth. Less than seventy-five years ago it was taken away from the neighbouring colony of New South Wales and became the capital of Queensland. At first it grew but slowly, for it was handicapped by having been the site of the Moreton Bay Settlement, a colony for the worst of the convicts sent over from England. ”

“ For some distance the railway lay along the valley of the Brisbane River, which contains some excellent farming country, with fine stretches of woodland and occasional swamps. The dividing range of mountains filled the western horizon, and the labored puffing of the locomotive at frequent intervals told that the grade was an ascending one. In the immediate vicinity of Brisbane the land is of poor quality, except in the neighborhood of the streams, and in the early days of the colony a great many settlers were ruined by attempting to establish farms where the soil was not suitable. ”

“ On an old Australian hack I rode away intending to go to Cooktown so that I could get round to Brisbane, but the spirit of adventure was in my blood and I altered my course and left the track and travelled north-west. I had a good swag of provisions made up for me by the stockman’s wife, and so I felt secure as far as food was concerned as I rode over the scrub-covered rolling hills of that lonely country. That night I made a fire just to keep me company and camping there alone with the birds and trees around me I slept with my heart in that bush grave. ”

“ From this period the influx of population continued, and the condition in which the district flourished may be gathered from the following tables:—
Brisbane presents now a far different aspect to what it did some few years back. As we have said, it is pleasantly and, both in a sanitary and commercial point of view, admirably situated. From an obscure settlement in the bush it has become a thriving town, with some good streets, substantial stone and brick houses, stores, warehouses, and wharves, and with shops that would not disgrace many a fashionable thoroughfare in the British metropolis. ”

“ When Tom Rainsfield arrived in Brisbane he found it entirely absorbed in politics, and the public attention so engaged in the all-important question of separation that even the deplorable state in which the country then was in was for the time forgotten. Business for the nonce was entirely relinquished, and the good citizens were in a perfect ferment of exultation, consequent on the receipt of joyous news. ”

“ He had once travelled for two days on the same railway train with him, and remembered him as a boastful but powerful man, whose antagonism no one held in light esteem. Andrew Brisbane had entered the State at a time when its mineral wealth lay undeveloped and free to the taker, and having leagued himself with men less masterly than himself but quite as unscrupulous, had set to work to grasp and hold the natural resources of the great Territory—he laid strong fists upon the mines and forests and grass of the wild land. ”

“ Brisbane was going to tell a story.
I am an old sailor, said Brisbane, and as I have to cross the Atlantic pretty often, I have my favourites. Most men have their favourites. I have seen a man wait in a Broadway bar for three-quarters of an hour for a particular car which he liked. ”

“ Queen Street is to Brisbane as George Street is to Sydney or Collins Street to Melbourne. The principal shops and several of the public buildings are located along Queen 307Street, and our friends observed that wide verandas extended across the sidewalks from one end of the street to the other. These verandas enable pedestrians to walk in the shade at all times, a very wise provision to avoid sunstroke. It must be remembered that Brisbane is considerably nearer the Equator than either Melbourne or Sydney, and consequently has a warmer climate. ”

“ I went on board the Black Swan on taking leave of the captain and my other friends on the schooner, and after an uneventful passage arrived in Brisbane. Times had altered greatly in Queensland, for the worse I thought, since I was there last. The rich people had grown richer, and the poor poorer. It is sad at the present day to walk about the town and look at all the semi-destitute people whom one sees on every side, and then think of the "booms" which used to be a few years ago. My objects in coming to Brisbane were many. ”

“ People at home, and people who go abroad, are equally interested in the truth of these facts. Brisbane, the metropolis of the new colony, contains already a population of 7000 souls, and is well stocked with all the necessaries, and many of the luxuries, both of the animal and spiritual life; for even spiritual life has its indulgences. ”

“ Brisbane was a man of five-and-thirty years of age, and remarkable for those gifts which chiefly attract the attention of men. He was a strong man. The external proportions of his figure presented nothing extraordinary to the common eye, though his size was above the average. ”

“ THE sights of Brisbane were soon exhausted, and our friends arranged to make a journey to the interior, in spite of the efforts of hospitable residents to detain them for several days in the capital. The trio agreed that nowhere else in the world was there a more hospitable population than in Australia, and in no other country was the stranger made more heartily welcome. ”

“ Nothing could be more prosperous or more fertile than the countryside as seen from the train; and the Darling Downs, when emigration to Queensland re-commences, should repeat the history of Manitoba. Brisbane is a prosperous city of about 1 00,000 souls, and in some ways one of the most attractive settlements in Australia. ”

“ From all accounts Adelaide is charming in winter, but in summer even hotter and more burnt up than either Sydney or Melbourne. Brisbane is very hot indeed, almost tropical. But the Darling Downs, high rolling sheep country a couple of hundred miles inland from Brisbane, are said to be in winter charming beyond description; and judging by the experience of a delightful fortnight spent in winter near Scone, two or three hundred miles to the south of them, I can well believe that the winter there affords a type of all that is most charming in Australian air. ”

“ In a population of 7,000b we have 14 churches, 13 public-houses, 12 policemen. The leading inhabitants of Brisbane are a hard-headed set of English and Scotch merchants and mechanics; very orderly, industrious, and prosperous; proud of the mother country; loyal to the person of the Queen; and convinced that the true federation for these colonies is the maintenance of the integrity of the Empire, and that the true rallying-point for Australians is the Throne. ”

“ Brisbane is a fast-growing city, with a population, including the suburbs, of between 50,000 and 60,000, its growth since the census of 1881 having been so rapid that it is not possible to furnish more than an approximate estimate of the number. ”

“ While Brisbane is a business city, inclined to emphasize the practical side of everything, the fine arts are not entirely ignored. There is a large art gallery, a fine library and museum, and, in the town hall, a splendid organ upon which regular recitals are given, as in Sydney. ”

“ I think, if I were going to live in Australia, I should choose Brisbane in preference to Sydney. Sydney is a livelier and busier city, and Brisbane is just the opposite: quiet and slow; but it has p343 such broad, pretty green streets, houses like the California bungalows, and such splendid car service, that Sydney is far outshadowed. It is very tropical, too, in Brisbane; the people dress in white, and only get busy toward evening.
His name was Bannerman, and he came aboard here at Brisbane. ”

“ Over 12 degrees of latitude, and as many of longitude, through a country previously unknown and untested as to climate and soil, the course of advancing occupation went on unchecked, until the land was filled with the outposts of civilisation, and the potentialities of the colony were ascertained. Great indeed are the conquests of peace; much greater than those of war; more beneficial and more permanent. [Pg 5]
The first sale of Brisbane lands took place in Sydney in 1841, and next year a sale was held in Brisbane ”

“ The quiet Inner Passage, between the shore of the Great Barrier Reef, 1200 m. long, favours the north-eastern Queensland ports. Brisbane was founded in 1826, but colonization was restricted until 1842, when the Moreton Bay district of New South Wales was thrown open to settlers. It was named “Queensland” on its separation from the mother colony in 1859. A broad plateau, from 2000 to 5000 ft. in height, extends from north to south, at from 20 to 100 m. from the coast, forming the Main Range. The Coast Range is less elevated. ”

“ Brisbane has a large number of buildings of architectural merit, though in some cases their effect is marred by the narrowness of the streets in which they stand. Among the most prominent are the Houses of Parliament, the great domed custom-house on the river-bank, the lands office, the general post-office, the town halls of Brisbane and South Brisbane, and the opera house. The Roman Catholic cathedral of St Stephen (Elizabeth Street) is an imposing building, having a detached campanile containing the largest bell in Australia. ”

“ The ideal weather conditions enabled the photographer to obtain excellent negatives from a height of nearly 2,000 feet. These novel views of Brisbane show the city from quite a new aspect, and the clearness of the pictures makes it easy to pick out familiar landmarks, even though seen from an unfamiliar point of view. ”

“ Every town, or settlement, or mining camp on the way contributed its cheers and shouts from crowds of sturdy Australians, and on May 20th, Brisbane was reached and an enthusiastic welcome received in the drive through crowded and beautifully decorated streets. At Government House, where the Royal guests were received by Lord Lamington, Lieutenant-Governor of the State, twenty-two deputations attended to present addresses—as compared with forty-eight at Melbourne. ”

“ Brisbane traveled extensively in Europe, met the men of note in the principal countries, and studied the industrial and social conditions with a view to propagating the collectivist movement in the United States. On his return, filled with the spirit of enthusiasm, he vigorously entered upon his work of agitation and is fairly entitled to the credit of having rendered great service in the pioneer work of starting the Socialist movement in America. ”

“ On arrival in Moreton Bay, a large inlet about 25 miles distant from Brisbane, the capital of the new colony of Queensland, the "Erin-go-bragh" was subjected to a short detention in quarantine. When the immigrants were permitted to land, they were taken up the river in a special steamer and heartily welcomed by the Right Rev. James Quinn, the first Bishop of Queensland, and the people of Brisbane. ”

“ In Brisbane's time, and that of his successor, Sir Ralph Darling, wages fell and work became scarce in England; and English working men now turned their attention to Australia. Hitherto the people had been either convicts or free settlers of more or less wealth, and between these classes there was great bitterness of feeling, each, naturally enough, thinking that the colony existed for their own exclusive benefit. The free labourers who now poured in greatly contributed in course of time to fusing the population into one. In Brisbane's time, trial by jury and a free press were introduced. ”

“ For these services Brisbane received the gold medal of the Astronomical Society, in delivering which, 8 Feb. 1828, Sir John Herschel dwelt eloquently upon his 'noble and disinterested example,' and termed him 'the founder of Australian science' (Mem. Roy. Astron. Soc. iii. 399) . His observations with an invariable pendulum in New South Wales were discussed by Captain Kater in the 'Philosophical Transactions' for 1823. The Paramatta observatory was, soon after Brisbane's departure from the colony in 1825, transferred to the government ”