Records from Queensland State Archives’ collection Photo of Kerry O’Brien courtesy of Artemis Films and Serendipity Production The fourth series of Who Do You Think You Are? (WDYTYA) is screening on SBS ONE in 2012. Episode two, air date 3 April 2012 at 7.30 pm, follows the story of Kerry O’Brien, one of Australia’s most revered television journalists. WDYTYA is a co-production by Artemis International […]
Sensitivity warning: Some material on this blog may contain words, descriptions and terms which may be culturally sensitive and that reflect authors’ views, or those of the period in which the content was created, but are not considered appropriate today. These views are not necessarily the views of QSA. While the information may not reflect […]
Four days before Australians voted in the 1916 referendum about compulsory military service, a teacher at Richmond Hill State School decided to explore this process of voting when teaching the combined Fourth and Fifth classes. On Tuesday 24 October Mr William John Williams discussed the concept of a referendum -“what it is, when it is […]
This blog post discusses sensitive topics, including death and terrorism, within a historical context. Reader discretion is advised. On 1 December 1955 Karl Kast, equipped with ‘a revolver, more than 100 rounds of .38 calibre ammunition, a box of detonators and a satchel of home-made piping bombs’ murdered two prominent doctors at their practices on […]
March 1916 and the Australian Imperial Force had arrived in France, within four months they would find themselves at the centre of the conflict taking place on the Western Front. The 5th Division was the first to engage with the German military, taking part in a bloody engagement at Fromelles in Northern France on 19 […]
On the morning of January 29, 1913 a livestock train departed from Toowoomba and derailed near the Murphy’s Creek railway station, about one mile from the station yard limits. No members of the crew were injured, but many hundreds of cattle were killed and a considerable amount of damage was caused to the vehicles and […]
This striking photo shows the rain-dampened opening of the Blackall train line in 1908. The gathered crowd, band and dignitaries were in full celebration as feet stomped across the mud. Speeches were given, the music played. And then a moment of strangeness took centre stage. The Queenslander, covering the speeches on 23 May 1908, reported […]
On 28 June ABCNews 24 ran an item on Clement Lindley Wragge, an English born meteorologist who was commissioned in 1886 by the Queensland Government to write a report on the development of a meteorological organisation in Queensland. Within its collection, Queensland State Archives holds a large 1903 report written by Clement Wragge regarding the Stiger […]
On 6 June 2012, Dr Ruth Kerr delivered her annual speech on John Kerr’s historiography at the Queensland Day Dinner, hosted by the Royal Historical Society of Queensland. John Douglas Kerr was an esteemed historian, statistician and writer. He was also renowned for his knowledge of the history of Australian railways. Dr Ruth Kerr spoke […]
This article, by Dr Julie Ustinoff, was originally published on the Queensland State Archives website, March 2013. If the walls of the Yungaba Immigration Centre (Digital Image ID 1588) could talk, there would be many stories to tell; stories of happiness, hope, and new beginnings; but also some of sadness, suffering, and loss. Since its […]