To most of us the 3Rs connote literacy and numeracy, but did you know the initials also used to apply to the Queensland Railway Refreshment Rooms? Originally run by enterprising locals, the Railway Department, Refreshment Rooms Branch was created in June 1916. The official public announcement that the Queensland Government would run the railway refreshment […]
You may have seen in the news recently that Sweden – one of those countries that recycles almost all of their household waste and even imports waste from other countries to recycle – has opened a shopping centre that only sells recycled, upcycled and repurposed goods! This news story got me thinking about the methods […]
Sir Thomas B Robinson’s endeavours as Queensland’s Agent General held a unique place during the First World War, but we’ll come back to that part of his story later. Robinson was born on the 24 November 1853 in Rotherhithe, England and moved to Australia in 1881 with his wife, Elizabeth. He first managed the firm […]
A researcher’s account by Dr Hugo Ree, PhD. FRCP I am a retired physician with experience in the field of tropical medicine. I came to Queensland with my family in 1987 to take over the post of government leprologist on the retirement of Dr Douglas Russell. I first came to the Queensland State Archives some […]
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 […]
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 […]
Written by Paul Sutton, Researcher The Beerburrum Soldier Settlement was an Australian Government funded, and Queensland Government administered effort, to provide land to repatriated servicemen who had served in the Australian and Imperial armed forces during World War One. The settlement was established in 1916 and ran until terminated during the late 1920s, though many […]
1916 and the First World War was into its third year with both home and abroad suffering under the conflict. On the 22 August 1916 Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams, the Governor of Queensland, gave a speech at the opening of the 20th Parliament, summarising the order of business for the State of Queensland. A speech that […]
This article, by, Dr Katie McConnel, Curator, Qld Government House, was originally published on the Queensland State Archives website, February 2013. In preparation for the arrival of Queensland’s first Governor, Sir George Ferguson Bowen and his family, in early December 1859, the Clerk of Works for Moreton Bay District, Charles Tiffin, selected, leased, ‘repaired, painted […]
In 1917, Laura Duncan (1875-1955), a determined widowed mother who braved the outback of Queensland, took on the might of the State of Queensland. Mrs Laura Duncan was the then owner of Mooraberrie cattle station situated more than 1000 kilometres north west of Brisbane. The station had been previously under the management of her husband, […]