Category Archives: Brisbane

Arrivals in Moreton Bay 1849-1850: a population boost with a difference

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1849-1850 was a distinctive stage in the free settlement of Moreton Bay which had begun in 1842. For the first time significant numbers of people arrived in Brisbane, most not government assisted immigrants. Different groups created vigorous conflict which determined the colony’s future. They also necessitate checking various records to track their arrival. When the government-assisted Artemisia, the first ship to bring immigrants direct to Moreton Bay came in December 1848, it brought news of the Fortitude’s imminent arrival, which … Continue reading

A Death by Drowning, an Inquest and the Brisbane Flood of 1890.

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Brisbane, a city built along a river, has documented flood events since colonial settlement. John Oxley in his exploratory journey up the Brisbane River in 1824, observed evidence of previous floods, but the Great Flood of February 1893 was considered the most destructive.[1] Three years before that event was the Flood of 1890, which occurred over a period of 3 days from the 11th to 13th March. At the time, a Mr Childs, an old Breakfast Creek and Newstead resident … Continue reading

My connection to ‘The Valley’ from the late 1850s.

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I’ve become very interested in the early settlement of Fortitude Valley since discovering I have ancestors who lived there before and after Queensland separated from New South Wales in September 1859. Denis James Guerin, with his wife Margaret, and eight children, moved to Moreton Bay between 1856 and 1857 to take up a job as a weigher with HM Customs. This was quite a change for the Guerins as before leaving Sydney, Denis was the licensee of the Corporation Arms … Continue reading

A letter home: Tracing my Thompson family.

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In 2013, I joined the family history website Ancestry.com and started my genealogy journey on the internet, adding names, scanning documents and photos, into my family tree. It was while working through this process that an American family tree showed as a hint. Out of curiosity I went into the tree to investigate. The names recorded did not match my records but to my surprise the tree included a photo that I had in my possession. It was a portrait … Continue reading

Housing for People of Small Means: Worker’s Dwelling Act 1909

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On 22 December 1909, the Queensland government passed “An Act to Enable the Government to Assist Persons in Receipt of Small Incomes to Provide Homes for Themselves”. Very understandable why the act was generally referred to as the Workers’ Dwelling Act 1909! The aim was to provide  a means for working class families to acquire a low interest mortgage to construct their home. The first home was built in 1910 and by the late 1920s 23,515 homes had been built … Continue reading