In 1859 Queensland separated from New South Wales. In 1824, the penal colony at Redcliffe was established by Lieutenant John Oxley. Known as the Moreton Bay Settlement, it later moved to the site now called Brisbane.
The main inhabitants of 'Brisbane Town', as it was known, were the convicts of the Moreton Bay Penal Station until it was closed in 1839. Around 2,280 convicts were sent to the settlement in those fifteen years.
(Source: www.australia.gov.au)
The main inhabitants of 'Brisbane Town', as it was known, were the convicts of the Moreton Bay Penal Station until it was closed in 1839. Around 2,280 convicts were sent to the settlement in those fifteen years.
(Source: www.australia.gov.au)
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Queensland's Sugar Cane Industry
Between 1863 and 1904 about 60,000 Pacific Islanders were transported to Queensland, where they toiled to create the sugar plantations of the far north. Some of these islanders moved there willingly on the promise of income, whilst others were kidnapped from their island homes. Pacific Islanders were ‘recruited’ from various islands including the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu (then the New Hebrides) and the Loyalty Islands of New Caledonia. This human trafficking is euphemistically known as ‘blackbirding’. The Islanders worked in harsh conditions in the Queensland sugar fields, some in conditions akin to slavery. According to the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, *conditions varied from plantation to plantation depending on how considerate the owners and overseers were. However few Islanders escaped some form of physical or mental violence. Abuse of the Islanders included being beaten, being deprived of food or leisure time, medical neglect and sometimes separation of married couples. In the late 19th century trade unions in Australia were fighting for workers’ rights but the Pacific Islander workers of Queensland were banned from organising as a group. They were forbidden by law from striking and from leaving their place of employment. Workers who left without permission or ‘absconded’ faced three months imprisonment.Because the Pacific Islanders were paid so poorly compared to other unskilled workers in Australia, they were seen by some as a threat to employment. Opposition to these non-white immigrants came in some cases from those involved in the labour movement. They did not object when the Commonwealth decided to deport most Pacific Islanders between 1904 and 1908 as part of the implementation of the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 (often referred to as the ‘White Australia policy’). In the southern states of Australia there were others, including those in labour movement, who took a different view and called for fair treatment of the Pacific Island workers.
After Federation a few thousand Pacific Islanders were not deported and were permitted to remain in Australia. Today north Queensland is home to more than 20,000 of their descendants. (Source: http://dl.nfsa.gov.au/) |
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Queensland's Founders
Sir George Ferguson Bowen, unlike previous Australian military and naval governors, was trained in law, classics and administration. A strong supporter of Liberal Prime Minister, William Gladstone, Bowen was appointed Governor of the newly separated colony of Queensland, arriving on 10 December 1859. Since Queensland did not have a substantive government at the time, Bowen ruled with Colonial Secretary, R. G. W. Herbert who later became Queensland’s first Premier in 1860.
(Source: http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/) Click on the image to the right to read more. |
Lieutenant Henry Miller |
John Oxley |
Lieutenant Henry Miller was the first commandant of the Moreton Bay penal colony in Queensland, Australia.
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In 1823 John Oxley also explored Moreton Bay, where he met three castaway sailors who showed him a river that he named the Brisbane. He chose its vicinity for a new and stricter penal settlement remote from Sydney. (Source: http://www.britannica.com/)
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Edmund Lockyer |
Captain Patrick Logan |
Capt. Patrick Logan and Edmund Lockyer explored the hinterland of the penal settlement, discovering coal and limestone deposits in the process. (Source: http://www.britannica.com/)