John Oxley Library | A blog sharing Queensland stories past and present

Queensland Places – Cape York – Early Exploration

Posted on 19 Jun 2013| by Brian Randall |

Following the early explorations and observations of the area we now know as Cape York Peninsula, by Dutch navigators, other mariners and explorers were to make their own contributions in terms of its naming, charting and understanding. Some would be more famous than others and some, as they journeyed for specific purposes such as moving cattle or joining the rush for gold, would be anonymous in the Cape’s history.

Cape York Peninsula was named by Lieutenant James Cook in August 1770 in honour of Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany, a brother of King George III, who had died three years earlier. Cook referred to this historic event in his journal, saying, “the point of the main, which forms one side of the passage…and which is the northern promontory of this country, I have named York Cape, in honour of his late Royal Highness, the Duke of York”.

Matthew Flinders was to follow, in 1802, undertaking a detailed maritime exploration of the west coast, during which he noted the Laterite deposits which were later to become such a valuable resource. Ludwig Leichhardt, in 1844, took his place in this progression of explorers when he crossed Cape York Peninsula as far north as the Mitchell River. Edmund Kennedy undertook his important but tragic overland journey north from Cardwell to Port Albany near the tip of Cape York Peninsula, in 1848. Later, in 1865, the Jardine brothers overlanded cattle to Cape York to supply a proposed coaling station near Somerset, to supply vessels travelling through the adjacent shipping lanes.

William Hann, a Charters Towers pastoralist was commissioned by the colonial government, in 1872, to conduct an exploratory journey into Cape York Peninsula, to investigate the area’s mining and pastoral potential. Later, Robert Logan Jack, the Queensland government geologist, explored North Queensland in two expeditions, in 1879-80, extending from Cooktown to the Archer River as well as areas to the west. As well, many individual overlanders, prospectors, gold seekers and general searchers of opportunity were to continue this exploration, adding to the available knowledge of this isolated but valuable area of Queensland.

Robert Logan Jack, 1913

This image shows Robert Logan Jack taken in 1913, some thirty years after his important, but perhaps lesser known, journey of exploration to Cape York Peninsula.

Brian Randall, Queensland Places Coordinator, State Library of Queensland.

Teachers and students, get help with new AUS Curriculum requirements

Posted on 19 Jun 2013| by C Cottle |

State Library has initiated an online tagging bonanza for the new Australian curriculum to help teachers and students access Queensland’s primary source materials that are now part of today’s learning requirements.

With a simple click in One Search, State Library’s online catalogue, teachers and students can go right to grade-level resources under “Tags.” Go to the catalogue, click on “Tags” and do a search for “curriculum.”

Find AUS curriculum tags in SLQ's catalogue

For example, under tags for “aus curriculum yr 10”, dozens of search returns come up which include resources for history of the modern world from 1918 to the present, as outlined in the new curriculum. Search results provide unique Queensland information about the 1967 Referendum, stolen generation stories, and Quentin Bryce’s response to the Apology, to name just a few.

Teachers and students can also add tags as they find content, either by using an existing tag or by creating a unique one that will help spread the word to others. To add tags, you must be logged into your account. To tag, and to access ebooks and databases, you will need a Queensland public library card or a State Library e-services card. You can apply for the e-services card.

State Library staff are often asked if the tagged resources can be downloaded. The answer is “Yes” – materials can be downloaded and used in the classroom for educational purposes under Australian copyright law. You may use material on the State Library catalogue for the purposes of private study, research, and criticism and review without permission. We ask that you acknowledge State Library of Queensland when you use material from our website or catalogue. This material may not be reproduced or re-used for any commercial purpose whatsoever without written permission of the copyright holder.

Read more about tagging information and other searching tips in the help area.

Submitted by Catherine Cottle and Desmond Crump, State Library of Queensland

Hanworth on the Heathville Estate, East Brisbane

Posted on 19 Jun 2013| by Janette Garrad |

Southern end of Hanworth, in Lytton Road, East Brisbane, showing one of the two newer wings, 1930. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 114858

Hanworth Southern End

East Brisbane’s development as a residential suburb began with the subdivision of 66 acres held by J. Darragh, which was one of the first holdings to be subdivided in Brisbane. A few yards away along Lytton Road from the junction with Heath Road stands what is believed to be the oldest home in East Brisbane, according to article published in the Courier-Mail newspaper on 27 May 1950.

Hanworth - Captain Heath's Lookout

Resident of early East Brisbane remember it as a succession of green paddocks, bounded on the east by Norman Creek, which wound through rich alluvial flats where kangaroos and wallabies grazed in the early days. Hanworth was a low-set rambling brick house, with a wide driveway, built in the ’1860′s and designed by one of Queensland’s first architects, James Cowlishaw.

Commander George Poynter Heath

The property extended for a quarter of a mile to Norman Creek and was built by Captain Heath, R.N., who was the Marine Board chairman from 1869 until his retirement in 1890. It remained in the possession of the Heath family until Mr. Joseph Tritton bought the whole estate in 1912 and later sub-divided and sold it.

Brisbane Courier 18 September 1909 p. 8

In 1913 Mrs. M. M. Wienholdt bought this historic old homestead and converted it into a home for retired gentlewomen, appropriately she changed the name to ‘The Hospice”

Brisbane Courier 13 February 1912 p. 8

After many years of personal attention to the institution, Mrs. Wienholdt, in the spirit of philanthropy, made a gift of the home to the Theosophical Society, in memory of her late mother.

Further information:

Article by Clem Lack Jr. from the This is Brisbane Series

Janette Garrad – Original Content Technician, State Library of Queensland

Multicultural music collection drive

Posted on 18 Jun 2013| by Robyn Hamilton |

Queensland’s rich multicultural heritage has helped shape the soundtrack of our state, and plays an important part in Queensland’s story.

State Library is seeking your help and generosity to record these stories for future generations. We are currently calling for donations of items relating to the music of our multicultural communities – either historical or contemporary – which you think helps tell the story of music in Queensland.

Greek Orthodox Youth Orchestra donation Acc. 28602

State Library collects a wide range of music-related material, such as scores, recordings, video/film, programs, posters, flyers, leaflets, photos, tickets, t-shirts, and festival and other memorabilia. If you have any material like this at home, you might like to consider donating it to the library as a permanent record of the sounds, bands or events you enjoyed. We are interested in local music artists and events and their significance for everyday Queenslanders. The library will preserve this material in ideal conditions for its long term survival. Even small donations help to build a rich music research collection.

Fete de la Musique

On site collection booth
From Tuesday 18 to Friday 21 June (12noon – 2pm), there will be a special collection booth set up in The Music Box on level 1 of State Library. During this time State Library’s Queensland Music Coordinators will be on hand to look at any material you might like to donate. If you have material to donate but can’t come to the collection booth, please contact the Queensland Music Coordinators on (07) 3840 7839 or send your details to our online information request form.

In addition to the collection drive there are many other free multicultural music events happening this week, culminating in Fete de la Musique on Friday 21 June. As part of Live! Queensland band culture, we are celebrating the diversity of cultures in our community with a week of free morning performances.

Solo sessions will be held Mon 17 – Thu 20 Jun, 9.30am-10.30am in the Knowledge Walk, level 1 and feature the music of local artists who draw on their heritage to create their own sound. From the sounds of the Spanish guitar, to traditional Asian instruments, come along to the Knowledge Walk and hear Nelson Mansilla, Nicholas Ng, Johnny Lin, and Ravikesh Singh.

Fete de la Musique itself will feature a long and diverse list of musical talent. For a full listing, check out the Fete de la Musique website events calendar and search the words ‘state library’ to see who is performing.

Robyn Hamilton – Queensland Music Coordinator, State Library of Queensland

A MEMORABLE VISIT TO THE MUSEUM OF BRISBANE

Posted on 12 Jun 2013| by Elizabeth Fielding |

Viewing the Light Fantastic : Expo 88 Exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane

Recently staff from the John Oxley Library spent a rewarding morning investigating three fascinating exhibitions at the reopened Museum of Brisbane on the third floor of Brisbane’s splendidly renovated City Hall building.

Our previous visit, just over a year ago, was to the MOB’s temporary home in Ann Street whence the Museum, first established in 2003, relocated in 2010 when the City Hall closed to allow for its large scale, three year long restoration project. While the former Ann Street location is dwarfed by any comparison with the Museum’s current accommodation (2000 sq metres of museum space, five beautifully designed galleries, tallowwood floors, views of the magnificent clock tower and copper dome) that earlier visit provided some orientation to the Museum’s cultural philosophy.

The Museum, in the words of Director Peter Denham, is “part of a living history of the city” and its exhibitions reflect on how the city’s landscapes and social culture continue to evolve over time. The MOB’s interest is in social history, in the milestone events which have characterised the city’s development and it celebrates not only those landmark events, but the lesser known experiences which are associated with them. At the furthest remove from offering a fossilised history, its quest, according to Peter Denham, is to “uncover [the] unexpected and fascinating stories” attaching to “seemingly ordinary people and places of Brisbane”.

This philosophy is masterfully applied to the first of the opening exhibitions, Light Fantastic: Expo 88 Parades Rewired which celebrates the 25th anniversary of the groundbreaking Expo 88 event. Just by way of context, World Expo 88 was held in what is now the South Bank precinct from April 30 to October 30 as part of Australia’s 1988 Bicentenary celebrations. The Expo site featured 100 international pavilions and attracted 55 countries who came to showcase their individual cultures. In character it resembled an exciting fun park replete with roving entertainers, concerts, parades, presentations and interactive pavilions. Visitor numbers totalled 15,760,447 over the period, averaging 100,000 per day; ticket sales fetched in $175 million and the cost of the event was estimated at $625 million.

The exhibition’s spotlight is on two colourful features which are generally held to have been an enduring legacy of Expo 88, both because they registered indelibly in the memories of most Expo visitors and because they were unprecedented in Australia’s history: the Lunchtime and Qantas Light Fantastic Parades. Hugely popular with the crowds, these spectacles took the form of a daily lunchtime and an evening light parade and they involved 19 floats fashioned by individual designers. The MOB exhibition celebrates the creative talent which was responsible for the design of these parades and it anticipates them in an initial display of Expo memorabilia.

Models of anthropomorphic animals who starred in Expo 88 parades.

Thanks to some generous hospitality on the part of our MOB hosts we had the benefit of the inside story about the origins of the exhibition. We heard that, having decided to celebrate Expo’s 25th anniversary, the Museum appealed to the community and in just one week was swamped with Expo memorabilia. The focus on the parades was made possible by the Museum’s access to an archive of drawings from parades producer Mike Mullins who in 1988 assembled an impressive team of float and costume designers, lighting and special effects experts and performers. The Exhibition features design drawings and models, among them a collection of very convincing food models and the iconic Expo echidna which decorated the motorised floats of the Ant’s Picnic. (The handmade originals have been ingeniously reproduced for the exhibition via 3D printing and the replicas are a tenth of their original size.) The celebrity cockatoo Major Mitchell, who starred in the lunchtime parades, is a dominant character in the exhibition.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of Expo 88 is the disproportionate influence this relatively brief, spectacular event had on the subsequent development of Brisbane and on its evolution as a modern, sophisticated city. The next exhibition, Panoramas provides some fascinating historical framework for the Expo event and makes a sudden transition in focus from a six month snapshot from the eighties to a span of 150 years in the life of the city.

We were immediately drawn to this excellent photographic exhibition and absorbed by what it revealed about the city’s development in the decades between 1860, about the time photography was introduced to Brisbane, and the present day. The intention of each of the panoramic views is to provide physical context for the glimpse of life depicted in a representative decade and to chart the dramatic growth of the city over the 150 year period. The very early views of Brisbane are particularly compelling, revealing as they do a rudimentary settlement ringed by scrub, unpaved dirt roads, horse drawn vehicles, timber houses on stumps, brick chimneys and steep roofed stone churches. If there is such a thing as a “favourite” panorama mine would undoubtedly be the 1870 view with its incredibly charming stone and timber buildings and the seductive old world quality of its vibrant streetscapes.

I was pleased to hear that Panoramas is just the first in a continuing series of exhibitions called Document, each of which seeks to explore how artists and photographers interpret Brisbane’s landscape, history and culture. This is in keeping with the Museum’s broader interest in the city’s identity and in the social and cultural life of its community.

Museum of Brisbane visit May 2013.

Given that a dominant visual theme in the panoramas is the Brisbane River, there is a logical progression to the next exhibition The River: a History of Brisbane which looks at the city’s development and growth from the perspective of the river, tracing its history from early settlement days. The River showcases photographic images, historical and contemporary paintings, models and extracted text from the City of Brisbane’s collection of more than 6,000 items.

We were greatly impressed by this wonderful exhibition and more than a little inclined to linger beyond the planned duration of our tour. We did in fact linger an extra ten minutes to view, on a giant screen, a mesmerising short film from award winning director Peter Hegedus which follows the course of the river from its source to the sea in a succession of archetypal images. This is the sort of exhibition which inspires more than one visit and we were happy to learn that it will be open until the end of 2015.

Reflecting on the value of these three fantastic exhibitions, I was struck by how beautifully they complement our own collections here in the John Oxley Library. I was thinking for example of our Panoramic Views of the Expo Site 1985-88 which you can launch from the OneSearch catalogue, of the extensive Noel Pascoe collection of digitised photographs (also available from OneSearch), of the James Maccormick Correspondence, Plans, Drawings and Reports relating to the architecture and establishment of World Expo 88, of the many digitised images (almost 200 of them) and the scores of Expo posters in the collection. The Panoramas exhibition at MOB is very nicely complemented by the Panoramic Queensland exhibition which was held at the State Library between February and July in 2009 and which includes ten brilliant high resolution digitised images entitled Documenting the Growth of Brisbane. And I was thinking in particular of resources which focus on the Brisbane River – not only the many images, plans and charts, early maps, sketchbooks, art works and documentary resources – but the widely acclaimed 2012 Floodlines exhibition which charted both the 2010-11 flood events and those which occurred in 19th Century Brisbane.

As a group of people with an abiding interest in Queensland’s history and culture, it’s fair to say we anticipated the MOB exhibitions with some enthusiasm. Our high expectations were more than met. It was an immensely enjoyable and worthwhile visit and an experience which is highly recommended to anyone with a passing curiosity about our city’s past. The Museum of Brisbane is to be congratulated on its impressive achievement.

Who was Robert George Wyndham Herbert?

Posted on 12 Jun 2013| by Simon Miller |

Robert Herbert was the first Premier of Queensland, but what sort of chap was he?

Sir Robert George Wyndham Herbert

He was an Englishman and a gentleman. His father The Hon. Algernon Herbert was the fifth son of the 1st Earl of Carnarvon. Being a younger son and having no great expectations of inheritance, he became a barrister. When he inherited the house and modest estate of Caldrees Manor, Ickleton, Cambridgeshire, in 1834, he retired and subsequently developed a reputation for somewhat eccentric literary and antiquarian interests. His first child Robert George Wyndham Herbert was born in 1831. Robert Herbert attended Eton, where one of his classmates was his second cousin, Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, the 4th Earl of Carnarvon. Robert’s connection to his influential cousin was an important influence on his later career. Robert went on to study at Balliol College, Oxford, where he won several prizes including the Chancellor’s Latin verse Prize. He studied law, being admitted to the Bar in 1858.

Lady Elizabeth Alicia (nee Wyndham) with her son Algernon Herbert, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland Neg: 60650

Robert Herbert's grandmother Lady Elizabeth and his father Algernon Herbert as a boy

Herbert had no interest in practicing law, however, and looked for a position in public administration. He secured an appointment, in 1855, as private secretary to William Gladstone, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who would later serve four terms as Prime Minister. Gladstone’s political position was unstable at the time and as a result Herbert’s position was short lived and he returned to his legal studies. In 1859 new opportunities arose. New colonies were to be created in British Columbia and Moreton Bay, re-named Queensland. Sir George Ferguson Bowen, K.C.M.G., formerly Chief Secretary of the Ionian Islands, was appointed first Governor of Queensland and was authorized to select a private secretary who could also be commissioned as Colonial Secretary, the government having decided that the first Colonial Secretary of Queensland should be “independent of local influences”. Robert Herbert secured the position and traveled to Queensland with Governor Bowen.

Sketch of Sir George Ferguson Bowen, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland Neg: 21394

Sir George Ferguson Bowen, first governor of Queensland, 1859-69

Herbert’s position as Colonial Secretary was by no means secure as the colonial authorities had decided that ‘responsible government’ was to be established in Queensland and if Herbert was to continue his role he would have to be elected. Working closely with Governor Bowen, Herbert set up the initial mechanisms of government, had electoral rolls prepared, and negotiated the difficult relationship with the government of New South Wales. Had Herbert not successfully sought election to the Queensland parliament he would have reverted to the position of private secretary to the Governor but he chose to seek election and was successful in becoming the first Premier of Queensland and in holding on to the position for six years. Herbert was only 28 when he became Premier of Queensland.

It was probably helpful that Herbert had become a foundation member of the Queensland Club and also accepted chairmanship of the Brisbane Hospital Board. He was known for his charm of manner and conversation and his considerate reception of all comers. He was an aristocratic outsider in a new colony, who dressed carefully and spoke quietly but also enjoyed an active, outdoor existence. Herbert was not a charismatic speaker. He was quite short, his forehead was high and his head noticeably large in proportion to his body. Being short sighted, he sometimes used a monocle, which looked to some like an affectation. His voice was soft and his manner invariably smooth and polite. He prevailed in the Queensland Parliament because of his intellect and administrative ability and also because of the lack of any significant opposition.

The John Oxley Library holds some of Robert Herbert’s original letters and papers and Herbert family papers and photographs. Transcriptions of many of the letters and papers from Herbert’s time in Queensland are reproduced in The Queensland years of Robert Herbert, Premier : letters and papers edited by Bruce Knox. The letters were written to members of his family, his mother, sisters, an uncle and an aunt and give a good indication of his life and interests in Queensland. They date from 1863 when Herbert was returning from a visit to England through to 1866 when he was preparing to return to England for good. In 1860 Herbert and his old school friend John Bramston purchased fifty acres of land between Victoria Park and Breakfast Creek, to which they gave the name of ‘Herston’, being a combination of their surnames. The area is still called Herston and includes the site of the Royal Brisbane Hospital. Herbert and Bramston built a fine stone house with a wide varandah and this property became Herbert’s refuge from the pressures of government.

Early Brisabne home 'Herston', ca. 1890, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland Neg: 60651

Robert Herbert and John Bramston's home 'Herston'

The letters contain many descriptions of Herston, the produce of its gardens and fruit trees and the animals they kept there.

We have lately been catching quantities of magnificent prawns, in the Creek which surrounds Herston. We have boxes covered with canvass, with a funnel shaped entrance, into which they walk, splendid large fellows 4 or 5 inches long, and most delicate in flavour. We have also caught some fish. We have improved the paddock by clearing away much timber. It is really very pretty now, with fine grassy slopes, and peeps of the creek, with brilliant shrub foliage on its banks. Land near Herston is becoming very valuable for purpose of sale. …

One of my imported fowls got a prize at the show. The others had not sufficiently good plumage after the voyage. The peacocks cause us some anxiety by roaming. They fly across the river and remain absent for a whole day. I fear the blackfellows or some white savages will get hold of them. September 15th 1863

Bramston, Herbert, Archer, Huxtable and Miles rowing in the scull 'Nina'

Herbert also liked to get away camping or sailing on Moreton Bay in his boat ‘Nina’.

I returned yesterday from a most successful cruize in the “Nina” with Walter Scott and two others. We went up to Point Wickham at the north end of Bribie’s Island, through the Pumicestone Channel. We agreed that this was the most beautiful part of the Bay, and much coveted some green headlands, looking like an English park, at the very point, over the breakers in which we bathed. The glass houses, conical mountains rising abruptly out of the plain, look very magnificent from the channel, which passes within seven miles of them. Their detailed exploration is deferred to a future day. We must have rowed and sailed 160 miles in the four days, not bad work. Yesterday on our return, we had to row partly against the tide, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and wonderful to say – we are none of us tired today. It is very melancholy returning to dust (knee deep) and muggy climate, after a taste of liberty. April 16th 1865

Corinthian Cup

One of the treasures held in the State Library is this magnificent silver cup, currently on display in the Talbot Family Treasures Wall in the John Oxley Library. The story of this cup is revealed in letters from July and August 1865.

We have a grand excitement coming off. A race meeting is to take place next week, a “Corinthian cup” is to be presented by the Honble. John Bramston to be competed for by horses owned and ridden by members of the club. Algernon is to ride my favourite grey horse Grasshopper, Bramston rides his horse Doubtful. About 8 other gentlemen will start horses. I think Grasshopper has a fair chance of winning. Lady Bowen is getting our colours made for us – mine (which Algernon wears) are blue with scarlet sleeves and cap. Bramston’s are black and yellow. July 17th 1865

We have had capital races and Herston has been most triumphant, my old favourite Grasshopper having won the chief race in great style, ridden by Algernon, and Bramston on his Doubtful having come in 2nd. As we trained our horses quietly at home, nobody believed we should do so well. The cup is really a handsome one, with a cover, making a considerable show on a table or sideboard.

I wish you could see Grasshopper. He is a very handsome thoroughbred grey horse, with a small neat head, and is distinguished looking. Doubtful is a plain bay horse with some good points, and a plucky little fellow. Seeing the 8 horses go by the stand, all in new and very pretty colours, created intense excitement among the ladies etc. It was a very pretty sight. The first three horses were owned and ridden by their favourites. There was an immense cheering for Grasshopper. Alg. of course rode him exceedingly well. August 18th 1865

Algernon Thomas Lempriere, the rider of Grasshopper, was Herbert’s cousin on his mother’s side and another old school friend from Eton and Oxford. Another reference to Algernon Lempriere provides a glimpse of the early days of South Sea Islander labour in Queensland. The State Library is marking the 150th anniversary of the first arrival of South Sea Islander labour in Queensland in cooperation with the Queensland Museum and Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art with a dedicated Australian South Sea Islander blog and a series of special events.

Algernon is gone off to the South Sea Islands. The people with whom he sails, propose to bring back some natives to work the sugar plantation. They like Australia provided they are faithfully taken home again after a year or two. They almost always enlist to return again. Oct. 19th 1865

Sir Robert George Wyndham Herbert, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland Neg: 3131

Robert Herbert, top right with John Bramston, sitting right and two clergymen. The lad in the front, identified as Miles, may be the cox in the rowing crew pictured earlier.

Robert Herbert left Queensland in 1866. He was happy to get out of politics and went on to forge a successful career in the British civil service, eventually becoming Permanent Secretary of the Colonial Office. Many of his last letters from Queensland talk about the animals he would be leaving behind, particularly his favourite dog, Skip and a magpie he hoped to bring with him.

I don’t at all see how to bring home Skip and the magpie. It will be dreadful to leave them behind ; but it is manifest that I can’t take them through America, where our luggage must be restricted to a small “Vaylise”.

We have begun fires, as much on account of the wet as the cold ; there never was such a warm winter, taken altogether. The mosquitoes instead of being penitent are as rampant as ever – and all the fruit trees are putting forth untimely blooms, for which they will suffer hereafter.

We shall soon meet again D.V. I am glad to get away from Parliament & office & Sir G. B. but sorry to leave many good people, & places & animals that I am fond of. 17th June 1866

Simon Miller – Library Technician, State Library of Queensland

Tea and Music – The Wishlist

Posted on 07 Jun 2013| by Robyn Hamilton |

On the morning of Tuesday 4 June, and as part of the Live! Queensland Band Culture exhibition program, State Library presented a special Queensland Week event, as part of its regular Tea and Music series. The event featured the exceptional talents of multi-instrumentalist and folk singer Nicole Murray and renowned Scottish fiddler Emma Nixon, who together are the ‘fiddlesingers’ of The Wishlist. Through a program of stories and songs, Emma and Nicole presented ’The Secret history of Queensland’ and welcomed a special musical collaborator – Rebecca Wright, well-known folk ’cellosinger’ who with her husband Donald McKay form the traditional Scottish music duo Wright and Mackay.

The Wish List

Nicole, Emma and Rebecca are all Queenslanders with strong Scottish connections. Winner of three Golden Fiddle Awards and joint recipient of the National Folk Fellowship 2012, Emma is a Scottish fiddle music specialist, and founded the Brisbane Celtic Fiddle Club to share her love of traditional music. Nicole, who performs with singer John Thompson as the duo Cloudstreet, is half-Scottish on both sides of her family, and Rebecca lived in Glasgow for four years and married her Scottish husband Donald last year. All four of them play in a Scottish dance band The Ceilidh Clan. Using their family stories as starting points, they presented a wonderful Queensland program with a distinctly Scottish flavour. As a special surprise, Nicole, Emma and Rebecca were joined by Peter Hurwood, piper and member of the City of Brisbane Pipe Band for the final song, a novel rendition of The Bee Gees Spicks and Specks.

The Wish List at State Library of Queensland June 2013

Robyn Hamilton - Queensland Music Coordinator, State Library of Queensland

A Night in the JOL – the community music spirit in Queensland

Posted on 06 Jun 2013| by Robyn Hamilton |

Come along to the latest free event in our regular A Night in the JOL series next Wednesday night, 12 June, from 6.00p-8.00pm. Join the lively evening forum with Dr. Brydie-Leigh Bartleet and Professor Peter Roennfeldt from the Queensland Conservatorium in conversation with Dr Kate Evans, ABC Radio National. Discussion will centre on community music making and its importance in the lives of Queenslanders from colonial times to now. Treasures from the John Oxley Library will be on display, including photographs, programmes, posters, scores and memorabilia from music makers and music lovers throughout Queensland’s history.

Bush band performing at Mount Surprise, Queensland, c.1905

As this event is part of the Live! Queensland Band Culture exhibition program, a special curator’s tour of the exhibition will be held at 5.00pm before A Night in the JOL begins at 6.00pm. See you next Wednesday in the John Oxley Library, Level 4 of the State Library of Queensland.

Brass band in Ruthven Street, Toowoomba, ca.1907

Robyn Hamilton – Queensland Music Coordinator, State Library of Queensland

Queensland Places – St. Brigid’s Church, Rosewood

Posted on 06 Jun 2013| by Brian Randall |

The present St. Brigid’s Church, in Matthew Street, Rosewood, was built in 1909-10, and replaced an earlier timber building. The new church building was designed by Father Horan of Ipswich, who also funded the cost of the building’s foundations. Construction was supervised by R.J. Murphy, a local builder and contractor, with much of the labour, material and expertise being willingly donated by local residents.

Prior to the building of this Catholic Church building at Rosewood, services were initially conducted in the private homes of various local people, but also were later held in a room at the local hotel. A link with this early church history in Rosewood is provided in the form of an altar table in the present church, which is said to have been used in some of the first services in Rosewood, coming from one of the early settlers’ homes.

St. Brigid’s Church was opened on 13 February 1910 by Bishop Duhig. It contains a number of notable features including stained glass windows by R.S. Exton of Brisbane and flanking murals by the well known Queensland artist William Bustard. A number of other artistic features are contained within the church, adding to its overall historical importance and it remains one of the largest timber churches in Queensland. The church has undergone various changes and renovations during the more than 100 years that it has stood. These include the removal of altar rail gates, repainting, the replacement of the roof as well as external landscaping.

St. Brigid's Church, Rosewood, ca. 1910

This image, dating from 1910, may show the Church’s actual opening day visitors.

In acknowledgement of St. Brigid’s important place in the history of Rosewood as well as Ipswich itself, it is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.

Brian Randall, Queensland Places Coordinator, State Library of Queensland.

Mapoon slides

Posted on 06 Jun 2013| by Gavin Bannerman |

Provenance and context are two key principles when using Original Materials in the John Oxley Library. Interesting material can come from unexpected sources.

One such collection is Accession 2804 from the Uniting Church in Australia. This collection consists of material created by the Methodist, Presbyterian and, later, the Uniting Church. Of particular interest are the documents that reflect the Presbyterian Church’s activities in remote Aboriginal missions. Mapoon, or as it was previously named, Batavia River Mission, was formed in 1891 by Moravian missionaries under the supervision of the Presbyterian Church. Mapoon, as it came to be known, was administered by the Presbyterian Church, with varying influence from the Queensland Government, until 1963, when residents were forcibly removed to a new settlement (New Mapoon) in the Northern Peninsula Area.

A collection of slides from this collection have recently been digitised, following research conducted by historian Geoff Wharton, who has had a long involvement in the area. These 20 slides, taken before Mapoon’s closure, depict some of the infrastructure that was deemed unsuitable by the Presbyterian Church and Queensland Government. A small moment in time, captured before things changed irrevocably.

Mission slides of the Presbyterian Church, Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Queensland Records, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland

Mission slides of the Presbyterian Church from the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Queensland Records

Gavin Bannerman - Acting Manager, Original Materials, State Library of Queensland