Guest blogger: Dr Lauren Istvandity – John Oxley Library Fellow 2017. The Australian Musicians’ Union (AMU) has a long history, the documentation of which can serve as a great resource in understanding the changing dynamics of the music industry over time. National and state branches were set up in 1911 to advocate for the working … Read more
Guest blogger: Dr Madonna Grehan, 2015 John Oxley Library Fellow. After buying Exton House at 337 Queen Street Brisbane, the Centaur Memorial Fund needed £15,000 for renovations. In early 1949, they devised a raffle, ‘the first of its kind in Queensland’,¹ in which the main prize was a house and land package in the Chester … Read more
Guest blogger: Toni Massey – 2017 Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame Fellow The first reported discovery and commercial exploitation of pearl shell in Queensland was made by Captain William Banner in 1868, aboard the vessel Julia Percy of Sydney, at Tutu (Warrior) Island (80 miles North East of Thursday Island)¹. Within a few years … Read more
In this entry for the Centaur Memorial Fund Series, Dr Madonna Grehan, 2015 John Oxley Library Fellow, discusses the history of Centaur House Memorial Hostel on Magnetic Island. Magnetic Island’s “Centaur House” was a Memorial Convalescent and Rest Hostel for nurses on a quarter acre block at 27 Marine Parade, Geoffrey Bay. The land comprised … Read more
In this entry for the Centaur Memorial Fund Series, Dr Madonna Grehan, 2015 John Oxley Library Fellow and Dr Hilda Maclean, Logan City Council Libraries Local Heritage Specialist, re-discover a post-WWII entertainment venue. Fiesta Gardens at Slacks Creek opened on Saturday 12 June 1948. Described as a colourful new resort with ‘quite a Hollywood touch’,1 … Read more
Guest blogger: Conor Feehely – Archivist, Queensland Rugby Union. The skull and crossbones emblazoned across his team’s jersey may not have been to Michael Gannon’s liking, but it did characterise the buccaneering spirit with which he established himself at the helm of a raft of burgeoning sporting communities across South-East Queensland. Mr Gannon relocated to … Read more
Guest blogger: Bill Wilkie – Douglas Libraries, Douglas Shire Council. This month on 1 December, Port Douglas celebrated its 140 year anniversary of settlement. A new information sign was unveiled at Teamsters Park, Craiglie by Cr Mayor Julia Leu and Douglas Shire Historical Society Executive Committee Member Noel Weare to mark the occasion. The port … Read more
During October this year the residents of the Yamsion district forwarded an invitation to State Library and the Queensland Memory team to attend their Back to Yamsion Day. Prior to receiving the invitation, I had not heard of the township of Yamsion or any of the other settlements referred to by the organising committee as … Read more
Guest blogger: Dr Judith Powell – Q Anzac 100 Fellow. 26 November 2017 marks the 75th anniversary of The Battle of Brisbane, an event that has become so much a part of Brisbane folklore that when Queenslander Jeff Horn met reigning welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao in the boxing ring at Lang Park, the event was … Read more
Guest blogger: Toni Massey – 2017 Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame Fellow Australia’s pearling industry began long before European settlement where pearl shell was used extensively in trade throughout Australia. Archaeological evidence demonstrates that Aboriginal Australians were some of the first people that valued and appreciated the beauty and uniqueness of the pearl shell. … Read more
