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Colony of Queensland

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Queensland Colony
Colonyof the United Kingdom
1859–1901

Light green:Queensland

Green:Territory of Papua (annexed by Queensland in 1883)

Dark grey:OtherBritish possessions
Anthem
"God Save the Queen"
CapitalBrisbane
Government
• TypeSelf-governing colony
Monarch
• 1859–1901
Victoria
Governor
• 1859–1868
George Bowenfirst
• 1896–1901
Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamingtonlast
LegislatureParliament of Queensland
History
• Independence from the New South Wales colony
6 June 1859
1 January 1901
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Colony of New South Wales
Queensland
Territory of Papua
Today part of

TheColony of Queenslandwas a colony of theBritish Empirefrom 1859 to 1901, when it became a State in the federalCommonwealth of Australiaon 1 January 1901. At its greatest extent, the colony included the present-dayState of Queensland,theTerritory of Papuaand theCoral Sea Islands Territory.

History[edit]

Main article:History of Queensland

Nineteenth century[edit]

In 1823,John Oxleysailed north from Sydney to inspectPort Curtis(nowGladstone) andMoreton Bayas possible sites for a penal colony. At Moreton Bay, he found theBrisbane Riverwhose existence Cook had predicted, and proceeded to explore the lower part of it. In September 1824, he returned with soldiers and established a temporary settlement on theRedcliffe Peninsula.On 2 December 1824, theMoreton Bay penal settlementwas transferred to the Brisbane River where theCentral Business District (CBD)ofBrisbanenow stands. The settlement was initially calledEdenglassie,aportmanteauof the Scottish townsEdinburghandGlasgow.[citation needed]

MajorEdmund Lockyerdiscovered outcrops of coal along the banks of the upperBrisbane Riverin 1825.[1]

In 1839,transportationofconvictsceased, culminating in the closure of the Brisbane penal settlement. In 1842, the free settlement was permitted.[citation needed]In the same yearAndrew Petriereported favourable grazing conditions and decent forests to the north of Brisbane, which led shortly to the arrival of settlers to Fraser Island and the Cooloola coast region.[2]

Immigrants aboard theArtemisiaarrived at the colony ofMoreton Bayin 1848.

In 1847, thePort of Maryboroughwas opened as a wool port.[3]

The first immigrant ship to arrive in Moreton Bay was theArtemisiain 1848.[citation needed]

In 1857, Queensland'sfirst lighthousewas built atCape Moreton.[citation needed]

Frontier war[edit]

Main article:Australian frontier wars

Fighting between Aboriginal people and settlers in colonial Queensland was more bloody than in any other colonial state in Australia, perhaps partly due to Queensland having a larger pre-contact indigenous population than any other colony in Australia, accounting for over one third, and in some estimates close to forty percent, of the entire pre-contact population of the continent.[citation needed]It is estimated that some 1,500 European settlers, including women and children – and their Chinese, Aboriginal, and Melanesian allies – died in frontier skirmishes with Aboriginals in Queensland during the nineteenth century. The casualties among the Aboriginal fighters suffered in these battles with settlers and native police (frequently described by contemporary political leaders and newspapers as "warfare", "a kind of warfare", "guerrilla-like warfare", and at times as a "war of extermination" ) is estimated to have exceeded 30,000.[4][5][6][7]Others have suggested there were more Aboriginal casualties.[8]The"Native Police Force"(sometimes "Native Mounted Police Force" ), recruited and deployed by the Queensland government, was a key unit in the war between the new arrivals and the aboriginal fighters.[9]

The three largest battles between new arrivals and Aborigines in Australian colonial history all took place in Queensland. On 27 October 1857 Martha Fraser'sHornet Bankstation on theDawson River,incentral Queenslandtook the lives of 11 Europeans.[10]The tent camp of the embryo station ofCullin-La-Ringonear Springsure was attacked by Aborigines on 17 October 1861, killing 19 people including the grazierHoratio Wills.[11]Following the wreck of the brigMariaat Bramble Reef near theWhitsunday Islands,on 26 February a total of 14 European survivors were massacred by local Aborigines.[12]TheBattle of One Tree Hillalso took place in the 1840s.[citation needed]

Colony of Queensland[edit]

In 1851, a public meeting was held to considerQueensland's separationfrom New South Wales. On 6 June 1859,Queen Victoriasigned Letters Patent to form the colony of Queensland. A proclamation was read byGeorge Bowenon 10 December 1859[13]whereupon Queensland was formally separated from New South Wales. Bowen became the first Governor of Queensland andRobert Herbertbecame the firstPremier of Queensland.

Queensland was the only Australian colony that commenced immediately with its own parliament, instead of first spending time as aCrown Colony(i.e. having a Governor appointed byThe Crown). By this time, Western Australia was the only Australian colony without a responsible government.IpswichandRockhamptonbecame towns in 1860, with Maryborough andWarwickbecoming towns the following year.

In 1861, rescue parties forBurke and Wills,which failed to find them, did some exploratory work of their own, in central and north-western Queensland. Notably among these wasFrederick Walkerwho originally worked for the native police.[14]Brisbane was linked by electric telegraph to Sydney in 1861; however, the first operating telegraph line in Queensland was from Brisbane to Ipswich in the same year.[15]

Gold rush[edit]

Early gold miners were prepared to live rough to strike it rich.

Although smaller than the gold rushes of Victoria and New South Wales, Queensland had its own series of gold rushes in the later half of the nineteenth century. In 1858, gold was discovered atCanoona,causing the short-livedCanoona gold rush.[16]In 1867, gold was discovered inGympie.Richard Daintree's explorations in North Queensland lead to several goldfields being developed in the late 1860s.[17]In 1872, William Hann discovers gold on thePalmer River,southwest of Cooktown.Chinesesettlers began to arrive in the goldfields, by 1877 there were 17,000 Chinese on Queensland gold fields. In that year restrictions on Chinese immigration were passed.

Other events[edit]

Mary Riverresidence, 1870
Pioneer Sugar Mill atMackayin the 1880s

1862 saw Queensland's western boundary changed from longitude 141° E to 138°E. In 1863, the firstChief Justice,SirJames Cocklewas appointed. 1864 was anannus horribilisfor Queensland. In March of that year, major flooding of theBrisbane Riverinundated the centre of town, in April, fires devastated the west side ofQueen Street,which was the main shopping district and in December, another fire, which was Brisbane's worst ever, wiped out the rest of Queen Street and adjoining streets.[citation needed]

1865 saw the first steam trains in Queensland, travelling (fromIpswichto Bigge's Camp, which is now known asGrandchester).Townsvillegazetted as a town in the same year. In 1867, the Queensland Constitution was consolidated from existing legislation under theConstitution Act 1867.Sugar production was by then becoming a major industry. In 1867, six mills produced 168 tons of cane sugar, by 1870 there were 28 mills with a production of 2,854 tons. The production of sugar started around Brisbane, but spread toMackayandCairns,and by 1888 the annual output of sugar was 60,000 tons.[citation needed]1871 sawGeorge Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanbybecome the Governor of Queensland. The first record of a rugby match played in Queensland occurred in 1876. In 1877,Arthur Edward Kennedybecame the Governor of Queensland. The first meat processed in the state occurred at Queensport along the Brisbane River in 1881.[18]

In 1883, Queensland Premier SirThomas McIlwraithannexesPapua(later repudiated by British government). On 2 June the decision to form arugby unionassociation was made at the Exchange hotel in Brisbane.[19]The same year Queensland's population passed the 250,000 mark. In 1887, the Brisbane-Wallangarrarailway line was opened, and in 1888 there was a 483-mile (777 km) line opened between Brisbane andCharleville.There were other lines that were nearly complete from Rockhampton toLongreach,and others being constructed around Maryborough, Mackay, and Townsville. By 1888, there were more than 5 million cattle in Queensland.

South Brisbane during the1893 Brisbane flood

1891 saw theGreat Shearers' StrikeatBarcaldineleads to formation of theAustralian Labor Party.The issue in the strike was whether employers were entitled to use non-union labour. There were troops and police called in, some sheds were fired, and there were mass riots. There was a second shearers strike in 1894. Union sponsored candidates won sixteen seats at the Queensland elections in 1893. The1893 Brisbane floodcaused much destruction including destroying theVictoria Bridge.The land where theBrisbane Cricket Groundnow sits was first used as a cricket ground in 1895, with the first cricket match played there in December 1896. In 1897, Native (Aboriginal) Police force disbanded.

Coal mine inIpswich,1898

In 1899, the world's first Labor Party Government, with PremierAnderson Dawsonas the leader, was elected into power only to last one week. In July 1899 Queensland offered to send a force of 250 mounted infantry to help Britain in theSecond Boer War(Second Anglo-Boer War). Also in that year, gold production atCharters Towerspeaked.[20]The first natural gas find in Queensland and Australia was atRomain 1900 as a team was drilling a water well.[21]TheMahina Cyclone of 1899strikes Cape York Peninsula, destroying a pearling fleet inPrincess Charlotte Bay.The cyclone claimed the lives of around 400 people, making it Queensland's worst maritime disaster.

Immigration[edit]

During the 1890s many workers known as theKanakaswere brought to Queensland from neighbouring Pacific Island nations to work in the sugar cane fields. Some of whom had been kidnapped under a process known asBlackbirding.When Australia was federated in 1901, theWhite Australia policycame into effect, whereby all foreign workers in Australia were deported under the Pacific Island Labourers Act of 1901.[22]At this time between 7,000 and 10,000 Pacific Islanders were living in Queensland. Most of them had been deported by 1908, by which time there were only 1500–2500 remaining.

Exploration[edit]

In 1606, the Dutch navigatorWillem Janszoonlanded near the site of the modern-day town ofWeipaon the western shore of Cape York. His arrival was the first recorded encounter between European and Australian Aboriginal people.[23]

In 1614,Luis Váez de Torres,a Spanish explorer may have sighted the Queensland coast at the tip of Cape York. In that year, he had sailed theTorres Strait,the body of water now named after him.

In 1768, the French explorerLouis Antoine de Bougainvillesailed west from theNew Hebridesislands, getting to within a hundred miles of the Queensland coast. He did not reach the coast because he did not find a passage through the coral reefs, and turned back.

Lieutenant James Cookwrote that he claimed the east coast forKing George IIIof Great Britain on 22 August 1770 when standing onPossession Islandoff the west coast ofCape York Peninsula,naming eastern Australia "New South Wales".[24]This included the present Queensland. Cook charted the Australian east coast in his shipHM Barque "Endeavour",namingStradbrokeand Morton (nowMoreton Island) islands, theGlass House Mountains,Double Island Point, Wide Bay,Hervey Bayand the Great Sandy Cape, now calledFraser Island.His second landfall in Australia was at Round Hill Head, 500 km north ofBrisbane.TheEndeavourwas grounded on a coral reef near Cape Tribulation, on 11 June 1770 where he was delayed for almost seven weeks while they repaired the ship. This occurred whereCooktownnow lies, on the Endeavour River, both places named after the incident. On 22 August theEndeavourreached the northern tip of Queensland, which Cook named theCape York Peninsulaafter theDuke of York.

In 1799, in theNorfolk,Matthew Flindersspent six weeks exploring the Queensland coast as far north as Hervey Bay. In 1802 he explored the coast again. On a later trip to England, his shipHMS Porpoiseand the accompanyingCatoran aground on a coral reef off the Queensland coast. Flinders set off for Sydney in an opencutter,at a distance of 750 miles (1,210 km), where the Governor sent ships back to rescue the crew from Wreck Reef.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"History".New Hope Coal. Archived fromthe originalon 6 July 2011.Retrieved27 June2011.
  2. ^"Cooloola Recreation Area, Great Sandy National Park: Nature, culture and history".Department of National Parks, Sport and Racing. 15 January 2015.Archivedfrom the original on 24 September 2015.Retrieved9 October2015.
  3. ^Kidd, David (2002)."Port of Maryborough".Archived from the original on 7 February 2005.Retrieved27 March2022.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^Ørsted-Jensen, Robert:Frontier History Revisited: – Colonial Queensland and the 'History War,Brisbane 2011
  5. ^Evans, Raymond:The country has another past: Queensland and the History Wars,in‘Passionate Histories: Myth, memory and Indigenous Australia’Aboriginal History Monograph 21, September 2010 (Edited by Frances Peters-Little,Ann Curthoysand John Docker).
  6. ^Queenslander 1 May 1880 & Brisbane Courier, 8 May 1880, p.2e-f, editorial;The Way We Civilise; Black and White; The Native Police:– A series of articles and letters Reprinted from the ‘Queenslander’ (Brisbane, December 1880)
  7. ^Rusden: History of Australia Vol 3 pp.146–56 & 235
  8. ^Ørsted–Jensen, Robert; Evans, Raymond (20 April 2019). "'I Cannot Say the Numbers that Were Killed': Assessing Violent Mortality on the Queensland Frontier ".SSRN2467836.
  9. ^"Welcome to Frontier".Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived fromthe originalon 18 July 2006.Retrieved4 August2010.
  10. ^Australia."Stories of the Dreaming – Australian Museum".Dreamtime.net.au. Archived fromthe originalon 8 February 2009.Retrieved4 August2010.;NSWV&P re 26 October 1857; MBC 14 November 1857. Book: Reid, Gordon: A Nest of Hornets: The Massacre of the Fraser family at Hornet Bank Station, Central Queensland, 1857, and related events, Melbourne 1982.
  11. ^Queensland State Archive re 11 November 1861 – COL/R2/61/893; 12 November 1861 – COL/R2/61/894; 30 October 1861 – COL/A22/61/2790; Rockhampton Bulletin 29 October 1861; Brisbane Courier 5 November 1861, p2d. Brisbane Courier 9 November 1861, p2c-d; Brisbane Courier 11 November 1861, p2g-3a; Brisbane Courier 9 December 1861, p3c-d Book: Reid, Gordon: A Nest of Hornets: The Massacre of the Fraser family at Hornet Bank Station, Central Queensland, 1857, and related events, Melbourne 1982.
  12. ^Sydney Morning Herald 7 March 1872; Sydney Morning Herald 11 March 1872; Port Denison Times 28 Mar 1872; Brisbane Courier 4/4/72; Queensland State Archive COL/A172/72/1812; Queenslander 6 April 1872, p9; Sydney Morning Herald 2 February 1874, p3e-f.
  13. ^"Q150 Timeline".Queensland Treasury.Archivedfrom the original on 3 September 2011.Retrieved28 October2011.
  14. ^"Central Queensland History Wiki – People – FrederickWalker".Cqhistory.com. 2 July 2006. Archived fromthe originalon 8 July 2011.Retrieved4 August2010.
  15. ^Dunn, Col (1985).The History of Electricity in Queensland.Bundaberg: Col Dunn. p. 14.ISBN0-9589229-0-X.
  16. ^"Central Queensland History Wiki – Places – CanoonaGoldFields".Cqhistory.com. 16 July 2006. Archived fromthe originalon 8 July 2011.Retrieved4 August2010.
  17. ^G. C. Bolton, 'Daintree, Richard (1832–1878)Archived8 December 2015 at theWayback Machine'. Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. 1972. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  18. ^P. Fynes-Clinton."The Beef Industry in Queensland"(PDF).Retrieved20 June2014.
  19. ^[1]Archived18 October 2005 at theWayback Machine
  20. ^"World History".Charters Towers Regional Council. Archived fromthe originalon 6 April 2011.Retrieved24 June2011.
  21. ^The Oil and Gas Year Australia.Wildcat Publishing. 2009. p. 18.ISBN978-1-906975-08-1.
  22. ^"Documenting Democracy".Foundingdocs.gov.au. Archived fromthe originalon 26 October 2009.Retrieved4 August2010.
  23. ^"Willem Janszoon".Archivedfrom the original on 10 February 2019.Retrieved20 April2019.
  24. ^European discovery and the colonisation of Australia culture.gov.auhttp://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/australianhistory/Archived16 February 2011 at theWayback Machine
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