First Nations history – Christopher Dawson

A History of Queensland Bunyips (Part One): The 19th Century

‘There being so little variation regarding the bunyip in the accounts of these men, is it not reasonable to suppose that there is truth after all in what not a few only scoff and jeer at? The blacks to a man believe in the bunyip, and look horrified when it is mentioned.’ (Brisbane Courier, 12 December 1868)

How Many ‘North Brisbane Burial Grounds’ Were There?

This article is a reminder of why the mindful use of historical placenames matters. The former convict settlement of Brisbane became a free town in 1842, and during the following year two burial ground reserves were set aside there. The one in South Brisbane was a rectangular five-acre block split into seven separate denominational sections,Continue reading “How Many ‘North Brisbane Burial Grounds’ Were There?”

Colonial Columns: Diary of the German Mission at Moreton Bay, 1841 (Part Two)

Extract from Carl F. Gerler's sketch of the German Mission Station at Zion's Hill, 1846. (John Oxley Library)

Fascinating accounts of day-to-day life in 1841 at the first (non-convict) European settlement in the Moreton Bay region.

Colonial Columns: Diary of the German Mission at Moreton Bay, 1841 (Part One)

Extract from Carl F. Gerler's sketch of the German Mission Station at Zion's Hill, 1846. (John Oxley Library)

Fascinating accounts of day-to-day life in 1841 at the first European (non-convict) settlement in the Moreton Bay region.

Boab Prison Trees – Fact or Fiction?

Boab tree, Derby, Western Australia

Were boab trees in Western Australia really once used as makeshift lock-up cells, or is just it an urban myth?

The Gallows of the Old Windmill Tower

Depiction of the 1841 hanging (Telegraph, 10 March 1970)

Two Aboriginal men were hanged at the Brisbane windmill in 1841. I look at the unresolved question of exactly what type of gallows was used that day.

Colonial Columns: ‘Observations made on a journey to the natives at Toorbal, August 1841’ (Part Two)

The vivid description of missionaries journeying a few day’s north of Brisbane in 1841, and their encounters with various Aboriginal peoples along the way. Part Two.

Colonial Columns: ‘Observations made on a journey to the natives at Toorbal, August 1841’ (Part One)

Extract from Carl F. Gerler's sketch of the German Mission Station at Zion's Hill, 1846. (John Oxley Library)

The vivid description of missionaries journeying a few days north of Brisbane in 1841, and their encounters with various Aboriginal peoples along the way. Part One.