Taking shape
Landscape ink drawing, 1878, Robert Logan Jack. Reference code: 5638/46
Queensland was aptly named. It was to be a little Britain. Discriminatory immigration practices guaranteed that the population, which increased from 23,520 in 1859 to 599,016 in 1909, was predominantly white and British. Institutions of government, the law and the economy all came from Home.
But once started, everything took on a local flavour. Early politicians and civil servants lacked experience of their crafts and dispensed largesse as they pleased. They relied for finance on big business in London, leaving the colony open to fluctuations in the global economy. Harsh working conditions sparked a lively labour movement. Violent frontiers left an indelible stain on relations between colonists and surviving Indigenous people.
Queensland was shaped in this crucible of change.
Walking on country
This "modern tradition" awakens the history of the land.
Detail of newspaper article by Archibald Meston
Mapping Queensland
How Queensland's iconic shape and familiar names came into being.
Detail of map of the colony of Queensland
Queensland rocks
One man unlocks a treasure trove of riches.
Geological sketch by Robert Logan Jack on his first Queensland voyage, 1877
Forging citizens
Queensland forges lively citizens determined to bend governments to their will.
Shearers as 'Unionist Prisoners' after the shearers' strike in Barcaldine, Queensland, 1893
Last updated: 28th November 2011
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