Inundations and explanations:
Repeated themes in Brisbane history

An essay by historian
and Floodlines: 19th century Brisbane curator,
Helen Gregory

In times of crisis, short, sharp phrases in newspaper headlines communicate the essence of drama and tragedy. The impact of the message – if not the exact wording – in this example from a 19th century Brisbane daily newspaper has often been repeated:

The date of these headlines might be February 1893, as 'the 1893 flood' has become the dominant community memory of Brisbane's 19th century floods. However they actually appeared in March 1890, at the height of a very serious flood which has often been overlooked. Even if this alarming banner had appeared in 1893, the notion of 'the 1893 flood' is incorrect. There were, in fact, three floods in February 1893 and another in June. None of these floods were as severe as a flood disaster which struck Brisbane earlier in the 19th century.

Understanding of community disasters and tragedies in times past comes to succeeding generations through a series of filters: the extent of the experience of the generation which lived through them, the accuracy of their memories, the reliability and comprehensiveness of written and visual records and errors in the transmission of information from one generation to the next - the 'Chinese whisper' effect. Probing the history of 19th century floods in Brisbane reve... an elevated flals an extensive and diverse story of disaster and renewal, of lessons learned and experiences disregarded, of serious ideas for mitigation and more impractical notions.

Brisbane's floods are creatures of the region's sub-tropical climate. Hot, humid, stormy summers are punctuated by cool, clear, crisp winters. Summer cyclones generated in the Coral Sea sometimes drift south to cross the central or southern Queensland coast and degenerate into low pressure systems carrying extremely heavy rains. Systems which lodge above the spurs of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland pour rain into the headwaters of the rivers and streams which form the Brisbane River catchment. Long dry spells frequently interrupt rainy seasons. Water acquires a special meaning in a country where cycles of severe floods and scorching droughts bring distress and economic losses.

The Brisbane River and its tributaries drain an area of about 13,500 square kilometres covering hilly areas and flat coastal plains. The river rises in the Brisbane Range, north-east of the town of Nanango, and meanders its way to the Moreton Bay indentation of the Pacific Ocean. Significant tributaries flow into the Brisbane River: the Stanley River, Cooyar Creek, Lockyer Creek, the Bremer River and its major tributaries, the Warrill and Purga Creeks. Many smaller creeks in the Brisbane metropolitan area also join the river, among them the Oxley, Norman, Enoggera and Bulimba Creeks.

The river and the climate have been important themes in both the Aboriginal and European history of the Brisbane region. In 1823, the first European to write about the Brisbane River and its surroundings, the New South Wales Surveyor-General, John Oxley, saw the possibility of the 'richest productions of the tropics' flowing from the area and regarded the Brisbane River as a prospective transport highway reaching far inland. Less than a year later, Oxley and the botanist, Allan Cunningham, realised that this promising climate could be capricious. The river had fallen, rocks and shoals had appeared which would impede future navigation and the evidence of drought was visible in the surrounding land. They also noticed something even more disturbing:

... an elevated flat of rich land, declining to a point where had evidently, by its sandy shore and pebbly surface, been at some time washed by an inundation; a flood would be too weak an expression to use for a collection of water rising to the full height (full fifty feet) which the appearance of the shore here renders possible.²

The first group of European settlers – convicts, their military guards and a few civilian officials – contested the Aboriginal custodians without taking much notice of their experience of the area. In 1825, the year the convict settlement was established at North Quay, Major Edmund Lockyer noticed near the site of the present Mt Crosby pumping station:

... marks of drift grass and pieces of wood washed up on the sides of the banks and up into the branches of the trees, marked the flood to rise here of one hundred feet.³

The river rose at various times during the 1830s creeping into Brisbane and Ipswich, ⁴ but none of these events approached the enormous flood which swept through the region in 1841. The Queensland government hydrologist, J.B. Henderson wrote in 1896 that this flood was higher than the flood on 5 February 1893.⁵

Flood events continued to damage Brisbane and Ipswich at regular intervals. The Bureau of Meteorology has estimated that there were eight major floods in the 19th century, two before 1850, one in the 1860s, one in the 1880s and four in the 1890s. In contrast, there were only two major floods in the 20th century, in 1931 and 1974. Moderate floods were also more frequent in the 19th century.⁶ However, it is difficult to equate the effects of 19th century floods with later floods.

Apart from the mitigating effects of 20th century storage dams, engineering works of various kinds in the 19th and 20th centuries altered the river's capacity to empty flood waters into Moreton Bay. Opening and deepening the bar at the river mouth and dredging navigation channels further upstream improved flood drainage to some extent; cutting the points which protruded into the river – Kangaroo Point and Gardens Point among them – and straightening the channel.

Floods were only one factor hindering Brisbane's growth in the 19th century. Administering a huge land area with a small population to build infrastructure to support the economy was a persistent challenge. The colony's economic strength relied on trade: exporting the produce of mines and farms and importing goods to support the economy and the needs of householders.

Flooding damaged trade and, with it, the overall economy, a position made even more serious when natural disasters coincided with wider economic depressions, as they did in 1893. The depression followed prosperity in the 1880s. The government's immigration program, which had slowed in the second half of the 1860s and the 1870s, revived in the boom years. Queensland's population grew by 85% between 1881 and 1891; immigration accounted for 70% of that increase. ⁷ A new immigration receiving centre, Yungaba at Kangaroo Point, replaced the inadequate depot in William Street and was flooded several times, in 1887 when it was under construction, in 1890 and in 1893.

New housing estates opened in Brisbane suburbs in the 1880s and many older, larger properties were subdivided. Splendid new buildings in the city and grand houses in elite suburbs reflected 1880s prosperity. Economic growth continued despite drought in the years between 1883 and 1886, ⁸ but was interrupted by flooding in January 1887. Nehemiah Bartley, who had arrived in Brisbane in 1854 and became a commentator on its affairs, reprised earlier 19th century floods for new residents shocked by the 1887 inundation.⁹

Bartley's article emphasised that some Brisbane River floods had been caused by exceptionally heavy rain over a few days, while others had been the result of weeks of continuous rain. He reminded residents that continuous dredging to deepen the Brisbane River bar had allowed the river to drain more quickly than it had in earlier flood events. On the other hand, successive floods caused more damage as more and more buildings had been constructed on natural 'swamps'. Bartley's warning was repeated many times, but apparently not heeded:

It behoves people in an extensive country like this not to put their homes and stores in or near a swamp or watercourse, and with a little more loss of life and property we may learn this lesson perfectly.¹⁰

The placement of essential services also became controversial after the 1887 flood. Brisbane did not have a sewerage system; nightsoil was dumped at 'manure depots' at various places around the city. Depots close to Breakfast and Ithaca Creeks raised the risk of severe contamination of the creeks and river, a matter of great consequence in a city subject to repeated outbreaks of typhoid fever.¹¹

The city had little time to recover before heavy rain in the Brisbane River catchment brought more flooding in March 1890. Houses were swept from low lying suburbs, the wharves were inundated and water again invaded the central business district. Boats were the only means of moving around flooded areas, and some boat trips were terrifying. Dr Eleanor Bourne wrote about her uncle rowing the family's maid to higher ground. The dinghy almost capsized when the current swept into it overhead telegraph wires:

Fortunately like prudent mariners sailing unknown seas, they had brought everything necessary including, of course, a tomahawk, with which the insulators were hacked off the telegraph pole; the dinghy got free and regained her balance and the maid completed her journey to safety.¹²

Eleanor Bourne's grandfather, AJ Hockings, a former Mayor of Brisbane who had lived on the river near the present Montague Road for decades, was concerned about the possibility of damage to the Victoria Bridge. The bridge foundations had been eroded in the 1887 flood and he recommended an urgent investigation to see if the larger 1890 flood had caused further damage.¹³

It was not long before AJ Hockings' concern became reality. In early February 1893, a 'tropical disturbance', as cyclones were then called, crossed the coast near Rockhampton and moved south dumping huge quantities of rain across the Brisbane River basin. As early as 3 February, goods were being moved from wharves and warehouses to higher ground, and the scene on the river was frightening: 'The force of the contact between the flood-waters of Breakfast Creek and the river is such as to cause heavy crested waves at the junction'.¹⁴

HP Somerset of Caboonbah Station near Esk sent an urgent telegram to the government:

Prepare at once for flood. River here within 10ft. of 1890 flood and rising fast; still raining. Will advise when river falling.¹⁵

The Queensland Government meteorologist, Clement Wragge, was aboard the steamer Buninyong near the Northumberland Islands near the central Queensland coast, and reported that the weather was the worst he had ever experienced.¹⁶

The first 1893 flood reached its peak on Sunday 5 February. Maintaining essential services was extremely difficult. Henry Maddock worked at the Port Office on the staff of the Harbour Master, Captain Mackay, who lived at Kangaroo Point. For several days, Captain Mackay could not get across the river to his home. Even HMS Paluma failed:

When it reached the middle of the river opposite the Naval Stores, the current took charge, and in spite of the engine being at 'Full ahead' we were forced down the river until we reached a sort of back wash or space of slack water near Collins' Wharf', when we returned by keeping close to the shore. En route, we called at the Queen's Hotel, landed on the second floor where we had some lubrication of the thorax before returning to HMS Paluma.¹⁷

The inner suburbs in all directions from Brisbane and South Brisbane were deluged. Houses on the new Orleigh Estate at Hill End were completely washed away, people were drowned in Brisbane and Ipswich, businesses were ruined, ships were swept into the Botanic Gardens and the only two bridges over the Brisbane River were destroyed. The loss of the Victoria Bridge summed up the drama and the tragedy:

All night long on Saturday the crash of houses driven against the Victoria Bridge and torn to pieces could be heard above the roar of the water, and the number thus destroyed must have considerably exceeded 100, to say nothing of those which had been dismembered before reaching the bridge.¹⁸

And then:

There was one loud crash, which shook the very earth, and made the surrounding buildings shake in their foundations; one convulsive heave and the wrecked portion went down the river. Soon other pieces followed it, until before half an hour had elapsed fully one-half of the bridge had disappeared.¹⁹

In 1893, newspapers were the main means of communicating warnings of impending disasters. Electronic communication was in its infancy. There were only about 400 telephones in Brisbane and the telegraph system relied on hand delivery of the telegrams, impossible when roads were impassable. In the Brisbane floods in 1893, the major daily newspapers, the Brisbane Courier and the Evening Observer were victims of flooding: On 6 February, as the waters of the first flood began to fall, the Brisbane Courier reported:

In consequence of the flooding of our machine-room, and the pressure upon the Government Printing Department machining all the Brisbane dailies, it has been decided to have no issue of the Evening Observer today ...²⁰

The Queenslander which was distributed widely in Queensland also had problems:

The Brisbane Newspaper machine-room being flooded and the whole of the printing plant covered many feet deep in water the company has been put to great straits to issue its journals. ... Strenuous efforts are now being made to get the machinery in working order after its prolonged submersion, and it is hoped that the next issue of this journal will be up to the Standard.²¹

The newspapers recovered and, before long, were communicating essential information, particularly about arrangements for flood relief. As in 1887 and 1890, a flood relief fund was immediately established. A meeting on 6 February, the day after the worst of the flooding, established a central committee to which local committees would report. The pattern of extraordinary generosity towards those who had been badly affected was set. Despite the depression, money flowed in and concerts and other events were held to swell the funds. A central guiding principle guided the dispersal of relief funding: relief of need, not compensation for losses.²² Distribution of relief was not without problems. Depression conditions held up the distribution of relief due to 'the unfortunate suspension' of the banks where the money was held and, in some areas, the June flood caused almost as much damage as the February floods and more money was needed.²³

The second and third 1893 floods, on 13 and 19 February, added to the misery and slowed recovery. Businesses had been trying to get back on their feet. Retailers advertised sales of flood damaged goods, an opportunity for a new Brisbane business, Isles Love, established in 1889. James Love's home at Toowong was flooded in the 5 February flood. In the 19 February flood, he had a terrifying trip to town from his temporary home:

When the second flood came, we had an auction sale of flood salvage advertised for the Thursday and I had to get to Town somehow – no trains were running as the rails were under water from Toowong to Roma St station, in some places fully 15 ft. It was imperative that the sale be held as the goods were deteriorating so I borrowed Mr N Sapsford's pulling boat and pushed off alone from the bottom of Robert St and pulled out into the swirling current and it was only by hard rowing that I missed being wrecked against the corner of Mr TE White's veranda, where there were half a dozen big snakes twined round the post and railings, reached the North Quay in only 8 minutes, a record time – and left the boat in Boys fuel store, came to the office in shorts, sweater and sandshoes, and had a successful sale in spite of everything.²⁴

The sale proceeded but, in common with most Brisbane businesses, Isles Love found the next few years difficult, especially as the flood in June 1893 added to tension in the city.

Replacing the destroyed bridges and re-establishing efficient communication between the two sides of the river was a priority. The first to be replaced was the Albert Railway Bridge at Indooroopilly, essential in bringing coal from the West Moreton coalfields near Ipswich and products for export from the Darling Downs to Brisbane. The new Albert Bridge opened in 1895 and, in 1897, a new Victoria Bridge replaced a temporary structure, just in time to survive a significant flood in 1898.

Suggestions to avoid future flood disasters gathered pace and became an even stronger focus after the flood of 1890 and the four in 1893. In his 1896 report, JB Henderson recommended straightening the river, an idea with an additional benefit: improving navigation in a winding river, a matter of considerable importance in an era when ships were growing larger. Trimming of the sharp riverside points, another of his recommendations, was also accomplished.

Henderson also suggested the construction of two diversion channels to drain floodwaters more rapidly. One would be about seven kilometres upstream from the Victoria Bridge and the second about 13 kilometres upstream; both would discharge into the sea at the mouth of Tingalpa Creek. This solution, he was aware, was very expensive, and was never executed.

JB Henderson did not have the last word on flood mitigation. The Queensland Government commissioned Colonel JM Pennycuick of the Royal India Engineering College to investigate.²⁵ Pennycuick largely supported Henderson's recommendations, ²⁶but went further and suggested that a dam be built across the Brisbane River, some 27 kilometres downstream from its junction with the Stanley River. This, he said, would create a large reservoir able of holding back vast quantities of water.²⁷ Survey parties were despatched to the site in April 1899, and shortly after Pennycuick issued a progress report. ²⁸ Almost 90 years later, the Wivenhoe Dam reproduced Pennycuick's recommendation almost exactly.

A reservoir on the Stanley River, first suggested by JB Henderson in his 1896 report, bubbled away in the background. Alan Hazen from New York reported on his investigations of the site in 1907, and it was mentioned in succeeding decades until it became a serious proposition in the 1930s, when the growing city of Brisbane needed to increase water storage against intermittent droughts. Construction on the Somerset Dam was interrupted by World War II and it was not completed until 1953. The Somerset Dam played a limited role in flood mitigation in 1974 and 2011.

The four floods in 1893 warned Brisbane that the river, so central to its existence, could turn against it. As time passed memories faded and the city progressed but as each succeeding generation has battled it's own floods, old questions have arisen to become contemporary concerns.

¹Brisbane Courier, 13 March 1890, p4.
² Commonwealth of Australia, Bureau of Meteorology, 'Known floods in the Brisbane and Bremer River basin', http://www.bom.gov.au/hydro/flood/qld/fld_history accessed 1 Dec 2011.
³ Likely to be in the area of the Mt Crosby pumping station. This inundation is believed to be comparable with the first 1893 flood.
⁴ Bureau of Meteorology, 'Known floods in the Brisbane and Bremer River basin', www.bom.gov.au/hydro/flood/qld viewed on 21 November 2011.
⁵ JB Henderson, 'Floods in the Brisbane River and schemes for the abatement of their disastrous effects', Queensland Parliament, Legislative Assembly, Papers, 1896; Brisbane Courier, 4 November 1896, p4; M Wales, G Cossins, R Broughton, 'The Early Floods of the Brisbane-Bremer River System, 1823-1867, Brisbane, Brisbane City Council, 1976.
⁶ Bureau of Meteorology, 'Known floods in the Brisbane and Bremer River basin', p1.
⁷J Jupp, The Australian people. An encyclopaedia of the nation, its people and their origins, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001, p50.
⁸See, for example, Brisbane Courier, 20 Feb 1884, p3 where the drought is described as 'more disastrous than any previous one in the history of this colony'.
⁹Brisbane Courier, 27 Jan 1887, p2; For information on Nehemiah Bartley, see Reece, RHW, 'Bartley, Nehemiah (1830–1894)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bartley-nehemiah-2948/text4275, accessed 7 December 2011
¹⁰Brisbane Courier, 27 Jan 1887, p2
¹¹Moving the 'manure depots' was vigorously debated by the various councils which administered the Brisbane area. See, for example, Brisbane Courier, 4 May 1887, p5.
¹²EE Bourne, Reminiscences, OM81-130, Eleanor Elizabeth Bourne Papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Australia.
¹³AJ Hockings to editor, Brisbane Courier, 15 April 1890, p2.
¹⁴Brisbane Courier, 3 Feb 1893, p3.
¹⁵Cited in Brisbane Courier, 3 Feb 1893, p5.
¹⁶Brisbane Courier, 3 Feb 1893, p4.
¹⁷Radio talk, 4QR,10pm 26 July 1938. M 630, Major HM Maddock Papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
¹⁸Brisbane Courier 6 Feb 1893, p2.
¹⁹Brisbane Courier, 6 Feb 1893, p4.
²⁰ Brisbane Courier, 6 Feb 1893, p4.
²¹ Queenslander, 11 Feb 1893, p246.
²²Box 8159, Central Flood Relief Fund of Queensland Report 1892-1893, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
²³Box 8159, Central Flood Relief Fund of Queensland Report 1892-1893, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
²⁴James Love, typescript, 27255, Isles Love & Company Photographs & Typescript, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
²⁵Colonel Pennycuick had been in India since 1860. He was responsible for the design and construction of the large Periyar Dam near Travancore.
²⁶Pennycuick also recommended the excavation of a diversion canal from near the South Brisbane Cemetery to a point near the junction of Norman Creek with the Brisbane River.
²⁷Pennycuick outlined his proposal in greater detail in his final report. J Pennycuick, Report on scheme for the abatement of floods in the Brisbane River, Brisbane, Government Printer, 1899. Brisbane Courier, 7 Feb 1899, p. 3.
²⁸ Brisbane Courier, 11 April 1899, p. 2.