Like putting old wine into new bottles, this collection of 7 papers by historian Rod Fisher offers a goodly drop for anyone thirsting for the history and heritage of the Brisbane region. They were originally written from 1991-2010, only a couple having seen the light of day. That was because they were mostly commissioned at greater length – and dealt with specific issues: 1. How ‘midnight demolitions’ of the old Bellevue Hotel, Cloudland Ballroom and Commonwealth Bank brought about the 1st protective heritage legislation in Qld. 2. To what extent the oral testimony of continuity and descent of the Turrbal people around Brisbane was matched by the historical record. 3. How Yeronga Memorial Pk evolved physically and spatially since the early days and by what means. 4. What steps and actions caused Lang Pk to change from a public space to a venue primarily for a single spectator sport. 5. How to write the contextual history for a thematic study exhibition on the Brisbane River which would draw upon the disparate collections of 6 mostly non-river institutions. 6. How the whole region of SE Qld developed thematically and materially, including Brisbane, Ipswich, Toowoomba, both coasts, major islands, many valleys and various ranges. 7. Whether heritage theory and practice should be focussed more sustainably on the character of a locality, as tested on the Killarney Estate. Having been revised as necessary and collected together, these papers are a boon for everyone interested in those aspects, places, buildings, events, related persons – and much more. If you happen to be a glutton for research, these chapters also show the way. That includes discerning patterns, analysing records, exploring buildings, interpreting parks, assessing heritage, examining localities, investigating regions and structuring narratives. Among the many historical sources are municipal records, reserve files, parliamentary papers, state yearbooks, municipal handbooks, heritage reports, judicial records, newspapers, maps, pictures, graves – and of course the actual places and people themselves. Here we see the applied historian at work. The other tie that binds all of this together is the author’s conviction that history must speak for itself, so that only when familiar with the evidence ought we evaluate, interpret and shape it in our own image. This also applies to cultural heritage, which comprises all of those tangible and intangible things we want to retain for ourselves and the next generation. As that is but one type of historical evidence, there is a dynamic reciprocity between the two. What this book really shows is how history becomes heritage through establishing its significance – unless heritage becomes history first!

Beginning with Native American encampments on the slopes and valleys of San Bruno Mountain, through Spanish occupation and Mexican land grants, to todayas vibrant suburban community, Brisbaneas story is an intriguing one. The town was either named for newspaperman Arthur Brisbane, or for the Australian coastal city of Brisbane, depending on the story. During the Great Depression, many people wanting to escape crowded San Francisco for a simpler, less urban life found it in Brisbane, which began with dairies and ranches and gradually grew up along the hillsides radiating from Visitacion Avenue. Brisbane has always been known for its spirit of independence, and the people here have been able to participate in small-town democracy more fully than in larger cities.

This second edition has been reviewed and expanded to include some of Australia’s best qualified historians and researchers in Aboriginal history. Many of these authors continue to campaign for more research into First Nations history and the Frontier Wars. This second edition of Brisbane: The Aboriginal Presence now comprises a foreword which examines recent research in Aboriginal studies, and seven instead of six papers on race relations in the Brisbane region between 1824 and 1860. It covers the convict and early settlement periods until the Separation of Queensland from New South Wales in late 1859. The papers provide overviews of race relations during each of these periods, and highlight various themes, including: • Aboriginal occupation before European settlement • The impact of European settlement • Reciprocal attitudes and relations • Aboriginal resistance and European repression • Sexual relations between Aborigines and Europeans • The role of law, administration and the press • Aborigines in the local economy • The failure of assimilation • The fate of local clans These themes are illustrated by numerous incidents and case studies including: • The observations of explorers, missionaries and administrators • Convict, runaway and settler experiences • Violent clashes on Stradbroke Island in 1831–32 • Aboriginal hangings between 1841 and 1859 • Unrest in the ‘suburbs’ during the late 1840s to 1850s • Squatters, Governor Gipps and the Kilcoy poisonings between 1841 and 1843 • The white raid on Yorks Hollow camp in 1846 • The police attack on Breakfast Creek camps in 1846 These papers are based on detailed research of primary sources by experienced historians who are distinguished for the originality and calibre of their work. This attractive and informative volume is for everyone interested in race relations generally and Brisbane in particular, including students, teachers, schools, libraries, academics and the general reader.

In a single timely tome, Rod Fisher packs a lot of what’s known about the history of the timbered house in Qld – the sum of research, writing and practice over 4 decades. While breaking new ground on its origin and development, the first 4 chapters concern several key themes: 1. the evolution of a Vernacular class of housing in the north of Australia: from aboriginal to modern day, comprising a series of styles and the means of identifying each one by era and attribute 2. the historical context to traditional housing: using census data and contemporary testimony to amplify its configuration which reflects cyclical condition, personal choice and social acceptance 3. the human dimension to the main varieties of habitat and its environment: specifically the pros and cons of observers and occupants of the day followed by resolution of their discrepancies 4 whether Brisbane was in any way different from the rest of the state: examining which varieties made the greatest imprint, from elite and multiple types to the predominant gabled, hipped, pyramidal and later multi-gabled dwellings of the Vernacular tradition The next couple of chapters are casestudies illustrating those aspects, particularly the evolution of traditional housing and the impact of historical change. Though set in Brisbane they reflect larger issues: 5. the early inner suburb of Petrie Terrace: which exhibits not only changes in timbered housing over time, but also the effect of road improvement, shopping centre diversion, stadium development, building renovation and gentrification more generally 6. a timbered dwelling of nearby Bowen Hills: which, being modified several times in its lifetime and finally removed elsewhere, demonstrates change, as well as the influence of the locale and the impact of transportation improvements on housing and community At the same time, this volume serves as a guide and reference, partly by information, advice and example, but more specifically by means of the handy classification of Vernacular styles in the 1st chapter, and ultimately by instructions for researching any house in Qld: 7. a step-by-step guide to historical investigation and exposition: using a dwelling in Annerley/Tarragindi as the example That practical purpose is reinforced in the final 3 chapters by a Supplement of related material, Glossary of requisite terms and Bibliography of relevant sources on both the history and heritage of timbered housing – plus plentiful illustrations of course. As there hasn’t been a work on this intriguing subject for a long time – nor anything ever like this one – it will serve general readers, professionals, researchers, writers and academics on the one hand, and owners, occupants, renovators, restorers and vendors on the other, whether in Brisbane, Qld or elsewhere in Australia. To all and sundry, its core message is conveyed by one of Joni Mitchell’s bygone ballads: Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t know what you’ve got ‘Till it’s gone They paved paradise And put up a parking lot

Boosting Brisbane provides a treasure trove of visual delights. So if you are into history, literature, fine arts, architecture, geography, media, technology, museology or culture of Brisbane in particular this timely collection fits the bill.

Susanna de Vries, award-winning author, and Jake de Vries, former City Architect of Brisbane, have pooled their talents to compile a joint book on the building of Brisbane, which transports us back to the first years of Brisbane’s bleak existence. The book shows the Convict and Officers Barracks and convicts digging roads along what became Queen Street and North Quay. Professional artist Conrad Martens paints the Customs House and Kangaroo Point. The book recounts the effects of Brisbane’s building boom of the 1880s when everyone borrowed money and major buildings like the Mansions, the old Museum, the second wing of the Post Office and the Treasury are completed. In the depression years of the 1890s some Queensland banks and architects go broke. A visiting Canadian artist named Lefèvre Cranstone draws rural Toowong, the Regatt a Hotel and the Toowong Rowing Club. River Road, [later Coronation Drive], once used for droving cattle from Brookfield, becomes a thoroughfare for the carriages of the wealthy from Indooroopilly and Milton.

This study evolved from the author’s examination of a series of sketches undertaken by a young Englishman during his sojourn in Brisbane, the seat of government of the newly created Colony of Queensland. Initial research revealed a somewhat hazy outline of his ancestry and early life, until an independent researcher in the UK, preparing a photographic study of his subsequent built legacy, discovered a key piece of the jigsaw. This book is the culmination of the author’s subsequent research, carried out in three corners of the globe, which now shines a definitive light on the lineage of Richard Harding Watt. He was a wealthy business man and developer of a number of distinctive heritage listed buildings in Knutsford, perhaps best known as the model for Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel Cranford.

Brisbane: Utopian Dreams and Dystopian Nightmares tells the stories of little-known, and rather peculiar aspects of Brisbane’s colourful history. Eleven Brisbane authors from the 19th and 20th centuries wrote about how wonderful, ‘utopian’, Brisbane could be — or how dreadful, ‘dystopian’, it could also be. Some writers imagined a future utopian Brisbane where inequality has been eliminated, where everyone is prosperous, living in the most beautiful city with wide, tree-lined boulevards, wonderful opera-houses and museums, bubbling fountains and grand squares. They saw Brisbane becoming the centre of the civilised world, a model for humanity. Other writers depicted Brisbane as having been annihilated, violently wiped off the face of the earth except for a few stone ruins overgrown with lantana. These dystopian images saw Brisbane residents enslaved in a racial nightmare, beset with poverty and violence, their lives being precarious at best. What led to these utopian and dystopian visions? Who were the visionaries? What do they tell us about a little-known part of Brisbane’s quirky history? These are images of a wonderful or dreadful Brisbane that never eventuated — but could have. This well-illustrated book reveals all in a witty, but sometimes disturbing way.

The memory of Cloudland at Boyd Street, Bowen Hills, Brisbane, Queensland, dredges up wonderful and scintillating images from our past. Who could ever forget Cloudland's beautiful pink dome nestled high against a twinkling and starry sky?