Landslip at Queen's Wharf

Landslip at Queen’s Wharf 1890

Fortunately the steamer Pacific had departed from the wharf servicing the Sanitary Plant when a landslip occurred somewhere around 6.30 a.m. on the morning of 7 February 1890, an event which followed a period of heavy rain that had caused a number of landslips along North Quay.

Ship Lucinda

Welcome home from the First World War 1919

Welcome home from the First World War for Department of Agriculture soldiers, 1919 In 1919 some 250 officers of the Department of Agriculture and their friends attended a function on the government yacht, Lucinda, to welcome home Agriculture employees who had served their country in the First World War. Ninety-one employees had enlisted from the […]

Fire at Pettigrew's sawmill

Fire at Pettigrew’s Sawmill

Brisbane had no fire engine when the first serious conflagration for the town broke out on 8 July 1855, a Sunday morning, in the building that housed William Pettigrew’s steam saw mill. With no fire engine and few people about, Pettigrew’s first attempt at the mechanisation of timber saw milling in Queensland burnt to the […]

Brisbane Flood

Flood peaks in Brisbane, February 1893

The Brisbane River rose in flood on three occasions in February 1893. An early cyclonic deluge was followed by a second cyclone event on 11 February. The third cyclone on 19 February peaked slightly lower than the first. Destruction in Brisbane and beyond was widespread.