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1864 was a tough year for the fledgling town of Brisbane as two devastating fires swept through its commercial hub. This book is the first comprehensive historical record of both the ordinary and well-known citizens of the early settlement city who survived the fire's ravages to lay the foundations of Australia's third biggest city.
List of contents
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Map of the Fires
Introduction
1 Queen Street 1864
The Fire of April 11
2 Edward William Fegan - The grocer who made history
3 Rowland Illidge - The gentleman hairdresser
4 Richard Ash Kingsford - Grandfather of 'Smithy'
5 Simon Fraser and John Francis Buckland - A formidable duo
6 North Brisbane Hotel - A treasure trove of tales
7 The Brisbane Volunteer Fire Brigade - 'Useless', said the Press
8 The 12th Regiment - Unruly Redcoats
9 John Phillip Jost - A pesky pork sausage maker
10 Robert Bulcock - A shrewd politician
11 William Keith - Dented but not defeated
12 John Markwell - The ironmongering tailor
13 John Alexander McDonald - An indefatigable quite achiever
14 The smoke clears ... for now
15 Refuge Row
16 Set for disaster
The Fire of December 1
17 Alexander Stewart - the 'Royal' Scot
18 William Hemmant - A purveyor of ladies and gentlemen's apparel
19 Emile Gaujard - The flamboyant Frenchman
20 George Cutbush - A rocky road to success
21 Donald Dallas - Dogged by disaster
22 James Collins - A starry-eyed butcher
23 Isaac Lenneberg - The Café De Paris
24 Albert John Hockings - A legacy of plants, trees, parks and gardens
25 George Edmondstone - Pragmatic Scot and honest politician
26 Augustus John Kosvitz - Scoundrel or Saint
27 The Victoria Hotel - A chequered history
28 The Sovereign Hotel - Dispensing utmost civility and attention
29 Benjamin Henry Palmer - Shadowed by misfortune
30 Nathaniel Lade - A tragic tale
31 James Robert Dickson - A most extraordinary citizen
32 The curious case of Mr. Pillow's Humpy
33 Dawn breaks
Postscript
Thinking Like A Surveyor: How Brisbane CBD Got Its Shape
Endnotes
Cast of Characters
Bibliography
About the author
Sharyn Merkley is a family historian with a life-long passion for history and a Brisbane resident from birth. She is a researcher for the Genealogical Society of Queensland, which involves undertaking specilaist research projects primarily focussed on early Queensland settlers. She has worked on the Annie Wheeler Project loooking at the lives of over 2500 World War I soldiers and is currently working on an index of Battle of Waterloo veterans who settled in Australia after the conflict. She regularly volunteers as a library research assistant and is currently completing further studies on family history through the University of Tasmania.With a specific interest in the local and social history of Brisbane, Sharyn was inspired to write the story of the 1864 fires by a chance discovery of a newspaper article about the personal impacts of the fire on the citizens of the young city. She was determined to bring to light the stories of both ordinary and well-known personalities whose lives were touched by the fires - people who contributed to the early commerce of Brisbane and helped shape its growth.
