Brisbane: The Aboriginal Presence 1824-1860

Second edit by Barry Shaw
First edit by Rod Fisher

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.