1891 saw the Great Shearers’ Strike at Barcaldine leads to formation of the Australian Labor Party. The issue in the strike was whether employers were entitled to use non-union labour. There were troops and police called in, some sheds were fired, and there were mass riots. There was a second shearers strike in 1894. Union sponsored candidates won sixteen seats at the Queensland elections in 1893.
The 1893 Brisbane flood caused much destruction including destroying the Victoria Bridge. The land where the Brisbane Cricket Ground now sits was first used as a cricket ground in 1895, with the first cricket match played there in December 1896.
In 1897, Native (Aboriginal) Police force disbanded. In 1899, the world’s first Labor government, with Premier Anderson Dawson as the leader, was elected into power only to last one week. In July 1899 Queensland offered to send a force of 250 mounted infantry to help Britain in the Second Boer War (Second Anglo-Boer War). Also in that year, gold production at Charters Towers peaked. The first natural gas find in Queensland and Australia was at Roma in 1900 as a team was drilling a water well.
The Mahina Cyclone of 1899 strikes Cape York Peninsula, destroying a pearling fleet in Princess Charlotte Bay. The cyclone claimed the lives of around 400 people, making it Queensland’s worst maritime disaster.
These amazing photos from Queensland State Archives show what Queensland looked like in the 1890s.
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| Hay stacking, Green Hills Farm near Warwick, 1894 |
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| 300 acre wheatfield, Canning Downs near Warwick, 1894 |
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| Fitzroy Bridge, Rockhampton, circa 1894 |
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| Interior of wool shed, Jondaryan, 1894 |
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| Merino sheep ready for shearing, Jondaryan, 1894 |
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| Reaper, binder and stooks at Green Hills Farm near Warwick, 1894 |
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| Fairymead sugar mill, Bundaberg, circa 1896 |
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| Gold sluicing, Mary River, near Gympie, circa 1896 |
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| Bales of wool from Claverton Station loaded on dray with workers nearby, circa 1897 |
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| Bourbong Street with Post Office in the distance, Bundaberg, circa 1897 |
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| Brilliant Extended Mine, Charters Towers, circa 1897 |
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| Brilliant St George Mine, Charters Towers, circa 1897 |
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| Castle Hill from across Ross River, Townsville, 1897 |
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| Charters Towers from the railway station, circa 1897 |
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| Cherry orchard with horsedrawn plough, Accommodation Creek, 1897 |
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| Columbia - Smithfield Gold Mine, Gympie, circa 1897 |
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| Cootharaba Mill, Gympie Goldfield, circa 1897 |
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| East Street, Rockhampton, circa 1897 |
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| East Street, Rockhampton, circa 1897 |
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| Four miners at face of reef in Gympie Goldfield, circa 1897 |
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| Gathered miners at Brilliant Mine, Charters Towers, 1897 |
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| General Post Office, Queen Street, Brisbane, 1897 |
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| Gill Street, Charters Towers, 1897 |
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| Gympie Goldfield (No.2 S.G. Eastern Underground), 1897 |
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| Homestead and yards of East Talgai, 1897 |
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| Looking across Ross River to Mount Stuart, Townsville, 1897 |
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| Looking down Flinders Street, Townsville, 1897 |
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| Looking eastwards from Castle Hill, Townsville, 1897 |
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| Mount Morgan, circa 1897 |
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| SS Aramac at the wharf, Cairns, 1897 |
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| Victoria Bridge from Treasury Building towards South Brisbane and Mt Coot-tha, Brisbane, 1897 |
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| View of Cairns, 1897 |
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| View of Charters Towers, 1897 |
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| Warwick Town Hall, 1897 |
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| Wool bales from Claverton Station at Wyandra Railway Station, circa 1897 |
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| AMP society building, corner Queen and Edward Streets, Brisbane, 1898 |
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| Brisbane from Parliament House towards Victoria Bridge, 1898 |
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| Handmilking at a dairy farm near Walloon, circa 1898 |
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| Packing grapes at Atkins vineyard, Roma, circa 1898 |
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| Petrie Bight showing National Hotel and Customs House, Brisbane, 1898 |
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| Roma Street Railway Station looking towards Mt Coot-Tha, Brisbane, 1898 |
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| Sheep shearing at Yandilla, 1898 |
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| Two horse single furrow plough and farmhouse near Rosewood, circa 1898 |
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| Wheat stack, Roma, 1898 |
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| A woman with a stack of cheeses at Mrs Bergann's Farm, Teutoberg, Blackall Range, circa 1899 |
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| Hay carting at Clarke's farm, Danderoo, 1899 |
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| Strawberry field group picking at Simpson's strawberry field, Blackall Range, circa 1899 |
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| Threshing at Wallumbilla, 1899 |
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| Tram and crowd scene in Queen Street near George Street, Brisbane, 1899 |
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| Veritz Farm near Peachester, date palmstand orange Trees, circa 1899 |