Brisbane City improvements, 1931. These images appeared in the first annual report of the Queensland Department of Labour and Industry on the ‘operations and proceedings’ under the Income (Unemployment Relief) Tax Acts 1930. During the Depression, the Brisbane City Council drew heavily on relief funds and authorised extensive public works throughout the city. These images show several works in progress: road improvements at Bulimba, installing pipe culverts at Cannon Hill, straightening and widening Witton Creek and road improvements at Norman Park. Queensland parliamentary papers, vol 2, 1931

Collection of the University of Queensland Library

Brisbane school ground improvement scheme, 1931. These images appeared in the first annual report of the Queensland Department of Labour and Industry on the ‘operations and proceedings’ under the Income (Unemployment Relief) Tax Acts 1930. Queensland schools benefited from relief funds which went towards clearing up and improving playgrounds. These images show works completed at Sherwood and Windsor State schools in Brisbane. Queensland parliamentary papers, vol 2, 1931

Collection of the University of Queensland Library

Reafforestation by relief work, Queensland, 1931. These images appeared in the first annual report of the Queensland Department of Labour and Industry on the ‘operations and proceedings’ under the Income (Unemployment Relief) Tax Acts 1930. They depict new forest roads and the raising of Bunya Pine seedlings at the ‘Brooloo’ State Forest Reserve. Queensland parliamentary papers, vol 2, 1931

Collection of the University of Queensland Library

Application for relief rations, Queensland 1931. The Depression era forced many Queenslanders to seek aid from the government. To receive relief rations, applicants filled out this form which requested details of their financial and marital status, time of unemployment and whether they had received relief before. After signing the back of the form, final approval was provided by a police officer who verified the applicant’s identity, commented on their character and recommended how long they should be supported. Queensland parliamentary papers, vol 2, 1931

Collection of the University of Queensland Library

Southport intermittent relief camps, 1931. These images appeared in the first annual report of the Queensland Department of Labour and Industry on the ‘operations and proceedings’ under the Income (Unemployment Relief) Tax Acts 1930. They depict the type of hut built by the Southport Town Council and the Coolangatta Camp. Some of the children living at the Mudgeeraba camp were photographed. The erection of a camp at Redcliffe is shown. Queensland parliamentary papers, vol 2, 1931

Collection of the University of Queensland Library

Key to Queensland public estate improvement works, 1937

QLD
Australia
11 October 1937
25 May 2011
25 May 2011

Location

QLD
Australia
Department of Public Lands

Collection of the University of Queensland Library

Key to Queensland public estate improvement works, 1937. This key to public works, complete or in progress, accompanied a map which appeared in the annual report of the Land Administration Board in 1937. Many of the works listed here were facilitated by relief funds made available under the Income (Unemployment Relief) Tax Acts, 1930 to 1935. Works included building a road between Amity Point and Point Lookout on Stradbroke Island as well as new forestry access roads in northern Queensland at Danbulla, Kuranda and to the top of the Kirrama Range. Land reclamation schemes were conducted around Cairns, Sandgate and Coolangatta. Major works such as these were conducted to help the unemployed survive in the Depression era, but these changes also caused a profound alteration to Queensland’s cultural landscape. Queensland parliamentary papers, vol 2, 1937

Queensland public estate improvements, 1937

QLD
Australia
11 October 1937
25 May 2011
25 May 2011

Location

QLD
Australia
Department of Public Lands

Collection of the University of Queensland Library

150 miles to an inch

Queensland public estate improvements, 1937. This map appeared in the annual report of the Land Administration Board and shows ‘improvements’ to the Queensland public estate made in 1937. Many of the ‘works in progress’ were facilitated by unemployment relief funds made available under the Income (Unemployment Relief) Tax Acts, 1930 to 1935. Works included building a road between Amity Point and Point Lookout on Stradbroke Island as well as new forestry access roads in northern Queensland: the Kirrama Range Road, Kuranda-McKenzie’s Pocket-Black Mountain Road and Robson’s Creek Road at Danbulla. Relief Funds were also used to fill in ‘unsightly’ swamps around coastal cities and towns. Land reclamation schemes were conducted around Cairns, Sandgate and Coolangatta. Major works such as these demonstrate how the Depression was a time of both survival and profound alteration to Queensland’s cultural landscape. Queensland parliamentary papers, vol 2, 1937

Map of Torres Strait, showing route of pearl shell commission, 1908

Thursday Island 4875
Australia
10° 34' 47.5932" S, 142° 13' 6.5712" E
1 January 1908
20 May 2011
20 May 2011

Location

Thursday Island 4875
Australia
10° 34' 47.5932" S, 142° 13' 6.5712" E

School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, The University of Queensland

12 miles to an inch

Map of Torres Strait, showing route of pearl shell commission, 1908. When it appeared in the Queensland parliamentary papers the full title to this map was, ‘Map of the Torres Strait: showing islands, reefs, passages, and route of pearl shell commission in “Q.G.S. Champion” June 22—30, 1908.’ At the request of the Governor of Queensland, Frederic John Napier, a Royal Commission was ordered to inquire and report upon the working of the Pearl-shell and Beche-de-Mer Industry, with a focus on three things: ‘(1) The working of pearl-oyster beds in such a manner as to avoid depletion and to make the industry regular and permanent; (2) The scientific cultivation of pearl-oysters and the probabilities of success in that direction; and (3) The possibilities of encouraging white divers, with a view to their gradual substitution for aliens in that capacity’. To achieve their tasks the members of the commission travelled to the Torres Strait in June 1908. Between 9 and 20 June they interviewed people on Thursday Island. Between 22 June and 30 June they visited seven islands gathering further evidence. This map shows their journey (marked in red) collecting testimony for the Royal Commission. The detailed inset shows Thursday, Friday, Hammond and Prince of Wales Islands. At the top of Hammond Island the map shows different marks of exploitation, such as ‘crushing machines’ for pearl-shell activity and also a ‘Reserve for Aborigines’. And on Friday Island, there is a leper station. Upon completion the Royal Commission recommended that the pearl-shell and beche-de-mer fisheries were suffering from severe depletion of natural supplies, that scientific cultivation of pearl-oysters could be undertaken, and contrary to their investigative purposes that ‘alien’ divers were better suited to work in the tropics. One of their most drastic recommendations called for the closure of the beche-de-mer industry for two years. ‘Pearl-shell and beche-de-mer commission’, Queensland parliamentary papers, vol 2, 1908. Collection of the School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, The University of Queensland

Whale boat plan, 1950

QLD
Australia
3 February 1950
20 May 2011
20 May 2011

Location

QLD
Australia
Department of Harbours and Marine

Collection of the Queensland State Archives

three quarters of an inch to a foot

Whale boat plan, 1950. These building plans show the dimensions of a bondwood whale boat used in the 1950s. According to the plans, the boat was just over 22 feet long. Measured in centum weight (cws), it would weigh less if made from bolly-gum. The longitudinal section in the top left corner shows two air tanks at the front and back of the boat. These tanks would have been used to fill whale carcasses with compressed air after the kill. Collection of the Queensland State Archives

Proposed site for whaling station, Tangalooma, 1952

Tangalooma, QLD
Australia
27° 10' 39.9792" S, 153° 22' 29.5752" E
24 January 1952
20 May 2011
20 May 2011

Location

Tangalooma, QLD
Australia
27° 10' 39.9792" S, 153° 22' 29.5752" E
Department of Harbours and Marine

Collection of the Queensland State Archives

500 feet to one inch

Proposed site for whaling station, Tangalooma, 1952. This map shows the location of the proposed Tangalooma whaling station to be built on Moreton Island. At a closer scale of 50 feet to one inch, the inset in the top right corner shows the proposed jetty. Surveyed by A.H. Krummel, it shows the water depths which extend out into Moreton Bay. These were measured in feet taken at low water datum. Chosen by the Australian Company Whale Products Pty Ltd, Tangalooma became the site of the largest whaling station in the southern hemisphere. It was selected for four main reasons: the site was sheltered from the ocean, it had a large supply of fresh water, it was on the migratory path of the Humpback whale and it was close to Brisbane. The first two humpback whales were killed in June 1952, but within ten years the whale population had been severely depleted and the station closed. In June 1963, the station was bought by property developers and turned into a resort where tourists now leave from the jetty on whale watching tours. Collection of the Queensland State Archives

Syndicate content