Browses
Featured Content
Leslie Family Papers
Patrick, Walter, and George Leslie emigrated from Scotland in the 1830's and became the first squatters to occupy land in the Darling Downs. Many settlers were attracted by the oppurtunity of making a new life on vritually free land, including the Lesile brothers. These settlers occupied land without authority, also known as "squatters", and became the basis of the landowning class. The Leslie Family Papers include various correspondence between the brothers and their associates as they settled in the Darling Downs and built a life- work, marriage, politics- that helped shape a new colony in a new land.
W. H. Arthur Collection
William Henry Archer was born in England on 14th November 1825. His early years were spent at Clapham with his parents and his well-beloved younger brother Alfred who sailed for Australia in April 1850. Archer followed his brother to Victoria in 1852 and, with his appointment as Acting Registrar-General in July 1853, began a career in the Civil Service. In January 1854 he was made Assistant Registrar-General; in 1859, Registrar-General; in 1868, Registrar of Titles; and on 11 May 1874, Secretary for Lands. He was the author of many pamphlets on statistics, education and Catholicism and edited the journal Facts and Figures: Or Notes of Progress, Statistical and General for Australasian Circulation. This collection has numerous correspondence and documents relating to W.H. Archer's life- both successes and failures- in Australia.
Robert Logan Jack Papers
Robert Logan Jack was born in Ayrshire, Scotland on 16 September 1845. Educated at the Irvine Academy and at the University of Edinburgh, he joined the Geological Survey of Scotland and contributed greatly to Scottish geology by mapping the coalfields. In 1876 Jack was appointed geological surveyor for Northern Queensland and arrived at Townville in 1877. In 1879 he became the second Queensland Government Geologist for the whole colony. His geological work in Queensland was both extensive and very accurate. Between 1879 and 1913 Jack published a large number of detailed geological reports and maps. His last major publication was the two-volume Northmost Australia (London 1921).
The Gold Rush
The discovery of gold in 1851 led to the mass emigration of Europeans, North Americans, and Chinese to Australia. Within a decade the population of Australia nearly doubled as many migrants sought opprtunities in the gold mines. Many colonies even funded skilled immigrants to come from Europe and settle in Australia. Through the various dairies, images, and other first hand accounts of life seeking gold, the voices of these immigrants provide a unique insight into the day to day trials of navigating life on a new frontier.
Archival Photographs
A collection of 500+ historical photographs, portraits, and miscellaneous artwork from the Borrows Collection, Flinders University.
