German Queensland Before World War I

The Allegations of Frau Backhaus

2012-06-03T03:56:00.000-07:00

In 1863, one of the largest hotels in Brisbane Town was the Freemasons’ Hotel in Albert Street. It had been taken over the previous year by a new lessee, Henry Meyer, and was well patronised by the German community.

Advertisement in The Courier, September 1, 1862

On a night in January 1863, strange events were afoot at the Freemasons’ Hotel. It would all come to light in Court after the landlord, one Henry Meyer, was charged with “Assault with intent to ravish and carnally know one Wilhelmina Backhaus”.[1]

She gave her evidence as follows: On the night of the 5th January I was awakened from my sleep in my own bed - I was undressed - by Mr. Meyer coming into my room with this piece of candle (producing half of a stearine[2] candle) lighted. He put the candle over my face. I said, in German, "Hallo." He said, in German, "Hallo, where's your husband?" We always talked German. I said, "I don't know; I think he's in the bar."

So Meyer said, "If I was your husband, I would go into bed at the same time as you." I said, "What for?" So Meyer said, "It is no harm to us; I'll take your husband's place in bed." I said to him, "No, Mr. Meyer, that will not do;" and sent him away. I said, "I stick to my husband, and you stick to your wife." So Meyer said, "I don't care a button for my wife; I want another woman."

After this seductive patter, Meyer proceeded with the ravishing.

So Meyer then blow the candle out and put it on the looking-glass, and shut the door; and then he came into bed.

[The witness then described most circumstantially that an attempt to assault her criminally had been made by the defendant, and in spite of her remonstrances and exertions to put him away, and against her consent; the assault was nearly being consummated, when complainant said] -

"Meyer, if you do not keep quiet now, I'll call my husband, and your missus."

So soon as I said those words (continued the witness) my husband opened the door, and found Meyer in bed.

Colonial Bar Room

At this point Henry Meyer’s lawyer pursued the standard defence of the time in cases of this kind, seeking to discredit the complainant by raising doubts as to her truthfulness and her morality.

Mr. Petrie: Did you make no noise, nor sing out?

Witness: I said I would tell my husband, and all the people. Meyer took the piece of candle and looked about, and outside the door, and said "Oh, don't sing out, there's nobody there."

Mr. Petrie: Do you know what time it was?

Witness: It was after I went to bed.

Mr. Warry: How long was he in bed altogether?

Witness: About a quarter of an hour. He said he had looked outside and nobody was about, and my husband was quite comfortable. He did not go out of the room at all. He looked out before he came in.

I have known Meyer for two or three weeks since I came from Rockhampton. My husband and I were lodging there. I did not sing out because I was undressed. I had no petticoat on, or I would have run away. Meyer was stronger than I, and I could not get from him. He had a glass in his hand; he was not drunk, he was not sober. When my husband opened the door my husband saw him, and as he went out he passed my husband.

Early view of Albert Street, Brisbane

The logical person to support this testimony would have been the complainant’s husband who had interrupted the ravishing. After he commenced his evidence, the defence successfully objected to his appearing as a witness.

Sebastian Backhaus being called into the witness-box, Mr. Garrick objected to the evidence of the husband, and eventually his objection was allowed, though not till after the witness had been sworn and given part of his evidence

At this point the testimony of the complainant gets rather confusing. None of the parade of witnesses could or would confirm Frau Backhaus’s story.

19th Century housemaid

Mary Anne Bell deposed: On the 5th of this month I was engaged as housemaid in the hotel kept by Mr. Meyer. In the after- noon the master spoke to me about the condition of the rooms, and said they were not clean enough and must be cleaned again. Between eight and nine o'clock that night he went up stairs with me to look at the rooms. He had a piece of candle in his hand.

I did not go into complainant's bedroom. I remained to dust a room and saw master go along the passage and into a bedroom on the left hand - not the complainant's room. Saw him return in about two minutes afterwards with a piece of candle in his hand. I was in the rooms upstairs about twenty minutes.

While there I must have heard any loud talking, if there had been any, in complainant's room. I heard nothing. When I came down stairs Mr. Meyer was in the bar; it was nearly nine o'clock when I came down. I did not see Meyer after that time; but one of the girls told me he had gone to bed.

James Mackie, a lodger at the Freemasons' Hotel, deposed that on the evening of the 5th. between seven and ten o'clock, he and three other men were sitting on the balcony, within two yards of the complainant's bedroom door, and that he neither heard or saw anyone in the room.

Richard Moldner, a German, gave evidence showing that complainant had not been guarded or modest in her conduct towards him; she having one day gone into his room while he was lying on his bed, and asked him to "shout."[3]

Not surprisingly, the Bench were quick to dismiss the case.

This closed the defendant's case, and the Bench, without asking Mr. Garrick to address the court, dismissed the case.

Thus, despite the lengthy proceedings of the court, what actually occurred on that night in January 1863, at the Freemasons’ Hotel remains unresolved. But it certainly made good copy for The Courier.

© K. C. Sbeghen, 2012.

[1] The Courier 17.1.1863

[2] Commercial name of a tallow candle. (OED)

[3] i.e. buy her a drink.

Isaac Lenneberg and the Cafe de Paris

2012-06-03T03:44:00.000-07:00

Colonial Haute Cuisine - The Cafe de Paris

Isaac Lenneberg and the Cafe de Paris

The Courier 15.3.1864

Having obtained publican’s licence in March 1964, a German immigrant named Isaac Lenneberg opened the grandly named Cafe de Paris in Queen Street, Brisbane Town. It was not the only establishment of this name in the Australian Colonies, there were also Cafes de Paris in Sydney, Melbourne, and other towns.

The re-branding of the former Hart’s Cafe was announced in The Courier.

RE-OPENING OF THE HOTEL
CAFE DE PARIS
AND
RESTAURANT,
QUEEN-STREET, BRISBANE,
(Opposite to the Home of Parliament.)

I. H. LENNEBERG begs to announce that he has re-opened the above establishment known as Hart's Cafe, where he is prepared to supply all kinds of the choicest WINES, ALES, SPIRITS, LIQUEURS. &c.

A Restaurant is attached, where a Table D’hôte is served daily, from 1 till 2 p.m.

LUNCHEONS

And other meals stall hours of the day or evening, with tea and coffee.

The Cuisine combines all the luxuries of the season.

The bed-rooms are neatly fitted up, convenient, and well-ventilated.

To men of business and visitors the central situation and punctuality of arrangements require no comment.

Civility, promptitude, and cleanliness, are the "Household Words" at this establishment.[1]

Lenneberg’s Cafe de Paris soon became patronised by the prominent citizens of Brisbane Town and particularly popular as a meeting place of the substantial German community. In August 1864, three eminent gentlemen of the German citizenry called a meeting to discuss a strategy regarding the Schleswig-Holstein conflict in their fatherland.[2]

The North Australian Thursday 4 August 1864

GERMAN GENERAL MEETING. The German inhabitants of Brisbane and surrounds are invited to a meeting on Monday, the 8th of this month, at 7:30 in the evening, at Lenneberg's cafe, Queen Street. Purpose of the meeting: - SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN.

DR. EMMELHAINZ,
CHARLES CAMPEN,
ARMAND RANNIGER.[3]

The Meeting resolved to raise funds to support the families of the fallen.

OUR German citizens, with Dr. Emmelhainz as chairman, held a meeting at Lenneberg's Cafe de Paris in Queen-street, on Monday evening last, when the following resolutions were put and carried:—

That a subscription be made in favour of the widows and orphans of German soldiers killed in the battles of Schleswig-Holstein.

That the proceeds of the subscriptions be forwarded to the National Association in Germany (of which the Duke Ernest, of Saxe-Coburgh, is the President for distribution.

A subscription list was then opened, and the sum of £26 was collected. After a vote of thanks had been moved to the Chairman the meeting terminated.[4]

Before the year was out, disaster would strike at the heart of Brisbane Town. Constructed largely of timber, the buildings were extremely vulnerable to fire, especially during a Queensland summer. This was precisely what befell the town on a hot dry December night in 1864. Amongst the victims of the huge conflagration was the Cafe de Paris.

The flames continued to spread onward, apparently gaining strength in contempt of the puny resistance offered to their might, until at half past eight o'clock advantage was taken of a temporary lull caused by the non-inflammable character of the roofing of some of the shops, to make one more vigorous effort to save the more valuable properties further up the street by pulling down the premises occupied by Mr. Lenneberg, and known as the Cafe de Paris.

It was too late, however, as before the men could more than partially demolish the structure the fire was upon them, and the bravest among them were compelled, by the extreme heat, to make a precipitate retreat.

Queen Street Brisbane after the Great Fire of 1864

The enterprising Herr Lenneberg was soon back in business. Within weeks he had found new premises and fitted out the new Cafe de Paris. He announced the good news to his many patrons and even put on a free supper to bring back his clientele.

Darling Downs Gazette & General Advertiser 31.12.1864

CAFE DE PARIS.

MR. LENNEBERG, of the Café de Paris, recently destroyed by fire in Queen street, begs to return his sincere thanks to his old friends and the public generally for the kind and welcome assistance rendered to him on the night of the fire, and to inform them that he has taken the extensive

NEW PREMISES, CORNER OF ELIZABETH and ALBERT STREETS,
(Nearly opposite W. & B. Brookes')
Which he has fitted up in first-class style, and intends opening THIS EVENING, as the
NEW CAFE DE PARIS.

A FREE SUPPER will be on the table at 8 o'clock TO-NIGHT, and he hopes to see as many of his old friends and the public as can make it convenient to attend.[5]

Early in the new year of 1865, the German community gathered for a Christmas celebration that had been postponed due to inclement weather. The picnic feature a “Schutzen Fest” or shooting competition. Isaac Lenneberg was called upon to cater the traditional German event. Understandably the stifling summer weather was not what they were used to and in an age before refrigeration, they were philosophical – after all “it was a picnic”!

The steamer “Diamond” took down a large number of the visitors, but there were many who proceeded to the trysting-place in cars and other vehicles. At one time it was estimated that there about three hundred persons on and near the camping-place.

To Mr. Lenneberg, of the Cafe de Paris, was entrusted the task of satisfying the thirst of all, and considering the bad spot which was selected for the encampment, he managed very well. The ginger-beer and lemonade were certainly very hot, as also were other equally enticing liquors. Fowls and pigs had a sultry appearance about them; but what of that? It was a picnic.[6]

Later in the year the Cafe de Paris was the venue chosen for a gathering to establish a “Deutcher Turn Verein” or German Club.

A MEETING of German residents in this town was held last evening at the Café de Paris, in Elizabeth-street, for the purpose of taking initiatory steps for the formation of a "Deutcher Turn Verein."

The following gentlemen were appointed to act as a provisional committee: Messrs. Horstmann, Homburg, Simmons, Bullanf, Caesarowicz, und Kieser. A general meeting, to be announced in the local papers, will be held, we understand, on Monday next, when the committee will be requested to report as follows:-

How far they have succeeded in obtaining suitable premises and also what funds it is likely will be raised, and expenditure incurred.[7]

The Deutscher Turn-Verein at Wooloongabbba, Brisbane

In 1876 fire again struck the premises of Isaac Lenneberg. On this occasion it appears the blaze was unintentionally started by a pair of inebriated intruders bent on helping themselves to supplies in the storeroom of Herr Lenneberg.

A FIRE was discovered by Senior Constable Driscoll, about eleven o'clock an Sunday night, in premises in Elizabeth-street, occupied as a wine and spirit store by Mr. I. H. Lenneberg, who, at the time, was absent at Pimpama.

The alarm was given at once, and the fire-bell brought a large body of constables and several members of the fire brigade, with a couple of reels of hose, to the spot in a few minutes. The water happened to be turned on, and in the course of half-an-hour the flames were entirely subdued.

We are informed by residents of the neighbourhood that one if not two men not belonging to the store were seen to enter the cellar by the back entrance on Sunday, and remain for a considerable time. One of the men brought out a bag which apparently contained bottles, and the men seemed partially drunk.[8]

A man was eventually brought to trial for the arson three months later. Unfortunately for the prosecutor most of the witnesses had long since left town. The Magistrate had no choice but to dismiss the case.

DOUGLAS CAMPBELL, on remand from last week, charged with having set fire to Mr. Lenneberg's store on the night of the 30th of January last, was again brought up at the Police Court yesterday morning.

The evidence adduced was that of a young man who was then in the employ of Mr. Page, hairdresser, of Queen Street, who deposed to having heard someone call out "fire," and to going down to Elizabeth Street by the right-of-way, where he saw a fire in Mr. Lenneberg's store. On looking at the grating to the cellar, he found a bag nailed against it, which he pulled off, and then saw a number of broken casks burning on the floor, in the centre of the cellar; but he did not see the prisoner anywhere about there.

-Sergeant Driscoll gave evidence of a similar character, except as to the fact of seeing a sudden glare 0f light in the store; could not see distinctly where it came from in the store owing to the fact of a number of cases being piled up in front of the windows; he also stated that on going round to the back of the cellar he found the door securely fastened, so much so that it had to be broken open with an axe, and on going in found a number of partially burned cases on the floor, and a mound of ashes about two feet high, which showed that a fire had been lighted there; also a number of bottles partially filled with Lorne whisky and rum.

This evidence closed the case for the prosecution, Mr. Lewis stating that, owing to the time which had elapsed between the fire and the prisoner's arrest found great difficulty in getting more witnesses, as they were all scattered, some them being in Cooktown and other places.
Police Magistrate said that there were a great many suspicions circumstances connected with the fire which seemed to point to Campbell; but at the same time he did not think they were such as would induce a jury to convict him, and he would therefore order his discharge. Prisoner was discharged accordingly.[9]

Brisbane Courier 23.2.1877

The following year Isaac Lenneberg decided to move on from the Cafe de Paris to a larger and better sited establishment. The cafe continued to operate under a succession of proprietors and locations into the 1890s.

EXCHANGE HOTEL,
Edward and Charlotte Streets, Brisbane.
Proprietor: I. H. LENNEBERG,
Late of the Cafe de Paris, Queen-street.

I. H. L. notifies to his Patrons and the Public generally that, having taken and altered the above Hotel, he is now prepared to guarantee SUPERIOR ACCOMMODATION to Families, Commercial Travellers, Bushmen, &c, and keeping only the BEST BRANDS of WINES, ALES, and SPIRITS, can safely solicit a further share of the patronage so liberally bestowed upon him for the last twelve years.

Great facilities are offered intending visitors to Brisbane, the above Hotel being situated within three minutes' walk of the Wharves and five of the Railway Station.

The Cuisine is superintended by a noted Chef, vouching for the Table being second to none in town.

Ample Stable Accommodation.
Plunge and Shower Baths.
Sydney and daily papers taken in.[10]

The Exchange Hotel in 1929

© K. C. Sbeghen, 2012.

[1] The Courier Tuesday 15 March 1864
[2] The War of 1864 was fought between Prussia and Denmark over the sovereignty of the Danish-ruled duchies of Holstein and Schleswig. The war ended in October 1864, when the Treaty of Vienna ceded the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein to Prussia.
[3] The North Australian Thursday 4 August 1864
[4] The North Australian Thursday 11 August 1864
[5] The Brisbane Courier Monday 26 December 1864
[6] The Brisbane Courier 3 January 1865
[7] The Brisbane Courier 23 May 1865
[8] The Queenslander Saturday 5 February 1876
[9] The Brisbane Courier Tuesday 2 May 1876
[10] The Brisbane Courier Friday 23 February 1877

Prince Alfred is almost welcomed by the German Community of Toowoomba

2012-01-24T17:01:00.000-08:00

Prince Alfred was the second son of Queen Victoria and her German husband Prince Albert. In 1868, as part of a world tour, the Prince made a much anticipated visit to the Colony of Queensland. Committees had been formed to plan the celebrations.

The Less Than Amiable Prince Alfred

As well as holding the titles of Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Kent and Earl of Ulster, Alfred was also (courtesy of his father) the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and as such, his visit caused much excitement amongst the German community in Queensland.

In Toowoomba, home to a large number of German settlers, the royal visit would not be quite what the German Queenslanders expected.

The Brisbane Courier reported:

A meeting of the German residents of Brisbane was held last evening, at the Town Hall, to arrange the part to be taken by them in the reception of H.R.H. the Prince on his visit to the colony.

After some discussion, it was unanimously resolved that a torchlight procession should be held in honour of the Prince on his arrival in the colony. It was anticipated that upwards of 200 or 300 Germans would take part in the procession. It was also resolved that the Prince should be serenaded on the same evening. [1]

The German residents of Toowoomba were also keen to provide a suitable welcome to the prince. They were not pleased that the government had not planned an official reception in their town.

Gentlemen seated in front of the German Club in Toowoomba

Toowoomba and Drayton and the residents of the neighbourhood are quite as loyal to the Crown as the inhabitants of any other part of Australia. Amongst us there are many Germans, whose feelings towards the Prince may be warmer, because in the natural course of events, he will cease to be an Englishman, and become the reigning Duke of a German principality.[2]

A meeting was duly called.

The German population of Toowoomba met last night, and agreed to get up a grand demonstration during the visit to the Downs of the Duke of Edinburgh. The residents in the outside districts are very enthusiastic with respect to the visit of the Prince.

Woman driving a German Wagon in Laidley

The Germans of Gotha Coburg are organising a demonstration, and have erected an arch near the Railway Station. It is hoped that the Prince will alight there, as the programme allows of a delay of twenty minutes before starting for Jondaryan. [3]

The prince’s train stopped briefly on his journey further west to Jondaryan. His Royal Highness did not even bother to leave his carriage.

The Prince arrived from Ipswich at a quarter to 7 last night; about two thousand persons were present. As soon as His Royal Highness entered the station he was greeted with enthusiastic cheers. The Prince smiled at this demonstration of the popular feeling—the first of the kind that he has witnessed in Australia. His Royal Highness did not leave his carriage, and no addresses were presented. The train staid twenty minutes, after which it proceeded to Jondaryan. On leaving the station hearty cheers were given for the Prince.

After the departure of His Royal Highness a large public meeting was held, at which great dissatisfaction was expressed at the proceedings of the Government with respect to the Prince's visit. It was arranged last night that the Prince, on his return from Jondaryan to-day, should stay for an hour at Toowoomba, and receive an address from the Germans, under the triumphal arch.[4]

The Serious Men of the Lutheran Church Committee, Toowoomba

The return visit was not much better.

His Royal Highness arrived at a quarter to 10 o'clock this morning, and alighted amidst great cheering. Mr. James Taylor's carriage was in attendance. The Prince entered, and drove from the station up Ruthven-street and back to the station, when he took his seat in the railway carriage, and the train started at once. The whole visit only lasted twenty minutes. On the Prince leaving, he was again cheered heartily. About five hundred persons were present. [5]

Unfortunately, the German reception procession, which included a dozen costumed girls, was still making its way to the station.

German Wedding Party

About five minutes after the train had started, the Germans arrived in procession, headed with the national banner and twelve young girls dressed in white, with blue ribbons, each with a basket of flowers, intended to have been strewn in the Prince's path.

Their whole arrangements were very creditable. The German address was a poetical one, and was very good. Their disappointment, at finding that the Royal visitor had departed, was very great.

The Germans have agreed to send their address to His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, to meet him on his arrival in Sydney.[6]

The Germans were in no doubt just who was to blame for the insult, and it was not the Prince, but those who were in charge of his schedule. Amazingly the normally steady-minded Teutonic settlers of the Darling Downs were so incensed that they organised a trial in absentia and a medieval-style immolation of the guilty parties, namely the Premier and the Colonial Secretary, who also happened to be wealthy pastoralists – no friends of the farmers.

About three thousand persons of all classes attended the burning in effigy of Messrs. Mackenzie[7] and Palmer[8]. A mock trial took place at the School of Arts, after which the effigies were carried in procession through the streets. Unanimity of action was very general, the Germans being very bitter in their expressions.

The proceedings were closed by singing "Old John Brown."[9] The Prince was most enthusiastically cheered, whilst loud groans and hisses fell to the share of the Ministry. [10]

The whole affair reveals the undercurrent of feeling by the establishment in Queensland, that the Germans, despite their reputation as hard working settlers, were not considered as true British citizens, which in reality most of them had become through the process of “naturalisation”.

© K. C. Sbeghen, 2012.

[1] The Brisbane Courier 17.1.1868

[2] The Brisbane Courier 28.2.1868

[3] The Queenslander 29.2.1868

[4] The Queenslander 29.2.1868

[5] The Queenslander 29.2.1868

[6] The Queenslander 29.2.1868

[7] Robert Ramsay Mackenzie (1811–1873), Premier of Queensland.

[8] Arthur Hunter Palmer (1819-1898), Colonial Secretary.

[9] Presumably the American Civil War song celebrating the Abolitionist John Brown. Did they regard themselves as being considered as non-British inferior citizens? No better than slaves? Was the singing of this rousing anthem, an affirmation of their rightful status as loyal Queenslanders?

[10] The Brisbane Courier 29.2.1868

Sonnenstich - the Sun's Deadly Assault

2012-01-24T16:32:00.000-08:00

New immigrants to Australia often misjudged the power of the Antipodean sun particularly those who laboured in the outdoors. Many of the new arrivals were Germans, recruited to work as shepherds in the bush. Unaware of the dangers of a Queensland summer, they continued to wear heavy dark clothing more suited to the temperate climes of their homelands in Northern Europe. Not surprisingly cases of sun-stroke or heat-stroke were quite common and sometimes resulted in sudden death.

Advertisement for Indian Topees

In a guide to the Australian colonies an English Mineralogical Surveyor included these frightening observations:

Immigrants arriving in the heyday of life, may expect to die ten years sooner than they would in England.

A few cases of coup de soleil, or sunstroke, occur every year during the hot weather, and sometimes a person dies from the bite of a venomous serpent.[1]

In 1857, the North Australian reported the gruesome discovery by a shepherd, of the blackened body of a fellow German immigrant.

Crohamhurst Station owned by Henry Cockburn

A magisterial inquiry took place yesterday, at the Police Office, touching the death of a German, named John Seitz, who died from the effects of a sun-stroke at the Three mile Creek, on the 15th instant.

It appeared, from the evidence of Mr. H M Cockburn, that the deceased was his hired servant and on being informed by one of his shepherds that the deceased was lying dead in the bush, he proceeded there accompanied by Dr. Challinor and a constable, and saw the body on the ground: there were no remarks of violence upon it, but his face was black.

Henry Montague Cockburn

Dr. Challinor stated that he had examined the body externally, and from the congested state of the head and face, was of opinion that the deceased died in convulsions most probably occasioned by a sunstroke.[2]

German immigrants, especially those recently arrived, seemed especially susceptible to the Queensland summer heat.

DEATH BY SUN STROKE -The weather has been excessively hot during the past week, and several cases of coup de soleil have occurred; one of these proved fatal. On Wednesday, we learn that the thermometer reached 105[3] in the shade.

We subjoin the particulars of the fatal case of sun stroke, as taken in evidence before the Coroner, (K. Cannan, Esq.):-

Dr. Kearsey Cannan, the Brisbane Coroner

William Gericke deposed: I am a farmer; the deceased William Klemm, has been in my employ about five months. Shortly before four o'clock yesterday afternoon I found the deceased lying under a bush quite insensible. About half an hour before, I saw him (the deceased) hoeing and apparently quite well.

He was rather an ailing ma
n, and did not enjoy the best of health. He had on a brown felt hat, - a hat I think quite unsuitable to the climate. I sent immediately for Dr. Bell. The deceased was a sober man, and had no drink to my knowledge yesterday.

-John Adsett deposed; I am a labourer, and have known the deceased about five months. About five o'clock yesterday afternoon, I found the deceased in the corn, lying helpless on his side, breathing very hard. I bathed him with water and vinegar till Dr. Bell came.

-Hugh Bell deposed: I am a legally qualified medical practitioner; I saw the deceased between half-past four and five o'clock; he was then nearly lifeless; I considered that the heart was gorged with blood. I endeavoured to get some blood to flow, and to get some stimulants into the stomach, without succeeding. I think the deceased died from a sun-stroke. The jury returned a verdict of died from the effects of a sun-stroke.[4]

The Brisbane Coroner Doctor Kearsey Cannan, alarmed at the number of sunstroke deaths he was attending, wrote of his concerns in a letter to the Moreton Bay Courier. He first quoted from an account by the renowned General Sir Charles Napier of his personal experience of sunstroke whilst serving with the Army in India.

The subject cannot be better introduced than by quoting the late gallant General Sir Charles Napier's interesting and characteristic account of his personal seizure, when serving in Sindh.

"... I was tumbled over by the heat with apoplexy; forty-three others were struck, all Europeans, and all died within three hours, except myself! I do not drink! that is the secret. The sun had no ally in the liquor amongst my brains.

General Sir Charles Napier leading a charge in India

Unable to walk, I flung myself on a table, and luckily one of my staff came in. He called the doctors; two or three were with me in a twinkling; wet towels rolled round my head, feet in hot water; bleeding, and two men rubbing me. I was so drowsy as to be angry that they would not let me sleep. Had they done so, it would have been hard to wake me."[5]

Doctor Cannan drew attention to the main causes of the deadly effects of sunstroke: - excessive exposure to the rays and heat of the sun, the consumption of alcoholic spirits such as rum, a heavy diet, and unsuitable attire.

Sir Charles here gave expression to a physiological fact. The sun is the primary cause; the spirit ration and the abuse of ardent spirits constitute tho chief accessories. Most experienced surgeons believe that, with temperance in diet, avoidance of so much direct solar exposure as may be compatible with the nature of the service, attention to tent covering and ventilation, and to head dress and body clothing, British soldiers may be made to march well under the hottest sun of India.[6]

Station hands sporting various styles of headwear

Finally Dr. Cannan the Coroner detailed his latest case of sunstroke he had investigated, and provided some studied advice to colonists.

On Saturday last I was required to hold an inquest on the body of a man who had been struck to death on the previous day, from exposure to the sun. He belonged to the road party working near Woogaroo.[7]

Such, frequently, is the suddenness and fatal character of the seizure, leading so often to the speedy death of men previously in health and in the midst of active employment, that this circumstance induces me to believe that the following remarks on the means of prevention of such a fearful malady will not be considered ill-timed.

Of all the means of prevention of Heat Apoplexy, the avoidance of spirituous liquors, and of excess in the use of animal diet, must take the lead.

The next most important matter is the quality and arrangement of the dress and on this subject there can be no difference or question. The head-dress should be light, of slowly conducting materials, and constructed so as to command ventilation.[8]

European gentlemen in Ceylon, wearing protective solar topee

He used the example of the trooper who accompanied him to point out the unsuitability of the clothing of those employed outdoors. He notes that the unfortunate victim he examined was wearing the worst possible headwear - a tight black hat – a sure focus of solar energy.

I was accompanied by a trooper on Saturday last, whose dress I will now compare, or rather contrast, with that above recommended. He was cased in a close-fitting suit of blue cloth; head-dress, a cap of same material, barely covering the top of the head, leaving the back part totally uncovered - a peak in front sufficiently large to shade one eye at a time.

On my warning him that by exposing his head to the sun in such a manner he was courting the fate of the unfortunate man whose body we were about to view, he replied that such were the regulations, and he must obey! Comment on such a regulation is unnecessary. Publicity alone will surely put an end to such barbarity.

However, with the assistance of some green leaves placed in the cap, and damping the inside at a shady water-hole, to allay the intolerable heat, my companion - after six hours exposure to the direct solar rays-did arrive safely back again. I may here also mention that the man who had been struck to death wore a black felt hat, fitting close to the head.[9]

I am, &c.

K. CANNAN, Coroner.

Stores were quick to import proper protective headwear from India – the most efficacious thought to be the “Solar Topee”.

Solar Topee or Pith Helmet

There was also the home-grown variety, the cabbage tree hat platted from the fronds of the cabbage palm.

Cabbage tree hat

© K. C. Sbeghen, 2012.

[1] The Moreton Bay Courier Saturday 24 December 1853

[2] North Australian, Saturday March 17 1857

[3] 41°C

[4] The Moreton Bay Courier Saturday 2 January 1858

[5] The Moreton Bay Courier Tuesday 17 January 1860

[6] The Moreton Bay Courier Tuesday 17 January 1860

[7] Now Goodna

[8] The Moreton Bay Courier Tuesday 17 January 1860

[9] The Moreton Bay Courier Tuesday 17 January 1860

The Lammershagen Incident

2012-01-04T18:16:00.000-08:00

Typhus arrives in Moreton Bay

Idealised view of a German emigrant ship

In the labour-starved colony of Queensland of the 1870s, each boatload of immigrants was keenly awaited. The recruited workers and their families were in an essential commodity imported into the colony as an investment by many employers, who had paid for their passage. The fact that they should arrive in poor condition and in diminished numbers, was not well received by those who had invested in bringing them from Northern Europe.

Cheery scene below decks

In early January 1873, a German emigrant ship arrived in Moreton Bay after a voyage lasting three months. The Lammershagen had sailed directly from Hamburg with some 380 souls on board.

Rather than transferring the weary passengers to a steamer to carry them up-river to Brisbane Town, other procedures were put into action.

After a visit from the medical officer from Brisbane, the boat was immediately put into quarantine and towed to Peel Island.

THE German immigrant ship Lammershagen, which arrived from Hamburg on Tuesday, has, we regret to say, been placed in quarantine, owing to the fact of there being typhus fever on board. At the present time there are several cases amongst the passengers, one of which is looked upon as hopeless. During the passage, eight deaths occurred; but these were from various causes, typhus fever having, we understand, only broken out during the last two or three weeks.[1]

The scene below decks on a crowded emigrant ship

This last statement was not quite correct. It would later become known that the first case had occurred less than one month into the voyage. This confusion of information would continue as the story of the Lammershagen emerged over the following weeks. The tales of the conditions on board and the conduct of the ship’s doctor varied wildly and culminated in a Government enquiry.

It emerged that the Lammershagen was not only overcrowded, unhygienic, and poorly ventilated but severely under-provisioned. – ideal conditions for an outbreak of typhus, commonly known as “ship’s fever”.

Moreton Bay and Stradbroke Island

The steamer Kate, on her arrival from Ipswich on the 8th, was despatched to the Bay with every requisite obtainable for making the passengers as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. The intention is to tow the vessel to Peel Island, when the immigrants will be landed, and provided with tents; a temporary wooden hospital being erected for the use of the patients, who will be separated as far as possible from the remainder of the passengers.[2]

Because the number of quarantine cases up to this time had greatly declined, the quarantine station at Dunwich on Stradbroke Island had been appropriated as a Benevolent Asylum. The facilities on nearby Peel Island were woefully inadequate to receive the 350 odd passengers from the Lammershagen. Some of the spare sails had to be taken ashore to provide further shelter.

Peel Island (in Moreton Bay) was selected, and off that the ship was moored, the passengers being landed and "housed" - if the term be permissible - under tents, or whatever other shelter they could get, the season, moreover, being exceptionally wet. The latest reports from Peel Island are of a favourable character, but there is no knowing how long the unfortunate "suspects" may stay where they are - the victims of discomfort, and ignorant, probably, of the regulations which compel their detention.

If report does not egregiously err, the new arrivals by this vessel have had anything but a cheerful introduction to their new home. No doubt the Government have done the best they could under the circumstances, but, to say the least of it, it was unfortunate that the first experience of Queensland gained by these people should be to "camp out" on an island in drenching rain, huddled together like sheep in an ovile[3].[4]

Peel Island, the QuarantineStation was in the north-western corner

While the immigrants remained in quarantine, possible reasons for the Typhus outbreak were discussed in the press. Typhus, spread by lice, was known to appear in crowded, unsanitary, and poorly ventilated conditions - it was common in the crammed English prisons in the 18^th century. Typhoid fever, a different ailment, is contracted from contaminated water. A correspondent to the Brisbane Courier pointed out these facts.

Typhoid fever, developed as it has been in this ship, is not what is sometimes called, "a visitation of GOD". There is no room for any such impious imputation. If it is a visitation at all, it is a visitation from some festering impurities generated by defective ventilation, or over-crowded and unclean quarters. It is an effect which we have no doubt can be clearly traced to an efficient cause, and there will be no excuse if those to whom that cause can be traced are not held responsible for its existence. The legal pains and penalties which it may be possible to inflict are slight in comparison with the injury inflicted, but the blame should be impartially adjudged, and those who deserve it should be made, as far as possible, to feel their culpability.[5]

There was clearly a failure of the shipping company to ensure the passengers had sufficient space and ventilation and provisions. During the voyage it was responsibility of the ship’s medical officer to maintain proper standards of hygiene during the voyage. One correspondent to the Courier Mail blamed the Scandinavians amongst the passengers.

The majority of the immigrants are Scandinavians, hailing from Norway and Sweden and it was amongst them that the sickness first made its appearance on board.

Tho Scandinavians, it is also stated, came on board very scantily clothed, and the blankets supplied by the contractor at Hamburgh for their use were miserable rags. The races of Northern Europe are not noted for their cleanliness of living, and it was no doubt impossible to compel such a number of half clad people as these appeared to be, to preserve those habits of personal cleanliness which are strictly necessary to the carrying out of proper sanitary regulations on board a crowded immigrant ship.[6]

Later it became known that the sister ship of the Lammershagen, the Alardus, had experienced a similar epidemic and only made it as far as Melbourne. Finally the colonial authorities sent a complaint to London requesting that the Hamburg shipping company involved be advised to send no further emigrants to Queensland.

Mr. Palmer has telegraphed to Mr. Daintree, the Agent-General in London, complaining of the condition of the German immigrants per "Lammershagen," on their arrival at Brisbane. Mr. Palmer also comments on the state of the immigrants of the "Alardus," which has had to put into Melbourne on account of the mortality and sickness on board. He gravely censures those connected with the shipment of the immigrants by both vessels, and instructs the Agent-General not to allow in future German emigrants to Queensland to be forwarded by the same medium.[7]

Emigrants awaiting Embarkation in Hamburg

As the Lammershagen immigrants were slowly released in small groups from quarantine, accounts of their experiences both while on Peel Island and on the voyage were reported in the colonial press. A correspondent for the Queenslander had heard nothing at all negative from Peel Island.

The Lammershagen people are nearly all cleared out now. A batch, consisting of six married couples, eleven single girls, nine single men, nine children and two infants will be sent up to Brisbane tomorrow or Tuesday, and then there will only be nineteen adults left. There have been no signs of fever among them for some time past, and all the people at the station are in good health. Dr. Schmidt seems to have performed his arduous duties in a most satisfactory manner, and all the passengers speak in high terms of his skill, attention, and judicious management.[8]

Soon other reports of Dr. Schmidt’s behaviour emerged in which many of the passengers did not “speak in high terms” of the supposedly heroic Doctor. Charles Campen, an influential member of the Brisbane German community took up their case with the Colonial Secretary. As a result an official enquiry was held. In the meantime Dr. Schmidt had been permitted to leave the colony.

The first witness examined was Charles Campen, who deposed that he forwarded two letters of complaint, one to the Immigration Agent, dated April 21, 1873, and tho other to the Colonial secretary, dated April 28, in reference to the treatment of immigrants by the Lammershagen whilst in quarantine; the first complaint made in the letter against the doctor was for having exposed a woman for two hours in the sun under a tree or something erected like a gallows on Peel Island, Wilhelm Frederick and his wife, the persons mentioned in the letter, were in attendance to substantiate the charge, but unfortunately most of the other persons were scattered over the colony.[9]

Medieval "Pranger" or Pillory, Bonn

This last point was important as most of the immigrants had since proceeded to the Wide Bay area and few were available to testify. It was later alleged that Dr. Schmidt had released the people in small batches from quarantine so that they could not organise a group complaint against him.

The incident of the “gallows tree” was the result of a letter received by Dr. Schmidt, allegedly written by Emelie Roeder, the wife of Wilhelm Frederick. The writer accused the doctor of having a more than working relationship with the matron. A correspondent who was a passenger aboard the Lammershagen explained the “Pranger” ritual.

He took it upon himself to erect on Peel Island a kind of gallows, threatening to hang everybody who would not obey his orders. He made use of the latter tree for inflicting a peculiar and degrading punishment, called in Germany the "Pranger," which is considered in Germany the most disgraceful punishment to any person, particularly to a woman, inasmuch as a person of that sex must be of the worst and lowest character to be thus punished.[10]

Despite the evidence presented, the Enquiry completely exonerated Dr. Schmidt, dismissing the charges as “frivolous in the extreme”.[11] Despite claims of a whitewash by the Immigration Board, no further action was taken. Evidently the Board did not wish to discourage further immigrants by giving credence to the complaints of the Lammershagen passengers.

Perhaps the most credible account of the doctor's behaviour was given after the enquiry finished, by a passenger in a letter to the Queenslander. The standard of English used suggests the correspondent may have had some editorial help from the German immigrant’s advocate, Mr. Campen.

As a passenger by that vessel, and a constable on board, I had sufficient opportunity to see what was going on, and it is a fact that this late surgeon-superintendent of the Lammershagen, Dr. Schmidt, made himself extremely unpopular with all the immigrants on board, so much so that a regular mutiny was very nearly breaking out against him.

This unpopularity of his arose chiefly from his utter want of proper feeling in the treatment and management of young children, the truth of which may easily be understood from the fact that amongst seventeen children born on board the larger portion died. The following facts, however, which I am capable of substantiating, will show what the doctor's conduct really was:—

1. Dr. S. has been guilty of improper behaviour with the matron, and has repeatedly sung indecent street songs in the presence of the passengers.

2. He has beaten several women—vis., Auguste Moderow, Anna Moderow, Paulina Boehm, and Anna Olsen.

3. He has habitually used insulting language towards the passengers, such as calling them a "gang of thieves," "tag-rag," &c.

4. He took it upon himself to erect on Peel Island a kind of gallows, threatening to hang everybody who would not obey his orders.

I may add here that in the beginning of February a number of immigrants, then just arrived at the depot, drew up a petition, signed, and left it in the Immigration-office for Mr. Gray, saying that they had complaints against the doctor, and that they demanded enquiry. Nothing, however, has been since heard of that petition.

Had Mr. Gray taken any notice of it at the time it was lodged with him, that is, when the complaining as well as the accused parties were still to be brought face to face, it is highly probable that the results of such an enquiry would have been quite different from those obtained from the enquiry which took place last week after the doctor and the principal complainants were out of reach.[12]

Town Hall Queen St. Brisbane ca. 1868

Finally in June 1873, the German and Scandinavian residents were called to a meeting.

ON Thursday, May 29, a meeting of our German and Scandinavian fellow-colonists was held in the Town Hall, and largely attended. Mr. H. Ruthning opened the proceedings by reviewing the action taken by the local authorities, in the case of the Lammershagen, and pointed out that unless the colony was sure every precaution was taken to give to the German and Scandinavian immigrants on their passage out suitable ships, with sufficient room and good ventilation, the Germans and Scandinavians should be the first to demand a stoppage of continental emigration.[13]

Postscripts

A report published in 1876, described the ovens made by the Lammershagen passengers while on Peel Island.

The immigrants by the Lammershagen did manage to excavate little caves in the face of the cliff, which they converted into little ovens and baked excellent bread therein, but those have all fallen into decay now.[14]

Cabins constructed for leprosy patients on Peel Island

In the early 20th century the quarantine station was converted into a Lazarette to treat leprosy patients.

n 1882, the Lammershagen met her end when she was wrecked on a rocky point on the coast of Wales. A contemporary painting recorded the event.[15]

The Wreck of the Lammershagen, 1882

Five years after the Lammershagen incident, Charles Campen met his end after getting into severe financial difficulties.

IT was currently reported in town yesterday that Charles Gerhard Campen, a man well-known in the community, had committed suicide by drowning. There is a considerable amount of mystery surrounding the affair, but we learn on good authority that serious pecuniary difficulties gave rise to Mr. Campen's forwarding to a prominent citizen a statement of his monetary affairs with an intimation that he intended to commit suicide to avoid exposure. The following letter was addressed to the Police Magistrate:-

"If I went home [meaning Germany] all would have been well; it is too late now. I dare not wait any longer because I feel my reason is going to give way. Mr. Macpherson has my last statement showing how I got into difficulties. There is no need of a post-mortem examination. I die of my own free will. The Lord have mercy on my poor children.”[16]

His body was found four days later floating in the Brisbane River under the Albert Bridge at Indooroopilly.

Peel Island Cemetery ca. 2000

[1] The Brisbane Courier 10 January 1873

[2] The Queenslander 11 January 1873

[3] Enclosure for sheep.

[4] The Sydney Morning Herald 25 February 1873

[5] The Brisbane Courier 13 February 1873

[6] The Brisbane Courier 22 January 1873

[7] Rockhampton Bulletin 24 April 1873

[8] The Queenslander 15 March 1873

[9] The Brisbane Courier 14 May 1873

[10] The Queenslander 17 May 1873

[11] The Brisbane Courier 14 May 1873

[12] The Queenslander 17 May 1873

[13] The Queenslander 7 June 1873

[14] Ludlow, Peter, Peel Island – Paradise or Prison?, 1987.

[15] Collection MS, P.W.J. Chadwick, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.

[16] The Brisbane Courier Friday 15 February 1878

© K. C. Sbeghen, 2012.

Murder in the Cedar Scrub

2011-11-27T22:04:00.000-08:00

The long periods of isolation in remote areas of the Queensland bush often had tragic consequences for emigrants from crowded overpopulated Europe. Madness and fits of violence were not uncommon.

In 1870, a German man named John Alexander Herrlich, a native of Frankfurt-on-Maine, was living by himself in the Cedar Scrub, about ten miles from Toowoomba. He was a cabinet maker by trade and about 58 years of age. In the scrub, he made his living as a hunter, timber-getter, and sometime gold prospector. He had lived alone for several years and was a competent bushman.

In February 1870, a report reached Toowoomba that Herrlich had shot dead a local farmer, Michael Klein, a fellow German.

Highfields road with Cedar Scrub in the background

The Brisbane Courier reported[1]:

WE understand that the Police authorities have received a report from Police-sergeant Kean, of Toowoomba, respecting the shooting of Michael Klein on Saturday last. The facts, so far as they have been ascertained, are as follows: -

Old Bushman outside his Hut

Klein was a German farmer, residing about eight miles from Toowoomba, on the Highfields-road, near Perseverance station. Another German, J. A. Herrlich, has resided at the cedar scrub, some distance away, for the last four years, living in a hut by himself, and getting his living mostly with his gun. He always carried a double-barrelled gun and pistols about with him.

It seems there was a long-standing disagreement between Herrlich and Klein over who had the right to take cedar[2] logs from the scrub.

On the 11th of December Herrlich wrote a letter, addressed from the scrub, to Mr. Turner, of Helidon, informing him that Klein was stealing and killing his cattle. On Saturday last Klein went to the scrub for cedar, which Herrlich claimed as his, and he told Klein that if he touched the timber he would shoot him.

Klein did not desist, and thereupon Herrlich, when only a few feet distant, fired, the contents of the gun entering the breast, blowing away the top of the heart, and going out at the back. No trace of bullet or shot can be found. Death was instantaneous.

Police Station Toowoomba

The police travelled immediately to the scene of the homicide but there was no trace of Herrlich.

The Police Magistrate and constables endeavoured to pick up the tracks of the murderer, but without success. The doctor and constable McCaffery returned to Toowoomba on Sunday morning. It is pretty certain that Herrlich is hiding in the scrub, and a systematic search with trackers has been commenced.

Queensland Mounted Colonial Police Leaving on Patrol

Two months later Herrlich had still not been sighted. The Cedar Scrub was extremely difficult terrain in which to conduct the search. The correspondent from The Queenslander described the lay of the land[3]:

Timber Getters' Track

Only those who have seen the cedar scrub at Highfields, and have had to traverse it, can possibly form any conception of its density and its precipitous rocks and ranges, as well as numerous gullies intersecting it in almost every direction. Besides these formidable barriers, gigantic vines lace the forest trees with an almost impenetrable kind of net-work that at nearly every step must be cut through with the tomahawk or hatchet. Equestrians can make no progress through it all, and even pedestrians have frequently to crawl on their hands and knees to make headway.

Then there was the considerable population of German settlers in the district who tended to look after their own.

Unfortunately for the ends of justice, considerable sympathy is still being shown towards Herrlich by some of his countrymen, and a few of them, it is rumoured, furnish him with supplies. It is net to be wondered at, therefore, that the fugitive, who has for many years lived in the scrub, should, under all these combined circumstances, be able to so long successfully baffle his pursuers.

The Farms of German Settlers in the Toowoomba District

In the end it was Herrlich himself who gave himself up, wearied from the deprivations of life as a wanted man..[4]

Yesterday, Herrlich, the murderer of Michael Klein at the Cedar Scrub some time ago, sent a messenger to a man named Murray, who is staying at the Queen's Arms Hotel, Toowoomba, to the effect that he wished to give himself up, and desired Murray to come and arrest him and secure the reward.

A Country Hotel

Murray talked a great deal of what he was going to do, and the police heard of it, and followed him so closely that they entered the house where Murray and Herrlich were conversing, and arrested Herrlich at once.

The house where he was arrested belongs to a man named Kahler, and is about fifteen miles from Toowoomba.

The police not only arrested the fugitive, but also took Murray and Kahler, the German farmer, into custody on a charge of harbouring Herrlich.

It came to light that Murray had become friendly with the bushman Herrlich during his temporary residence at the Queen's Arms Hotel some time before.

Murray had frequently assisted him with advice in many matters of business connected with the sale of timber procured by Herrlich in the scrub. Murray's version of the surrender is, that about 12 o'clock, on Friday morning, a German farmer named Heinrich Kahler came to his lodgings and told him that he had a message from Herrlich to the effect that he desired Murray to go out to him that day, as he wished to give himself up to a friend that would bring him into Toowoomba unfettered.

Murray, for some unexplained reason, neglected to give any information to the police, but started for High Fields in company with Kahler about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, taking a bottle of brandy with them as a "comforter."

Colonial Farm House and Barn

Arriving at Kahler’s house with the “comforter”, Murray is reunited with his German friend, who looks the worst for wear.

Herrlich, on seeing Murray, rushed forward, exclaiming, "Good God, Mr Murray, I am so glad to see you, if you had not come out to night I should have been a dead man tomorrow morning, I am starved and hungered to death, can you give me some food?"

He then related his sufferings and privations in the bush, and said he had seen the police on several occasions, and once when he had been to the creek for water they passed within five yards of his hiding place, where he waited to see if the blackfellow would take up the tracks.

He denied that he had shot Klein deliberately, but that in the struggle for the possession of the rifle the trigger was accidentally struck, and the charge entered Klein's breast, his hands being so close to his antagonist at the time of the discharge that the blood "spouted out” over his wrists and coat sleeves, and ran down upon his trousers. After the black boy ran away, he went down to the creek, washed the blood from his hands, and rubbed some clay over the stains upon his trousers.

Later that evening the police suddenly appeared on Kahler’s verandah.

Letter to the Brisbane Courier complaining about
the standard of German in a wanted poster.

Kahler went outside, and some person on the verandah said, "have you any strangers here?'' Kahler replying, "No, only my wife." The party then answered, "we must see who you have inside," and Sergeant McCarthy, acting-sergeant Shea, Constable Quinn, and a black tracker entered the house. McCarthy and Shea immediately identified Herrlich, and covered him with their rifles, Murray at the same time stating that Herrlich was his prisoner, and had surrendered himself some time previously.

Taking their prisoner into Toowoomba, the police involved in the long were interest to know just how close they had come to Herrlich in the scrub.

The constable then asked whether he had ever seen the police, and he replied, "Yes, I saw you on St. Patrick's Day in the scrub, at a distance of about twenty yards from where you passed. I was lying behind a tree." The Acting Sergeant then said, "Did you see us on the high ridge near the saw pit, because I met with your tracks in the fern?" But he (Herrlich) could not remember that he had seen them on that occasion.

Herrlich was finally brought for trial in August that year. There was much discussion as to whether the gun was accidently discharged or not. The evidence leaned heavily on the testimony an aboriginal boy with the curious name Epple. The boy, who worked for Klein, was the only other person at the scene of the murder. Herrlich was defended by a lawyer named Blake.

Mr. Blake then addressed the jury for the prisoner Herrlich. It appeared that Klein and Epple had gone out with other persons to obtain cedar from the scrub, and no doubt they went to get Herrlich's. The evidence of Mr. Murphy went to show that this was a very common practice, and they could then easily conceive that the prisoner being a foreigner and liable to sudden and impulsive passions, might in the heat of the moment make use of the expression, "If you take any more of my cedar I will shoot you dead."

It was easy to suppose that the gun was discharged accidentally, more particularly as it appeared from the evidence of Epple that the gun was held loosely in the prisoner's left hand, and not in the manner usually adopted by a person when firing. The boy had told them that he was standing some distance behind Klein, and the natural inference was that when the prisoner slung round the gun Klein caught hold of the barrel, and the lock becoming entangled in the swag which the prisoner carried on his right shoulder, the discharge was accidental.

A Courtroom of theTime

If they came to the conclusion that the death of the unfortunate man was the result of a deliberate intention to kill on the part of the prisoner, they would give a full vindication of the law; but if the case was not fully established, so as to admit of two constructions and throw such doubts upon their minds that they felt any difficulty in arriving at a conclusion, they would give the prisoner the benefit of that doubt, and return a verdict of not guilty.

Summing up, the judge gave the jury three options. If they decided that the killing was premeditated, they should find the accused guilty. If it was accidental, they should find him not guilty. If they found that the gun fired by the prisoner in the sudden heat of passion they would find the prisoner guilty of the lesser crime of manslaughter.

The jury delivered a verdict of guilty of manslaughter. Herrlich rose and spoke to the judge.

Judge Blakeney

Herrlich, then addressing His Honour, said: You are the minister of the law, and I submit myself to its sentence; but if the boy Epple had told the whole of the truth, he would have said that I warned Klein to go back three or four times. If he had done this I should not stand in the dock today. I have nothing more to say, and now submit myself to the sentence you may wish to pass upon me, and also to the will of God.

His Honour said the jury had taken the most favourable view of the case, but in passing sentence he could not but consider that the crime of which he had been found guilty was of a very serious character and demanded a very serious sentence. The sentence of the Court was that he, John Alexander Herrlich, be kept in penal servitude for the term of fifteen years.

© K. C. Sbeghen, 2011.

[1] The Brisbane Courier 16.2.1870

[2] Cedar wood was highly valued commodity in the 19^th Century, being easy to work, and used for furniture-making and ship-building.

[3] The Queenslander 2.4.1870

[4] The Brisbane Courier 11.4.1870

A German-Style Christmas in Colonial Queensland

2011-11-25T20:00:00.001-08:00

Picnic Group at Enoggera Reservoir, Brisbane

In 1865, about ten years after the first German emigrant ship arrived in Moreton Bay direct from Hamburg, a reporter from the Brisbane Courier wrote of the German settlers’ Christmas celebrations, highlighted by a picnic and shooting contest “in a pretty little valley” in Toowong.[1]

ERSTES DEUTSCHES SCHÜTZEN-FEST. (The First German Shooting Fest)

SOCIABLE fellows are our German brethren, and they really enjoy a holiday as it should be enjoyed. They determine upon having a good picnic after their own fashion, and they always succeed in carrying it out in a manner not to their own satisfaction only, but to that of those who belong to other nations. They have the happy facility of creating sunshine, even although a large cloud hangs above them always joyous, and never depressed by adverse circumstances.

William Leworthy Goode Drew

The picnic which they gave yesterday was certainly a great success. Although postponed for a week, those who were present yesterday at the pleasant gathering which took place in a pretty valley which lies beyond Mr. W. L. G. Drew's residence, and near to the homestead of Mr. W. C. Belbridge[2] - appeared thoroughly to enjoy themselves, and the delay which had been occasioned through the unpropitious weather a week before had not had apparently any effect in checking the enthusiasm which was universally displayed by those who were present for entering into and enjoying the games and sports associated with their own fatherland.

Many members of the German community of the Ipswich District came down-river by paddle steamer. The catering was professionally done by Mr. Lenneberg, of the prestigiously named “Cafe de Paris” although the heat of the Queensland summer was not kind to the temperature of the drinks.

Excursion group arrive by Brisbane River steamer

The steamer “Diamond” took down a large number of the visitors, but there were many who proceeded to the trysting-place in cars and other vehicles. At one time it was estimated that there about three hundred persons on and near the camping-place. To Mr. Lenneberg, of the “Cafe de Paris”, was entrusted the task of satisfying the thirst of all, and considering the bad spot which was selected for the encampment, he managed very well. The ginger-beer and lemonade were certainly very hot, as also were other equally enticing liquors. Fowls and pigs had a sultry appearance about them; but what of that? It was a picnic.

Picnic at Brookfield ca. 1888

Johann Heussler, a prominent member of the German community, dominated the shooting program. Among other things, he was a merchant, emigration agent, and German Consul. His grand mansion built on a prominent hill in Brisbane is now Queensland Government House. The reporter lamented the poor quality of the rifles but praised the crafting skills of the German ladies who had adapted the native flora to a European-style victory wreath.

Johann Heussler

First on the programme was the Erster Teil[3] or rifle-shooting at a target 200 yards distant. We cannot compliment the gentlemen who entered for the prizes upon their good firing, but we think that in this case (for a wonder) the rifles were not comme il faut[4]. They were not what they should have been for short distance firing. The bull's eye was hit only once and that by Mr. Heussler, who was firing off a tie. He consequently obtained not only the first prize, but also a prettily wreathed scarf manufactured by some ladies out of gum-sprigs and wild flowers.

The shooting events were interspersed with musical entertainments, especially of glees - unaccompanied songs featuring multiple voices, rather like a barber-shop quartet – which were very a popular German tradition.

To the English visitors the various glees sung during the day afforded a great deal of pleasure. At about one o'clock the national song of "Vaterland " was sung most admirably; and, considering the present juncture of affairs in Europe, it is pleasing to know that here the Germans are united, and that, although they can meet together and enjoy themselves, they still preserve the national love for their country in a proportion equal to that displayed by Englishmen for theirs.

The bucolic joys of a bush picnic

After luncheon Dr. Emmelhainz addressed the ladies and gentlemen present at some length, and so interesting was the speech that it was listened to with the greatest attention, although other sports were in anticipation. He referred briefly to the stand in the cause of freedom which had always been maintained by the German people.

Shortly afterwards he distributed the prizes which had been won by the rifle shooters, some of which were very valuable, making the ceremony of distribution pleasant by various happy remarks. The hoop-game for ladies then followed, and after that dancing, though by the way that was kept up at intervals throughout the day. Merriment in every form contributed to prolong the day's enjoyment, and it was late before the sounds of music were lost to the pretty little valley which was, the scene of the Erstes Deutsches Schützen Fest.

William Henry Von Lossburg

The final address was given by the elegantly bewhiskered Dr. Von Lossberg (note the aristocratic appellation “Von”), who spoke on behalf of the many German residents of the rapidly developing Ipswich District.

We may mention that in the course of the day Dr. Von Lossberg[5], of Ipswich, stated that he had been requested by the Germans of that town to represent them, and to express a hope on their behalf that on a future occasion they would be able to join their countrymen in Brisbane.

The following year Christmas celebrations were reported in the German settlements along the Logan River. The phenomenon of decorated trees, festive dishes, and Yuletide songs was, at the time, a particularly German tradition, which would be introduced into England by Queen Victoria and her German husband Prince Albert.[6]

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

Christmas on the Logan has been kept up with all honour and custom. Social visits have not been neglected, and the weather was cloudy and cool for the season. The Germans keep up their fatherland customs; they have had their Christmas trees and medley dishes, and sung and prayed, and watched the old year out and the New Year in. The old year has been a memorable one for them.

© K. C. Sbeghen, 2011.

[1] The Brisbane Courier 3.1.1865

[2] Situated in what is now the Brisbane suburb of Toowong.

[3] First section. (German)

[4] Being of the accepted standard. (French)

[5] Medical practitioner and Colonial Officer for the district of Ipswich.

[6] The Brisbane Courier 9.1.1866

The Short Career of the German Bushranger, Christian Biermeister.

2011-11-19T14:50:00.001-08:00

Despite the general reputation of German settlers as sturdy, hard working and reliable, there was of course a few who strayed from the straight and narrow.

In April 1867, the following report appeared in the The Brisbane Courier.

Christian Biermeister, a German, was charged with having, on the Gayndah road, on the 25th January last, feloniously stopped a certain mail for the conveyance of post letters with intent to rob, and a second count charged a feloniously stopping with intent to search. The prisoner was undefended.[1]

Bushrangers "sticking up" a coach

During the great bushranging era in the Australian Colonies during the 1860s and 1870s, there were a few German highwaymen took up the profession. At first the local press thought the idea rather comic.[2]

We are informed that some foolish, mad brained fellow - a German - had the temerity to stick up our royal mail-coach on the evening of Friday last, whilst on its way to Gayndah.

The creature ordered the driver to "shtop;" he did so; the bushranger (for such he was taken to be) then undid a parcel that was in the coach, found it to contain a constable's uniform, felt disgusted, and decamped. The police are after him, and when he is caught he will have to pay dearly for his "zhoake." [joke]

The Club Hotel, Gayndah

But despite the musical hall accent, Biermeister turned out to be deadly serious and a slippery character to boot.[3]

STICKING UP OF THE GAYNDAH MAIL.

On Friday afternoon last, the mail-coach going to Gayndah was stuck-up at a spot about eight miles from Gayndah. The coach was mounting a ridge when a man was seen coming over the crown of the ridge on foot, armed with a gun.

No notice was taken of the man until, with an oath, he called upon the driver of the coach to pull up, and the driver asked the man what he wanted him to pull up for. The fellow then raised his gun and threatened to let drive, if his demand was not immediately attended to, and then matters began to look more serious.

With the gun levelled at each one in turn, he ordered them all to get out of the coach and turn their pockets inside out, which accordingly they did; the whole of them venturing, however, only to exhibit the inside of their empty pockets. The fellow was very wrathful at this, and, with great oaths, swore he would shoot Mr. Edwards.

The fellow then ordered the driver to throw out what parcels and mails he had in the coach, and a small mail-bag was accordingly thrown out. After taking up the mail bag and handling it for a second or two, he dropped it again, and told the mailman to pick up the things and drive on.

Colonial Mail Coach

The bushranger was left empty handed but he had been recognised by one of the passengers as a local reprobate..[4]

The man, it appears, who was well known to Dr. Stevenson's servant, is a German, named Christian Byerwater [sic], and is well known at Gayndah, where he was regarded as cranky. He was lately in the lock-up there on the charge of breaking into a public-house, and then conducted himself like one insane; he was also engaged, some time ago, we understand, at Ban Ban, until he was got rid of for his insane tricks.

The way the follow conducted himself showed he was new to the business, and only the more dangerous; for whilst pointing his gun, which was seen to be capped, his hand so shook that it was a wonder the gun was not fired off without his actually intending it, and the party wore more afraid of this than that they would be deliberately murdered. Besides the gun, the man had in his belt a pair of revolvers.

The following day the rookie desperado robbed a shepherd of supplies.[5] A few day’s later he held up the mail coach from the town of Banana.[6]

Information was received in town to-day that the Banana mail had been stuck up yesterday, by a German named Christian Byermester [sic]. He was on foot, and carried a, double-barrelled gun.

Coonambula Homestead

The hunt for the German outlaw was now on in earnest.[7]

After a deal of reconnoitring and tracking, by the aid of one of the station black boys, the constables came suddenly on the desperado on the Coonambula run, when they instantly secured him. He was armed with a double barrelled gun loaded and capped, which proved useless to him then, having been pounced upon so quickly. They then brought their prisoner to the head station, and left early next morning for Gayndah.

Despite the police escort, the German outlaw soon made his escape into the scrubby landscape. It was almost a week before he was recaptured.

The party proceeded well enough, with the greatest caution, for about eight miles, when, on nearing a scrub, the prisoner bolted, and, though on foot, managed to effect his escape from the police. Word was at once sent to the head station and the manager, with three blackboys, immediately turned out to run the thief down if possible.

The Mary River

The whole party then took to the scrub, but did not succeed in their object. It has since been ascertained - that the prisoner had made for a hut on the river, some distance from where he escaped, where he managed to get the "darbies" cut from his hands. He then kept to the river on to Dalgangal, where, on Tuesday last, Mr. Thomas Najor captured him.

On Wednesday we had the pleasure of seeing him escorted and placed in the lock-up. We are informed the prisoner had £80 of the money taken from the Banana mail on him when first arrested. He was brought before the Police Magistrate on Thursday, and remanded for eight days.

Biermeister made no defence and the trial was ridiculously short.[8]

MARYBOROUGH ASSIZES.

John Bates, driver of the Maryborough and Gayndah coach, deposed:

Post Office, Maryborough, 1870

That on the day in question while driving the mail he was stopped by an armed man between seven and eight miles outside of Gayndah; he presented his gun, ordered witness to stop, and requested him to throw out the bags, and told him to out with his money or he would knock bloody hell out of him; witness threw out the bags and some parcels; there was a paper parcel which he tore asunder to see what was in it; he then took up a mail-bag and threw it down again and rode away.

Dennis McCarthy, sergeant of police, stationed at Gayndah, deposed to apprehending the prisoner on the 9th of last month; prisoner had a double-barrelled gun; he told him the charge, when he said he did stop the coach but he took nothing from it.

This was the case for the Crown. The prisoner made no defence.

The jury found the prisoner guilty, and the Chief Justice sentenced him to be kept to penal servitude for fifteen years.

Biermeister now considered his only option was to escape from lockup and very nearly was successful.[9]

Samuel Sneyd, Chief Constable

The German bushranger, Byermeister, is not quite such a fool as some people fancied. He has been sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment, but Mr. Sneyd will have to keep a sharp look out on him, as it is evident that he will trouble him for lodging but as short a time as possible.

His latest attempts at escape show both ingenuity and perseverance: —

"On the night of this second attempt at escape, Sergeant McCarthy, in company with the lockup keeper, went to visit the prisoner. Just as they opened the cell door Byermeister was seen standing up against the wall near thereto, with the iron bucket of the cell, which had water in it, up lifted, ready to smash down upon the head of the opener of the door; but as soon as he saw there were two visitors he dropped the utensil.

On examination it was found that everything had been prepared by him for an escape. The leg irons had been pulled up as high as he could get them, about midway of his knees and ankles; two holes were made in each leg of his trousers, and through these holes strings were passed on to the irons and fastened; whilst, round the chain, so as to prevent its clinking, were passed strips of his prison blanket; his sleeves were turned up, and everything be tokened a determination to bolt.

Prison van outside Brisbane Gaol

But this appears not to have sated his thirst for freedom. On the following day his hand was observed by the lockup keeper moving to and fro immediately under the small slide in the door; with the aid of another person the door was opened, and there was detected a neat little contrivance the prisoner had resorted to assist himself to an offensive weapon.

The ingenious Biermeister even managed to undo the screws in the door with his teeth!

Underneath the slide on the inside of the door is a bar of iron, fastened into the door with screws. The prisoner managed to pass a shred of his shirt or trousers round the head of three of them, and by gradually working them in this wise with his mouth, so as to save his teeth, "succeeded in abstracting them. Another three or four minutes and the fourth would have been unrivetted."

And with this last report, Christian Biermeister disappears from the newspaper records.

[1] The Brisbane Courier 5.4.1867

[2] The Burnett Argus 26.1.1867

[3] The Brisbane Courier 1.2.1867

[4] The Brisbane Courier 1.2.1867

[5] The Brisbane Courier 1.2.1867

[6] The Brisbane Courier 7.2.1867

[7] The Brisbane Courier 25.2.1867

[8] The Brisbane Courier 5.4.1867

[9] The Queenslander 6.4.1867

The German Mission to the Aborigines

2011-11-08T16:32:00.000-08:00

The Reverend Dr. J.D. Lang

The first free sellers in the Moreton Bay Colony were German missionaries recruited by the Reverend James Dunmore Lang. Dr. Lang, a Presbyterian clergyman from Scotland, managed to get his proposal approved by the Church Synod in Sydney despite some objections.[1]

SYNOD OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Some stress was laid upon a recommendation to the Government in favour of the German Mission to the Aborigines; which two of the dissentient ministers had been induced to sign on Dr. Lang's own suggestion.

The mission was funded jointly by the British Government and by public donations.[2]

The Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Colonies was pleased to advance the sum of £450 from the Colonial Revenue for the outfit and passage of the three educated missionaries.

The expense of their passage from Berlin to Greenock, together with their expenses in Scotland, the cost of their outfit, the purchase of implements, &c., have been partly provided for by the religious public in the West of Scotland.

As to the future, Lord Glenelg has authorised the Colonial Government to afford the mission such assistance from the Colonial Revenue as it will be found to merit, but its primary establishment and its maintenance in the first instance must depend upon the voluntary contributions of the colonial public.

Considering the widespread belief in the danger of emigrants ending up as slaves once they had left the Fatherland, there were some in Germany who suspect ted Dr. Land’s motives.[3]

After the German missionaries had arrived in Scotland, it was loudly asserted in Berlin, on the authority of the Rev. Dr. Blumhardt, of Basle, in Switzerland, who had taken the trouble to write Mr. Gossner on the subject, that Dr. LANG intended merely to sell the missionaries as slaves; and certain very Christian exhortations were addressed to them by the simple-minded man, on the supposition of their unexpectedly finding themselves reduced to slavery in a far distant and foreign land.

Why Moreton Bay and why German Missionaries? Lang gave his reasons.[4]

1st, that no efforts of the kind had previously been made by any religious body in that part of the territory;

2nd, that the great extent of the Bay and the number of navigable streams flowing into it afford a peculiarly eligible central position for a Christian mission;

3rd, that the distance of Moreton Bay from the settled parts of the territory would subject the natives to fewer of those deteriorating influences arising from the vicinity of a convict population than were likely to be experienced in any situation within the present limits of the colony, and

4t,. that the extension of missionary stations along the coast to the northward of Moreton Bay, was peculiarly desirable for the colony of New South: Wales, even in a commercial point of view, from the dangerous character of the coast, the frequency of shipwrecks and the ferocity of the natives.

And it was argued in favour of German rather than English missionaries that whereas the latter would be tempted to leave their proper work as missionaries to the black natives, by accepting appointments in the colonial churches, the former, being foreigners and comparatively ignorant of our; language, would be under no such temptation.

Emigrant ship between decks

The Missionaries as well as other emigrants were selected and sponsored by Dr. Lang. They finally arrived in Sydney in 1838.[5]

The “Minerva”, from Greenock, with 235 emigrants on board, arrived on Tuesday. Among the passengers are thirteen German Missionaries with their families, come out to establish a mission to the wretched aborigines to the northward of this Colony under the superintendence of the Synod of New South Wales.

Two of the Missionaries are ordained Clergymen, and the remainder, who come in the capacity of Catechists, have also, in conjunction with their theological studies, been instructed in various mechanical arts with a view to the communication of the arts of civilized life to the aborigines in conjunction with Christian knowledge.

The missionaries were not Lutheran but members of the Moravian Church, also known as the Bohemian Brethren a Protestant denomination. It originated in the mid 15^th Century in what is now the Czech Republic. The Moravian congregation focussed on Christian unity, personal piety, music and missions. Their missionary work continues in various parts of the world continues to the present day.[6]

The missionaries chosen to work among the Aborigines of Moreton Bay were:[7]

Rev. EDWARD WILHELM SCHIMIDT, a regularly ordained clergyman of the Prussian Church, educated at the Universities of Halle and Berlin.

Reverend Christopher Eipper

Rev. CHRISTOPHER EIPPER, a native of the Kingdom of Wurttemberg, educated at the Missionary College of Basle in Switzerland and ordained conjointly by the Lutheran and Presbyterian ministers of the German and French Protestant Churches in the City of London.

Catechists or Assistant Missionaries:

Peter Niquet - stonemason and bricklayer, and his wife Maria.

August Rode - joiner and cabinetmaker, and his wife Julia.

Leopold Zillmann - blackmith, and his wife Clara.

A. W. F. Hartenstein - weaver, and his wife Christina.

Gottfried Hausmann - butcher and cook, and his wife Wilhelmina.

Gottfried Wagner

Gottfried Wagner - shoemaker.

Ludowig Doge - gardener.

Theodor Franz - tailor.

Christopher Albrecht - shoemaker and bookbinder.

Mr. Moritz Schneider medical attendant and assistant missionary, was seized with typhus fever after the arrival of the vessel, and died at the Quarantine station. His wife Dorothea being left to lament his loss, and to proceed with her countrymen to their destination at Moreton Bay.

The missionaries had not wasted their time on the long sea voyage, learning the English language.[8]

Under the superintendence of Mr. GOSSNER, the catechists or assistant missionaries who have come out by the ”Minierva”, were employed for a considerable time in acquiring such qualifications as would fit them for the work in which they were to be engaged as missionaries to the heathen, endeavouring especially to conjoin with their other acquirements, a knowledge of the English and Hebrew languages.

The missionary party arrived in Moreton Bay in 1838. At the time the settlement was still a penal colony and there were no free settlers. The Moreton Bay Penal Colony would be officially closed in 1842 and the area opened to free settlement. The Commandant told the missionaries to establish themselves to the north of the penal settlement so that the aborigines would not identify them with the convicts and soldiers. [9] The Germans named the site of their settlement Zion's Hill.

They should fix themselves in some eligible locality about seven or eight miles to the northward of the settlement, in the direction of the Bay.

It is fortunate that the German Missionary settlement will be strong enough to protect itself in case of aggression from the natives; for while it is acknowledged on all hands that it could be of very little use to the natives at Brisbane Town, where the Missionaries would be confounded with the other Europeans both free and bond, it is unsafe at present for one or two individuals to be living at any distance from the Government settlement.

Given the depth of skills and experience possessed by the Germans, it was expected that the mission would soon become self–sufficient and attract the local Aborigines to the benefits of the European life-style and religious practice.[10]

As there is a bricklayer, a carpenter, a blacksmith, a gardener, a shoemaker, and a tailor, among the lay missionaries of the German Mission, on the principle of the Moravian Missions that have proved so successful in other parts of the world, it is evident that the Mission will ere long be comparatively independent, as far as the lay are concerned. On the whole, this is unquestionably the most promising effort that has ever yet been made for the black natives, and we earnestly hope that it will be attended with the wished-for success.

Meanwhile in Sydney, in order to raise more funds, Lang continued to talk up the great venture of the mission to the aborigines.[11]

Reverend Dr. Lang gave a most interesting account of the origin of this German Mission - he dwelt eloquently upon the fact of its being the most interesting experiment ever yet made in the history of Christian Missions - an experiment to solve the great problem whether the Aborigines of New Holland are capable of being stamped with the Divine impress; or, whether they are, as some say, like the brutes that perish.

Aboriginal couple near bamboo at Nundah 1894

Despite the best efforts of the missionaries, it soon became evident that the local aborigines of Moreton Bay took a liking to the produce of the mission and not to their religious message.[12]

Since Europeans have cultivated the ground, and introduced grain and vegetables, they have become exceedingly fond of potatoes, maize, pumpkins, melons, &c.; but they have never imitated their practice in raising a supply of food for themselves by tilling the ground. They prefer robbing the gardens, if they can, to earning their bread by the sweat of their brow. Such as have mixed much with white men will eat anything they see them eat. They find also great delight in smoking a pipe of tobacco, for which there has of late been a great demand, which has not, however, been complied with on the part of the Missionaries, who do not use any themselves.

By 1841, the writing was on the wall for the mission. Three years in, there were still no converts. The German clerics were accused of being more interested in establishing their farm than in pursuing converts.[13]

THE ABORIGINES-COMPLETE FAILURE OF THE MISSIONS.

THE deplorable fate of the aboriginal inhabitants of this territory, and the failure of every attempt that has been hitherto made to protect or enlighten them, must form a constantly recurring subject of grief to every Christian mind.

The mission at Moreton Bay is conducted under the auspices of the Presbyterian church, and was established by Dr. Lang in 1837 ; it consists of eleven missionaries (clerical and lay), with their wives and children, amounting to twenty souls.

Their labours will be best described by one of themselves: "The labours of the missionaries have hitherto, from sheer necessity, been confined in great measure to the preliminary operations of clearing ground, erecting houses, and other buildings, and fencing in, and breaking up ground for cultivation.”

Now, if the Rev. C. Eipper had been sent out to Moreton Bay as a squatter, this report would no doubt have been quite satisfactory to his friends ; but we do not at all admire this category of "clearing," "erecting," "fencing in," "breaking up," and "stocking," as the sole fruits of a numerous and expensive Christian mission to the aborigines.

According to the missionaries it was the wandering lifestyle of the aborigines that frustrated their ministry. The only option was to follow the aborigines as they moved camp about the bush and this was totally impracticable. The over-riding principle of a mission was to attract indigenous people to settle down with the missionaries and be instructed not only on the Christian religion but also to adopt a “civilized” European way of life and all that it entailed. Still the Germans remained hopeful.[14]

The missionaries, however, do not consider that they have done all that is requisite when they have got the means of attracting the aborigines, and inducing them to stay with them whenever they are in their vicinity; this is only one part of their object; they wish to follow them in their wanderings - for they are often absent for months together - to go amongst them in their camps, and there to preach to them the everlasting gospel.

The German missionaries struggled on for a few more years without converts until the Colonial Government finally withdrew funding. What the Reverend Dr. Lang described eight years earlier as “the most interesting experiment ever yet made in the history of Christian Missions” was at an end.[15]

Abandoned old missionary cottages on Zions Hill

The German Mission is abandoned. Sir George Gipps, we think wisely, finding its utter uselessness, has discontinued the assistance which it formerly received from the public revenue.

Most of the former missionaries stayed in the area and became very successful farmers, providing essential produce to the newly arrived new settlers of Brisbane Town.[16] They were the pioneers of what would become a long tradition of German settler farmers in Queensland in the 19^th Century, instrumental in the establishment of enterprises such as the sugar and wool industries.

The German missionaries, phlegmatic and philosophical, have become the German graziers and market-gardeners. Located on the rich land of Eagle Farm, commanding an extensive back run, paying neither license nor assessment, it may be gratifying to their friends at a distance to know that they are "doing well:" that is, that they have much cattle, and their butter and vegetables are highly prized in Brisbane; that, if their spiritual harvest has been small, their vegetables are most luxuriant; and that if, during their Mission, they have made no converts, their last increase of calves is at least ninety per cent.

Estate map of German Station Estate

The site of the original mission became known as the German Station and is now the northern Brisbane suburb of Nundah.

The aborigines continued to help themselves to the produce of the German farmers.[17]

THE NATIVES.-A few days ago, a number of blacks surrounded the huts occupied by the Germans, at Eagle Farm, and forcibly carried off a large quantity of provisions, consisting of flour, potatoes, and other articles. The natives have taken advantage of the pacific dispositions of the Germans, to fleece them on several occasions, and the probability is, they will renew their outrages the first favourable opportunity, knowing well, as they do, that they are sure to come off scatheless.

[1] The Colonist 14.12.1837

[2] The Colonist 10.3.1838

[3] The Colonist 10.3.1838

[4] The Colonist 7.3.1838

[5] The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 25.1.1938

[6] Wikipedia.

[7] The Colonist 10.3.1838

[8] The Colonist 10.3.1838

[9] The Colonist 12.5.1838

[10] The Colonist 12.5.1838

[11] The Sydney Herald 21.5.1838

[12] The Sydney Herald 5.5.1841

[13] Australasian Chronicle 6.5.1841

[14] Australasian Chronicle 6.5.1841

[15] The Moreton Bay Courier 27.6.1846

[16] The Moreton Bay Courier 27.6.1846

[17] The Moreton Bay Courier 3.10.1846