QLDPlanned settlement
Brisbane
A punishment outpost that became a capital.
1825Penal settlement moves to the river site
WHAT STARTED IT
Brisbane was established as a remote place of secondary punishment for convicts. The first Moreton Bay camp at Redcliffe proved unsuitable, and the settlement moved to the Brisbane River in 1825.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Convicts built stores, roads and a windmill under a harsh disciplinary regime. Restrictions on free settlement limited the district’s growth. The penal settlement was formally abolished in 1842; Brisbane became the capital of the separate colony of Queensland in 1859.
TURNING POINTS
1825The settlement relocates from Redcliffe to the Brisbane River.
1842The penal settlement is formally abolished.
1859Brisbane becomes Queensland’s capital.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
Queensland’s capital and a large centre for government, business, education and transport. The surviving windmill and Commissariat Store are reminders of a very different original purpose.