History of Brisbane Trivia Quiz

Answer: Heavily populated with Aboriginal camps

Prior to the arrival of Europeans in 1799, the area that is now Brisbane was heavily populated by members of the Yuggera and Turrbal tribes. These people lived in camps that housed hundreds, if not thousands, of people and each camp was easily transportable, though they formed semi permanent villages. Brisbane was home to a large source of natural resources including clean water, wood and seafood that made it a natural place to live.

Answer: Matthew Flinders

Matthew Flinders was exploring the Australian coastline aboard the Norfolk when he landed at Woody Pointe just north of what is now Brisbane and explored Moreton Bay. He named many of the places in and around Brisbane such as Redcliffe. In addition to his arrival in Brisbane, Flinders is best known for giving Australia its name and for being the first person to declare it a separate continent.

Answer: Australia's worst criminals

Brisbane was founded to house Australia's worst criminals. This included the most violent, those accused of heinous crimes and habitual criminals. At the time, Brisbane was called Moreton Bay or Edenglassie before taking on the name Brisbane. Brisbane was seen as an extremely harsh penal settlement with punishment typically including painful flogging and even starvation. Convicts were forced to build the city from the ground and a few buildings from that era survive to this day. Brisbane was seen as so harsh that many convicts took their chances and escaped into the wild bush.

Many who tried to escape were shot and very few managed to escape but the conditions were poor enough that thousands tried to flee.

Answer: The Old Windmill

The Old Windmill in Brisbane is one of the buildings built by convicts that still remains today and is believed to be the oldest building in the city. It was the site of the execution of Merridio and Neugavill, who were accused of murdering Assistant Surveyor Stapylton in 1840.

This was at the peak of tension between the British and Aboriginal people. The British were outnumbered but were in far better position to repel the native people. Upon settling Brisbane, the Aborigines were displaced from the homes and they retaliated by burning and destroying crops and resources belonging to the settlers.

Many Aborigines were killed by the British either through violence or disease. The murder of Stapylton was seen as retaliation and the execution of his alleged killers further exacerbating the situation.

Answer: 0

The fire started in a drapery store and spread quickly because of the large amount of flammable material in the store. The fire spread to several nearby wooden buildings that burned quickly. Under the guide of the police, citizens began tearing down wooden buildings, including their own homes, to stop the spread of the fire.

Others used large, wet blankets in a somewhat successful attempt to extinguish the fire. All in all, dozens of buildings and businesses were destroyed but no one was killed. Four people had to be treated for injuries. Brisbane was rebuilt using stone and masonry as opposed to wood and this led to the development of the centralized fire department in 1881.

Answer: Tropical cyclone

February 1893 saw Brisbane hit with three tropical cyclones, one on the sixth, the second on the eleventh and the last on the ninteenth. The city was flooded each time with the first and third floods being the most devastating. Nearly a third of the population was left homeless primarily because so many people lived alongside the Brisbane River which flooded.

The second flood was less devastating. Local landowner Henry Somerset, who lived on a hill, had experienced similar cyclones in other parts of Australia and recognized the danger that was coming.

His warning was completely ignored. Somerset's home Caboonbah Homestead became an official flood warning station in modern times but it burned down in 2009.

Answer: Koalas

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary opened in 1927 by Claude Reid who wanted to provide a safe place for the animals. The sanctuary gained fame during World War II when General Douglas MacArthur visited with his wife while the two were in Australia. In fact, the sanctuary was popular with all allied soldiers stationed in Australia.

Lone Pine is primarily a koala sanctuary but other animals, including kangaroos and wild birds, can also be found there. Besides being a sanctuary, the facility also conducts research into how best preserve and rescue koalas and research into eucalyptus, the primary staple of a koala's diet.

Answer: The alleged place where northern Australia would be ceded to the Japanese

During World War II, Australia served as an important location for Allied Forces in the Pacific. Brisbane's location made it a particularly important strategic city. The Brisbane Line was an alleged area north of the city that marked the boundary of where everything north of it would be given to Japan should Japan invade. It is unclear of whether or not such a plan actually existed but it was a highly controversial idea. The Brisbane Line was allegedly the idea of Robert Menzies, the Prime Minister at the time. Menzies prioritized protecting the heavily populated areas of Australia along the southern and eastern coastlines (such as Sydney and Melbourne). This was interpreted by others as Menzies would cede Northern Australia as soon as the Japanese arrived and would sacrifice northern Australians to save southern ones. This led to opposition Labor Party winning the 1943 election in a landslide.

After the war, no evidence ever appeared to prove that such a plan existed although some people (including Defense Minister Eddie Ward) claimed the evidence had simply vanished.

Answer: riot

Brisbane was a popular station and visiting place for Allied Forces in the South Pacific, especially Americans. American soldiers had far more freedom to travel around the city and enjoy its entertainment which included all kinds of vices. Australian soldiers were more restricted and paid significantly less. This led to tension between American and Australian soldiers. In addition, American General Douglas MacArthur was said to view the Australian military derisively and had no respect for it. Another source of tension was race. The American Military was segregated and Australians disapproved of the American treatment of the large amount African-American soldiers stationed in Brisbane. Americans defended themselves by saying it was similar to the way Australians treated Aboriginals.

The riot, nicknamed the Battle of Brisbane, is said to have started when an American military police officer arrested an Australian soldier who was drunk and on leave for not producing his leave pass. Australians, both military and civilian, responded by attacking the officer and the nearby American Red Cross Building. The Red Cross Building was also the scene of a large demonstration. This ultimately led to widescale rioting. Official death tolls list just one Australian soldier killed, however eyewitnesses state several soldiers on both sides were killed.

Answer: Flooding

Although flooding is a relatively common event in Brisbane, the Brisbane River did not flood the city again until 1974.

The main issue for Brisbane after the war was that the city had no money. The city was in shambles and needed repairs and upgrading. However, the Brisbane City Council was largely elected on a platform of low tax rates, a promise that was kept. This made it difficult to fund much needed projects in the city. The roads were neglected and there was a severe lack of water. Dams were built on nearby rivers but this hardly mitigated the situation. Running water was a luxury and many people resorted to using outhouses. It wasn't until the mid-1960s when Brisbane started significantly improving its energy and water sources and expand its transportation system.