Union camp, Barcaldine, 1891

Barcaldine, QLD
Australia
23° 33' 8.8812" S, 145° 17' 18.6756" E
1 January 1893
1 June 2011
1 June 2011

Location

Barcaldine, QLD
Australia
23° 33' 8.8812" S, 145° 17' 18.6756" E

John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland

Union camp, Barcaldine, 1891. Located at the head point of the central railway, western Queensland, Barcaldine became a focal point of conflict during the shearers’ strike of 1891. Up to 1000 unionists camped outside the town at Lagoon Creek. On the lookout for ‘trouble makers’, armed troopers camped in the town and guarded the rail head. This painting was discovered in the office of the Australian Workers Union and depicts life at the Lagoon camp. Tents line the banks of the creek while men are standing around fires conversing or simply enjoying a relaxing pipe. In the bottom left corner a library tent is shown with a sign out the front. In the distance the town and an artesian drilling derrick are visible. Little is known about the artist, ‘Chapman’, and whether the painting is an accurate depiction of the camp or based on second hand accounts, but it remains one of the few artistic representations of the places created out of the shearers’ strike. Collection of the John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland

Machine shears

Wool was a central colonial economy for Queensland and the basis for European expansion and settlement. The arrival of large numbers of sheep transformed the physical landscape.

Location

Australia
Queensland Museum
23 November 2010
Copyright © Queensland Museum, 2010, H19798
Australia
Dimensions
92mm
470mm
65mm

Nineteenth century shears

Nineteenth century shears

Location

Blackall, QLD
Australia
24° 25' 27.6312" S, 145° 27' 57.7548" E
H45509
Queensland Museum
23 November 2010

Copyright © Queensland Museum, 2010

Blackall, QLD
Australia
24° 25' 27.6312" S, 145° 27' 57.7548" E
Dimensions
92mm
69mm
35mm

Shearer’s camp, Langton Station, 1891. Collection of Central Queensland University

Collection of Central Queensland University

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