StateLibQld 1 134857 Brighton Family Boarding House at Cleveland, 1871
Summary
Brighton Family Boarding House at Cleveland, 1871
The early part of William Boag's career was spent in Sydney where he was in partnership with portrait photographer Joseph Charles Milligan. (Images made by Boag are in the collection of the Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society.).
Boag arrived in Queensland in November 1871. He travelled around the south-east, along the foreshore of Moreton Bay and the township of Cleveland. He then moved into the Logan and Albert area where he captured images of local crushing mills and sugar plantations. While at Yatala, he took on a partner, John Henry Mills, and by the end of 1872, both men were in Stanthorpe where they remained for several months, producing views of the booming tin-mining settlement.
In July 1873, after stopping off in Warwick, Boag and Mills extended their operations to Mackay, where they remained until October 1875. During this time, Boag made trips to St Lawrence and Cooktown, however his movements after this are difficult to trace. It is known that by mid 1876 he was at Copperfield and Clermont, and in February 1878, he inserted a notice in the Peak Downs Telegram announcing that he was leaving for the west. Then information ceases abruptly. It is possible that Boag never reached his destination, since his death certificate records that he died in 1878 at an unknown location.
The Brighton Boarding House was built by Francis Bigge and later would become the Grand View Hotel. It was located in Shore Street, across the road from Cassim's Hotel. In 1871, Cleveland's principal attractions were a good supply of salt air and fresh seafood, or as one satirical observer reported, 'people come down here to eat oysters and fresh fish...and (to) wash and be clean'. Accomodation included two public houses and board and lodging was to be had in 'almost every second humpy'. One eyesore was the Cleveland racecourse, located on the Government Reserve, which for a long time had been the favourite resort of pigs that were allowed to 'grub up' the turf in search of wild yams and other delicacies, leaving large holes which made the ground unsightly and dangerous.
Tags
Date
Source
Copyright info