Ipswich Mobile Library – Past & Present
The Ipswich City Council officially launched its first Mobile Library in November, 1975. The first mobile library staff member was Mr Frank Noonan who also drove the air-conditioned, 10 metre bus known as the ‘Bookmobile’. Carrying 2,500 items including books and cassette tapes, the Bookmobile visited nine locations...
Ipswich Heritage Day at the Cooneana Heritage Centre
Do you have photos or memorabilia of early Ipswich? Can you tell the stories behind your items? Your photos could help recreate the story of Ipswich from early settlers to the present day. History is being made every day and your private collection may hold a missing clue to...
Greetings from Ipswich
The Picture Ipswich collection contains a number of postcard images from the early 1900s. These postcards range from pictorial views of early Ipswich through to wartime correspondence. Some are promotional with business details and advertising, while others were produced by photographic studios and display portraits or family photos....
Lost in the Bush – a Doctor’s Story
Thanks to staff at the Ipswich Hospital Museum who pointed us in the direction of this part of our history. Born on 6 April 1837 at Hesse-Cassel in Germany, Dr William Henry (Wilhelm Heinrich) von Lossberg journeyed from Hamburg to Brisbane in 1863 as surgeon-superintendent on the ship, ‘Alster’. A...
Pacific Motors and Faulkner Motors – Top of Town
An article appeared in the Queensland Times newspaper on 6 May, 1927 reporting the opening of Pacific Motors Ltd in Brisbane Street, Ipswich. An Oldsmobile car district headquarters and a fully equipped service station, the building was designed by Mr G. Brockwell Gill. It contained a ground...
The Ipswich Cup – 150 years at the Gee-gees
This year on Saturday the 18th of June, Ipswich and many of its residents will celebrate an amazing milestone. This year marks the 150th year since the first Ipswich Cup was run back in 1866. Many people today see ‘The Cup’ as a major Ipswich social event where...
The National Trusts’ Great Houses of Ipswich 2016
For the past several years the Queensland branch of the National Trust have held a Great Houses of Ipswich event to acknowledge and allow people to view the amazing houses the Ipswich suburbs are home to and famous for. In previous years houses that have been generously opened...
Uncanny Ipswich
Over the years Ipswich has been host to a number of uncanny, and sometimes unexplained, occurrences. A browse of old Queensland Times issues reveals mysterious lights in the sky, spooky apparitions appearing in the dead of night, and strange weather incidents. Raining fish In May 1930 it rained...
History of Hats
Before the 1960’s hats were an essential part of anyone’s wardrobe. From the busy streets of London to the Country roads of Ipswich, no man, woman or child would be seen leaving the house without donning a fashionable or at least an appropriate piece of headwear. For some it was purely a...