St Patrick’s Day in Ipswich
St Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17 and is a holiday that commemorates Saint Patrick, a missionary who brought Christianity to Ireland in A.D. 400s. In the past, St Patrick’s Day was a major event in Ipswich with parades, sports days and dinners being held to mark...
Why we love Ipswich
Here are 10 reasons to love our historical town of Ipswich: 1. The Ipswich Show – The show was established by the Queensland Pastoral Society with the first show held on the 2nd of April 1873 near Churchhill. Eventually the show was moved to the present site at the...
Ipswich Grammar School – 150 Years Young
This year Ipswich Grammar School celebrates 150 years as Queensland’s first secondary school. The school was established in 1863 after the Queensland Government passed the Grammar School Act in 1860, which entitled any district wishing to establish a grammar school to a small grant for every 1000 pounds raised by...
Back to school – “Good Manners”
In 1898 the Department of Public Instruction developed a poster that was to be displayed in schools around Queensland to teach and enforce appropriate behaviour and manners to children. The rules were recited daily by students and were expected to be followed, to avoid a beating with the cane. Transcript of “Good...
From Telegraph to NBN
There is a lot of excitement about the Government’s rollout of the National Broadband Network in Ipswich as it will improve our capability and speed in communications and information gathering. In 1861, the people of Ipswich were just as excited by the opening of the first Telegraph...
Historic fossil sites in and around Ipswich
**ADDENDUM (added 21/07/2015) The following information is for the interest of residents of the Ipswich area. Many readers of our blog are also interested in discovering more about where they can view fossils or in some cases fossick. There are a number of conservation areas in Ipswich where evidence...
Ipswich Railway Station
The above picture is of the first Ipswich Railway Station, which was also the first Queensland Railway Station. It opened in August 1865 and the first station master was John Scorra. He lived in the upstairs part of the building. The staion’s walls were corrugated iron, with an...
Picture Puzzle – Do you recognise these men?
Many of the images in Picture Ipswich have been kindly provided by the community. Along the way gems have come to light that are unable to be identified or important information is missing and because of this we need the community’s help. We are always looking for photos...
New additions to the Local History Room collection
The collection in the Viva Cribb Local History Resource Room has recently increased with the addition of a number of books about different aspects of Ipswich’s history. The authors of In heavenly garb : the headstones of the Ipswich General Cemetery examine the city’s past through the symbols on the...