Beyond distinguished gentlemen

 

“Beyond Distinguished Gentlemen”  moves behind the facade of the posed photos and official biographies and includes the private reflections of those men but also the voices and experiences of people outside the circles of wealth and property who dominate the official records.  The presentation explores these lives in the context of Brisbane in 1864 and the struggle against disasters of various kinds in a town that had outstretched its resources and was overcrowded, prone to infectious disease, and intensely flammable.  Based on the experience of researching for a book on this period over several years, the presentation follows a trail from the biographies of politicians to the local papers of the day and into the lesser known sources which preserve alternative voices.