Brisbane's Beginnings: The Explorers, Convicts and Officials Who Formed the City

Brisbane's documented story starts with Matthew Flinders' exploration of Moreton Bay in 1799, followed by the British penal outpost founded at Redcliffe in September 1824 and moved to the Brisbane River site in May 1825.

Indigenous Presence and First European Records

The region had already been home to the Yagara, Turrbal and Quandamooka peoples for more than 22,000 years when Flinders arrived, with the central city peninsula known traditionally as Meeanjin. These long-standing connections form the first layer of the city's history, preserved in the same archives that later recorded colonial events.

Convict Labour and the Old Windmill

Convict labour constructed the Old Windmill in the late 1820s, making it Brisbane's oldest surviving building. The structure later became the site of the city's first public executions in the 1840s, illustrating the direct role of early labourers and authorities in shaping both infrastructure and public order.

Capital Status and Archive Preservation

In December 1859 Brisbane became the capital of the newly separated Colony of Queensland, the same year John Petrie was elected its first mayor. The Brisbane City Archives, also founded in 1859 and located in Moorooka, now holds over 193 years of records that include accounts of bubonic plagues and wooden roads. The facility opens to the public on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, allowing direct access to the documents created by the people who established and administered the settlement.

These dated milestones, from Flinders' 1799 voyage through the 1824 and 1825 penal moves, the late-1820s construction of the Old Windmill, the 1840s executions and the 1859 capital and mayoral decisions, remain the verifiable sequence held at the archives. Visitors can examine the original records on the listed opening days to follow the same chain of events and decisions that produced the modern city.