Convicts & Colonials: Economy

The river trade began in the 1820s when lime was sent to Brisbane by punt from the convict settlement at Ipswich. Between 1846 and 1875 more than 25 different steamers operated at various times as well as numerous barges, sailboats and market boats. Ipswich became a busy inland port and the hub of an important transport network. Goods brought up from Brisbane by river were transferred to bullock teams at Ipswich for the long slow trip to distant stations. In the opposite direction, wool and other farm products were loaded for the trip down river to the port. Most immigrants headed for country properties arrived in Ipswich by river. Even the materials and locomotives for the first railway in Queensland were delivered to the site by paddle steamer and barge.

Because of the ease of transport and the ready supply of water for steam engines, industries were established along the Bremer including boiling down works, flour mills, gasworks, coal mines, sawmills and woollen mills. Some of these generated their own river traffic. The Bremer’s role as a “working river” was vital to the economy of both Ipswich and Queensland but it had its negative side. The demands of shipping brought changes to the river as rocks were blasted, channels dredged and riverbanks cleared. Water quality deteriorated as industry poured by-products and waste into the river.