Convicts & Colonials: Movement & Land Use

The first maps of the Ipswich region were made by the early explorers in the 1820s. The explorers tended to stay close to a source of water on their travels and they produced maps which showed the main creeks and rivers plus other major features such as mountains.

When the convict era ended in 1839, the New South Wales Government intended to allow free settlers to come to Moreton Bay. However before settlers could take up farming land or buy house blocks in towns, there was an important process which had to be carried out. The area had to be completely surveyed and mapped to fill in the blank spaces on the simple maps made by the explorers.

The early surveyors - Dixon, Stapleton and Warner - first did a features survey i.e. they mapped all the main physical features such as rivers, creeks, plains and mountains. This gave them a basic framework and, for example, showed land which could be used for cattle and sheep runs and positions which would be suitable for towns. The boundaries of runs could then be established and the proposed towns could then be surveyed into building blocks which could be sold to new settlers. Surveying and mapping Queensland was a huge undertaking, and the pioneering work of the surveyors continued in the 19th century. 

Government Overseer, George Thorn showed New South Wales Governor Sir George Gipps around the settlement when he inspected this region and Thorn seems to have been consulted about the best position for the town centre, although Gipps had the final say.

When surveyors began to lay out the town centre, Governor Gipps over-ruled their original ideas, saying that Ipswich would be a small town and would not need a town square or wide streets, a decision which affects Ipswich right up to the present day. When you look at the city area today, it is hard to imagine that Ipswich once must have been like a country village. If you could go back in time, a number of things would strike you as different or unusual. Surveyor Henry Wade drew up the first plans for the Ipswich township in 1842 and marked a proposed reservoir to provide a town water supply. The site was a gully running along Gordon St and Marsden Parade.