Shaping Our Identity: Agriculture & Food Production

Punts, sailboats and market boats
A number of small sailing boats operated on the Bremer at times and a newspaper article mentioned that 70 “market boats” were operating in the 1860s. These were the dinghies which delivered produce from riverside farms.

There were numerous market gardens along the Bremer and Brisbane Rivers at this time. One of these was owned by Henry Stanley of Moggill who later recalled that he, like other farmers as far down river as Oxley, took his produce to Ipswich in a rowboat. In a great understatement, Stanley said that “pulling up to Ipswich and returning to Moggill was hard work, in spite of the fact that we always took advantage of incoming and outgoing tides”.

He landed at the Corporation (Council) Wharf where he had to pay a fee then sold his fruit and vegetables to local green-grocers. One fruit specifically mentioned was plantain, a form of banana. Stanley could not swim and almost drowned when his rowboat was damaged one night near Tivoli.

Ipswich Agricultural Reserve
The Bremer catchment followed the typical pattern of settlement. The land was initially taken up in very large grazing runs; in 1861-2, these included Henry Mort’s “Franklyn Vale”, George Thorn’s “Rosebrook” and William Wilson’s “Mount Flinders”.

There were also large leased sections occupied by James Ivory (Bundamba Creek), James Chailli (Rosewood Scrub), James Sutherland (between the Bremer River and Warrill Creek), M. O’Brien (Western Creek), Henry Mort (Western Creek and Bremer River), William Wilson (Purga Creek), William Dorsey (Bremer River and Duboy Creek), Darby McGrath (near the Bremer River) and S. Beardmore (near Western Creek).

In the 1860s, the Queensland Government passed a series of land acts which aimed to regulate the sale of Crown land and encourage small selectors. As part of this initiative, several agricultural reserves were established including the Ipswich Agricultural Reserve.

A water supply was of vital importance for intending settlers, so 11,000 acres of land were reserved on both sides of Warrill Creek, resumed from “Normanby” and “Mount Flinders” Runs. The Reserve was later extended to Purga Creek and south to Milora.

Only 12 new settlers took up land in the Ipswich Agricultural Reserve in the first two years, but the numbers grew steadily. In December 1864, Botanic Gardens curator Walter Hill inspected the Reserve and reported to the Queensland Government. He said that there were now 27 flourishing farms around Warrill and Warroolaba Creeks cultivating mainly oats, maize, tobacco and cotton, and added that their condition should convince the most sceptical person of the capabilities of the soil and climate.

Cotton
The Ipswich Cotton Company was established in 1861 with a capital of £15,000. John Ferrett and W. Kent junior were Trustees and the directors were John Panton (chairman), Joshua P. Bell, C.L.D. Fattorini, John Hardie and R.J. Smith.

The Company started growing cotton on a plantation at Booval, but their first crop was damaged by a storm. The first cotton to be sent to England under the new conditions came from a small farm on the banks of the Bremer River at Woodend.

This property was owned by John Panton who wrote to The Times newspaper in London, giving his opinion that cotton would grow well in Queensland and offering English people the opportunity to inspect the four bales when they arrived. The cotton had been cleaned by a gin made from a converted wool press in Walter Gray’s store on the riverbank.

The Ipswich Cotton Company was able to send its first 30 bales shortly afterwards. Both Panton and the Company claimed their cotton bonuses later that year.

Within a few years, many others had followed their lead. Some were larger rural landholders including the Thorn family at “Normanby” and George Challinor at “Yamahnto”, but most growers in the Bremer catchment were small, enthusiastic settlers.

Cotton was grown everywhere around the outskirts of Ipswich, including Redbank Plains, along the Bremer and Bundamba Creek and even on the racecourse. It was also grown in all the surrounding country areas.

Sugar Cane
Sugar cane was not widely grown along the Bremer. John Panton experimented with the crop on one of his Bremer River properties in 1864 and was optimistic about its prospects. James Ivory also grew sugar and is said to have used Bremer Mills as a sugar mill. In the early 1870s, photographer Biggingee Sorabjee Pochee built a sugar mill near Walloon, and another was built by Henry and Joseph Rice at Redbank Plains to serve local growers.

Tobacco growing
Tobacco was grown along the side of Devils Gully in convict days. Tobacco-growing may have continued there, as a Mr. O’Sullivan used a slab building in Mortimer Street (just above the gully) as a tobacco factory until the 1860s.

Tobacco was mentioned as one of the crops being grown in the Ipswich Agricultural Reserve in 1864, and at the same period, J.M. Thompson and a Mr. Dunne were successfully growing tobacco at Booval near Bundamba Creek.

Dairying
Dairying had become the main industry in the upper Bremer Catchment by the end of the 19th century. It started as a simple small-scale operation with cows milked by hand. Cream was produced on the farm by setting out shallow pans and butter was produced in hand-churns. The invention of the cream separator by Carl Gustave de Laval of Sweden in 1877 was a major technological advance. It was introduced into Australia in 1881. The equipment was initially relatively expensive and was installed in central creameries which separated the cream from the whey for all the surrounding farms.

Vineyards
Winemaking became a well-established industry in the Bremer catchment area in the 1870s. Local newspapers enthusiastically encouraged the initiative, noting that “vitiated palates, destroyed by the use of brandy, rum and strong imported wines, will take time to appreciate the bouquet of a good Queensland wine”, but eventually, it would become quite as natural to the Queenslander to take his half-pint or pint of wine as it is now to dwellers on the continent of Europe. If the taste for their wines could be created, drunkenness would in a good measure be banished from amongst us and society would benefit in a corresponding degree.

Meyer and Isambert established one of the earliest vineyards, “Toongarra”, with one property beside Warrill Creek and a second including cellars at One Mile where Toongarra Road is still a reminder of the enterprise. By the mid-1870s, there were 12 acres of vines including Espar, Black Hermitage and White Sherry varieties, producing around 8000 gallons of wine annually.

The soil was said to be “stiff and retentive” so before planting, trenches were dug, a system of drainage pipes was placed in the bottom and covered with broken brick and the soil was then replaced. The cellar was a large building with verandahs all around to help keep down the temperature in summer. A stove was lit in winter.

The Irwin Brothers established “Warrilla Vineyard” on Warrill Creek. They also drained the soil with clay pipes and their vines were planted “quineaux fashion” and manured with the must from the previous harvest. The wine varieties included Wantage, Yardelhoe, Black Spanish and
Delaware and, like “Toongarra”, they distilled a small amount of brandy for their own use.

“Warrilla” entered its wines in international competitions, winning a prize medal at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876, honourable mention at the Paris Exhibition of 1878 and the first prize medal at the Sydney International Exhibition 1879-80.

Lamberts Vineyard was on the banks of the Bremer at Mount Walker where the land was said to be a black loam intermixed with lime pebbles. A few vines were planted in the early 1870s but when the property was acquired by Mr. Lambert about 1879, he increased the area to 30 acres and built a cellar with a storage capacity of 30,000 gallons.

James Dick settled on a property on Purga Creek in the 1860s and grew cotton for several years. He then changed to dairying and growing maize and in the 1870s, also started a 10-acre vineyard.

He exhibited his wines and received medals from local shows and from the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London in 1886. He continued making wine from 1879 until 1914.

Near Peak Crossing was the “Ontario Vineyard” owned by the Alcorn family. It operated from the 1870s until at least 1914.

As in modern times, professional people also took an interest in wine production and well-known solicitor Frederick Chubb cultivated a small vineyard on Warrill Creek in the 1870s, although he did not produce his own wine.

Many local farmers also made small amounts of wine for their own use.