Category: Collection

Collection, Conservation, Education, Geology, Mammals & Birds, New species, Palaeontology, Queensland Stories, Reptiles & Amphibians, Research

What are megafauna?

By Rochelle Lawrence, Palaeontological Research Assistant, and Scott Hocknull, Senior Curator, Geosciences, Queensland Museum. Megafauna are giant animals usually weighing over 44 kilograms (kg). Most megafauna are now extinct (no longer exist) and were closely related to living species of animals we see today. You have probably heard of the more commonly known megafauna species, like the saber-toothed cat and woolly mammoth from North America. … Continue reading What are megafauna?

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Collection, Collection Management, Museum of Tropical Queensland, News, Queensland Stories

Contemporary collecting: Recording history as it happens

This blog post is part of an ongoing series titled Connecting with Collections. The series offers readers a peek inside the collections at Museum of Tropical Queensland, highlighting objects and their stories. What springs to mind when you think of museums? How about words like old, ancient, artefact or taxidermy? That’s not surprising.  Museums have a long history of collecting and displaying ‘curiosities’ just like … Continue reading Contemporary collecting: Recording history as it happens

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Cobb+Co Museum, Collection

The convict who got Australia’s wheels turning

Australia’s first wheelwright* was Hugh Hughes, a convict with the First Fleet in 1788.

He was the only wheelwright in the First Fleet so Hugh would have been kept very busy. Wheelwrights had to have the eye, skill and accuracy of cabinetmakers, but it was also a very laborious trade requiring strength and endurance. Hugh Hughes would have soon discovered timbers in this strange land were much harder than any he encountered in England.

There was no powered machinery at the time to saw and dress the ironbark, blue gum and stringy bark. Every timber component Hugh made was split, sawn, chipped and shaved with wedges, pit saws, adzes, axes, draw-knives and spoke shaves. Even the lathe that turned the wheel hubs was hand powered. Hugh, like country wheelwrights in Britain, probably even felled the trees he needed.  Yet Hugh Hughes was not making the big wheels, carts and wagons we might expect.

Continue reading “The convict who got Australia’s wheels turning”

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Collection

The Book of the Dead of Amenhotep

By Dr Brit Asmussen, A/Principal Curator, Cultures and Histories, Queensland Museum, Southbank  To celebrate World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April 2020, we’re shining the spotlight on the oldest ‘book’ we have in the Queensland Museum Collection. What is a ‘Book of the Dead’? Ancient Egyptian funerary texts are colloquially known as the ‘Book of the Dead’.  Although they are called books, these don’t … Continue reading The Book of the Dead of Amenhotep

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Cobb+Co Museum, Collection, Queensland Stories, Uncategorized

Electric Vehicles: Technology recharged

Electric vehicles (EVs) are gradually becoming visible on Queensland roads. The pioneer of this cutting-edge electric technology was a plain 1980s parcels van.

The converted Bedford van carried the digital clock showing Robert de Castella’s time in the 1982 Commonwealth Games marathon in Brisbane. For a short time the van was perhaps the most watched vehicle in the world. The Lucas Bedford van was virtually silent and produced no exhaust fumes, making it perfect for use in sporting competitions like the marathon and 30 km walk. It has a range of 100 km and a top speed of 80 kph.

Continue reading “Electric Vehicles: Technology recharged”

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Cobb+Co Museum, Collection, Exhibitions & Events, Queensland Stories, Uncategorized

THE WHEELS ARE IN MOTION

Many expressions we use today date back to the era of ‘horse and cart’ transport. Cars feature 21st century technology like sat-nav systems, but they also have reminders of travel in the 1800s. The dashboard was originally a timber or leather panel in front of a buggy which stopped mud from the ‘dashing’ horse flicking onto passengers. On rainy days buggy owners also rode with … Continue reading THE WHEELS ARE IN MOTION

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Collection, Museum of Tropical Queensland

Cowboys in the Museum

This blog post is part of an ongoing series titled Connecting with Collections. The series offers readers a peek inside collections at the Museum of Tropical Queensland, highlighting objects and their stories. Like most Queenslanders, I grew up knowing that Rugby League was a central part of life. I remember sitting with my dad watching the Friday Night Footy, the entire family wearing jerseys or … Continue reading Cowboys in the Museum

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Archaeology, Collection, Collection Management, Conservation, Exhibitions & Events, Maritime History, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Pacific Indigenous Cultures

Re-imagining Pandora

This blog post is part of an ongoing series titled Connecting with Collections. The series offers readers a peek inside collections at the Museum of Tropical Queensland, highlighting objects and their stories. In 1790, HMS Pandora sailed out of England with a clear mission: to find the HMS Bounty and its 25 mutineers. Pandora reached Tahiti in March 1791, and captured 14 of the mutineers, … Continue reading Re-imagining Pandora

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Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Cultures, Collection

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

Today we acknowledge International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Did you know there are 370 million Indigenous peoples belonging to 5000 different cultures across 90 countries with over 7000 languages spoken?  Indigenous peoples, also known as First peoples, Aboriginal peoples or Native peoples, are ethnic groups who are the original settlers of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or … Continue reading International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

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Collection, Museum of Tropical Queensland

Snapshots in Time

This blog post is part of an ongoing series titled Connecting with Collections. The series offers readers a peek inside collections at the Museum of Tropical Queensland, highlighting objects and their stories. You don’t often go to a new place without seeing at least one postcard for sale. Beaches, small towns, big cities – there’s always a tourist shop, and there’s always a postcard stand. … Continue reading Snapshots in Time

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Collection, Queensland Stories

Tune in to early TV transmission in Queensland

by Peter Volk, Assistant Collection Manager, Social History, Queensland Museum On 1st July 1959, nearly 60 years ago, Brisbane television station QTQ9 went on the air. A few months later, on 2nd November, ABQ2 started broadcasting as well. If you are of the right age, you can remember growing up on a steady diet of 1960’s era TV, all served in black and white, with … Continue reading Tune in to early TV transmission in Queensland

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Collection

A piece of our early solar system

By Dr Andrew Christy, Senior Curator, Mineralogy, Queensland Museum Network. When I started work at Queensland Museum Network two years ago, little did I know that a newly acquired object in a safe at Hendra, would trigger research into a new area, one that has fascinated me for many years. The object, a mass with a flaky, rusty crust, about 20 centimetres across and weighing … Continue reading A piece of our early solar system

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Collection

Vive la république!

By Judith Hickon, Curator, Social History, Queensland Museum To commemorate Bastille Day we delved into the Museum’s collections to see what objects we could find which relate to this momentous event in French history. The storming of the military fortress prison, the Bastille, on July 14, 1789, was a violent uprising against the monarchy that helped usher in the French Revolution. These coins and banknote … Continue reading Vive la république!

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Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Cultures, Collection, Education, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Queensland Stories

NAIDOC WEEK

This blog post is part of an ongoing series titled Connecting with Collections. The series offers readers a peek inside collections at the Museum of Tropical Queensland, highlighting objects and their stories. The 7-14 July marks the 2019 NAIDOC Week. Each year, NAIDOC Week celebrates the culture, history and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is commemorated by both Indigenous communities … Continue reading NAIDOC WEEK

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Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Cultures, Collection, Conservation, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Queensland Stories

National Reconciliation Week

This blog post is part of an ongoing series titled Connecting with Collections. The series offers readers a peek inside collections at the Museum of Tropical Queensland, highlighting objects and their stories. National Reconciliation Week (27 May – 3 June) celebrates the shared histories, cultures and accomplishments of Aboriginal People and Torres Strait Islanders and the broader Australian community. It urges all Australians to learn … Continue reading National Reconciliation Week

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Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Cultures, Collection, Museum of Tropical Queensland

Celebrating women’s history

This blog post is part of an ongoing series titled Connecting with Collections. The series offers readers a peek inside collections at the Museum of Tropical Queensland, highlighting objects and their stories. At the Museum of Tropical Queensland, we have a team of incredible women who look after our collections, our research, our visitors, and our galleries. Behind closed doors, much of our collection was also built … Continue reading Celebrating women’s history

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Collection

GEORGE RANDALL’S SOUVENIR UMBRELLA

Have you ever stopped to appreciate the craftsmanship of a good quality umbrella?  In Queensland where the weather is usually fine and sunny, most of us these days tend to wear hats to keep the sun off our heads which leaves our beloved umbrellas safely tucked away for those occasional – yet not uncommon – heavy rainfall seasons. The Queensland Museum recently acquired this old … Continue reading GEORGE RANDALL’S SOUVENIR UMBRELLA

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Collection, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Pacific Indigenous Cultures

The Myth of the Mermaid

This blog post is the first in an ongoing series titled Connecting with Collections. The series offers readers a peek inside collections at the Museum of Tropical Queensland, highlighting objects and their stories. Everyone knows the myth of the mermaid – the half woman, half fish, who is sometimes kind and at other times a source of evil who lures unassuming sailors to their deaths. But where … Continue reading The Myth of the Mermaid

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Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Cultures, Collection, Insects & Spiders, Queensland Stories, Research

International Women’s Day: women in Australian history

Today is International Women’s Day and we’re highlighting some of our favourite females in Australian history, shared through the lens of the incredible women who are part of the Queensland Museum Network team. Our collections are full of amazing stories and we’re thrilled to be able to share them with you to celebrate this special day.  Jennifer Wilson, Senior Curator, Transport Energy and Science Favourite … Continue reading International Women’s Day: women in Australian history

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