What If Gladstone Had Become Queensland’s Capital?
It sounds like alternate history.
But there's a remarkable amount of truth behind it.
And the story actually begins before Queensland even existed.
In 1846, the British Government created a new colony called North Australia, covering a huge area north of the 26th parallel - including much of what is now Queensland and the Northern Territory.
And the planned capital?
Port Curtis — today's Gladstone.
Lieutenant-Colonel George Barney of the Royal Engineers was sent to establish the new colony, with Port Curtis selected as the site for its capital and seat of government.
But there was a problem.
The British Government had already changed its mind.
A change of government in Britain brought a change of policy, and the Letters Patent establishing North Australia were ordered to be revoked.
The people sent to establish the colony didn't know that.
In January 1847, Barney and the first government party sailed from Sydney aboard the Lord Auckland.
When they reached Port Curtis, the ship ran aground on shoals near Facing Island.
The settlers spent weeks on the island before eventually reaching the mainland.
Then, on 30 January 1847, George Barney formally proclaimed the Colony of North Australia at Facing Island and was sworn in as its Lieutenant-Governor.
There was just one extraordinary detail:
The colony had already been ordered to be abolished.
News of the British decision took months to reach Australia.
So for a very brief and rather bizarre moment, Port Curtis was the seat of a colony that Britain had already decided not to continue.
The experiment collapsed.
The settlement was abandoned and the government party returned to Sydney.
But Port Curtis wasn't finished.
In 1853, a new township was surveyed there and given the name Gladstone, honouring British politician William Ewart Gladstone.
And then, just a few years later, another “what if?” emerged.
As the campaign grew to separate the northern districts of New South Wales and create a new colony, people began arguing over where the new colony's capital should be.
And Gladstone was one of the contenders.
It wasn't alone.
Queensland State Archives records Brisbane, Cleveland, Gayndah, Gladstone, Ipswich and Rockhampton as potential candidates for the capital.
Eventually, Brisbane won.
Queen Victoria signed the Letters Patent creating the Colony of Queensland on 6 June 1859.
On 10 December 1859, Governor Sir George Ferguson Bowen arrived in Brisbane and the proclamation establishing Queensland was read.
Brisbane was the capital.
And history took the path we know today.
But imagine if it hadn't.
Queensland's Parliament in Gladstone Government House in Gladstone Brisbane developing as the great southern city Gladstone becoming the political centre of Queensland
The entire political geography of the state could have been different.
And here's another fascinating twist:
William Ewart Gladstone never actually visited Queensland.
The town that bears his name was named after a British politician who never set foot here.
So when you look at Gladstone today, you're looking at a place with an extraordinary history:
It was chosen as the capital of a proposed British colony.
A government expedition was sent there to establish that colony.
The colony was proclaimed there in 1847 - even though Britain had already decided to abandon it.
The township was later revived and named Gladstone.
And in the years leading up to Queensland's separation, Gladstone was one of the places whose supporters wanted it chosen as the new colony's capital.
So here's the big Queensland “what if?”
What would Queensland look like today if Gladstone - rather than Brisbane - had become the capital?
Would Brisbane still have become Queensland's biggest city?
Would Gladstone have developed into a political powerhouse?
And would the map of Queensland's history look completely different?
History is full of “what ifs”… and this one really did come surprisingly close.
Sources: Queensland State Archives — The Birth of Modern Queensland Gladstone Regional Council — Settlement Point Local Heritage Register Queensland Parliament — The Queensland Constitution
Images - Public Domain
