Getting from A to B was done on foot, bicycle, horse or goat drawn sulky, tram, train and automobile.

photo: Brisbane Customs House, 1898
Collection: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, no. 65241

Trams used to run from Hamilton to West End, and to Holland Park, Rainworth, Toowong, Enoggera, Stafford and Chermside. There were also trams on St Helena Island.

The webmistress would like to express here her personal lamenting of the loss of the trams in Brisbane. They are a safe and efficient form of transport, and are more environmentally friendly than cars or buses. What if Brisbane City councillors were held retrospectively accountable for bad policy decisions? Who would we call to task now, and how would they try to justify their decisions? And who would be blamed in, say, 50 years from now for contemporary decisions being made about public transport, tunnels, bridges and roads?

photo: Two Clark children on their way to Sunday School in a goatdrawn buggy, Redland Bay, Queensland, 1900-1910
Collection: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, no. 36414

Dr Lilian Cooper used a sulky for her rounds, and for night calls she used a bicycle. She used train and horseback to make country calls (Brisbane was on the edge of the bush in those days) and eventually purchased an automobile.

"Brisbane, with a population of 130,000, had appalling roads, muddy, rough and chokingly dusty, while bullock and horse teams ploughed up the tracks called 'roads' elsewhere in the state.
On the evening of Wednesday, May 31, 1905, a meeting of "almost all the motorists in Brisbane" was held at the School of Arts, in Ann Street. These eleven men and one woman (Dr. Lilian Cooper), voted to form the Queensland Automobile Club.
Eighteen local motorists eventually agreed to be foundation members. Half were doctors - a good indication of their comparative affluence - and their belief that 'autos' could be a reliable means for visiting patients."

from Road Ahead Magazine > Archived Editions > February/March 2005 > Features > Get a Horse
Story by Robert Longhurst,
http://www.racq.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/SID-342D8FD3-B2E2F8C0/racq_cms_production/hs.xsl/322_mem_roadahead_200502getahorse_ENA_HTML.htm

and "As early as 1906, there were complaints heard at the new Automobile Club of Queensland (ACQ) that certain 'medico' members were being targeted by a particular constable, as they puttered along inner city streets. By 1909, these complaints had multiplied, especially as members had to pay substantial fines. For example, both Dr Lillian (sic) Cooper and Dr David Hardie had broken the 8 mph speed limit in Queen Street, and were each fined £3/3/6."

from Road Ahead, RACQ Centenary Edition 1905-2005, April/May 2005.

Photo: Brisbane ambulance officers posing on a buggy with a wheeled litter attached to it, ca. 1898

Ambulance officers pictured are: Honorable BearerTyson, Honorable Driver Gray, Permanent Bearer Daniells, and the horse 'Outlaw'.

Collection: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, no. 343

Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade was established in 1892. In 1897 the first of the white ponies and sulkies were purchased, but the sulky only provided the means of getting to the place of the accident; the patient was still transported by pushing the litter. The first motor vehicle was placed in commission in May 1909.

To travel out of town, a lady would need her travelling vanity case (pictured right) although in actuality these cases were hardly ideal for travel as they were heavy and cumbersome.

photos: Shev Armstrong