This study charts the emergence of the Brisbane suburb of Greenslopes from the beginnings of whit... more This study charts the emergence of the Brisbane suburb of Greenslopes from the beginnings of white settlement until 1945. Greenslopes was a typical ribbon-development, based around the major arterial road running south from Brisbane. The study focuses on the development of both the suburban fabric (streets and houses) as well as the services (shops, transport, and public utilities) which made that development possible. As very little has hitherto been written on the subject, this study relies heavily on primary sources. The final two chapters provide a history of residential architecture in Greenslopes up until 1945, based on illustrations of precisely dated houses.
In the two and a half decades from the early 1890s until the end of the First World War, a number... more In the two and a half decades from the early 1890s until the end of the First World War, a number of one-storey residences were erected for affluent homeowners in Brisbane to designs which were sufficiently similar to constitute a distinctive style. This style is now generally called the "Federation Bungalow," a label which is problematic and has multiple meanings. Despite these terminological difficulties, the elite Federation Bungalow is a much-admired element of Brisbane's architectural heritage, and there are still many fine examples surviving in the older suburbs. It is the aim of the present publication to examine this attractive style in more detail, based on a sample of fifty houses, which have been dated and attributed to a specific architect, and for which some form of pictorial evidence is available.
Carl Peters (1856-1918) was the most controversial figure from the German colonial period in Tanz... more Carl Peters (1856-1918) was the most controversial figure from the German colonial period in Tanzania. He was responsible for the establishment of the colony of German East Africa in 1885, but his ruthless brutality, impetuous behaviour, and inveterate dishonesty led to his downfall and his self-imposed exile from Germany in 1897. This collection of published and unpublished sources relates to the four periods of Peters' activity in East Africa, namely the Usagara Expedition (1884-85), his work as representative of the German East African Company at Zanzibar (1887-88), his leadership of the German Emin Pasha Relief Expedition (1888-90), and his role as Imperial Commissioner at Kilimanjaro (1891-2). The sources are translated into English, with brief annotations. An introduction gives an overview of Peters' life and career.
The first section of this history of bank architecture in the Australian city of Brisbane gives a... more The first section of this history of bank architecture in the Australian city of Brisbane gives a short survey of the major banks erected in the city during the nineteenth century, before discussing, in overview, the developments in bank architecture in Brisbane during the first forty years of the twentieth century. The second section is devoted to a detailed study of ten major bank buildings erected in the city between 1911 and 1942.
The aim of this study is to identify, illustrate, and describe, as far as possible, each building... more The aim of this study is to identify, illustrate, and describe, as far as possible, each building erected in George Street in the Brisbane CBD between 1825 and 1941. It thus provides a large sample of the commercial, administrative, residential, and educational architecture of Brisbane from the convict era to the Second World War, spanning architectural styles from the Georgian to the Functionalist. In addition, the introduction provides a general overview of the history of the street, and an architectural survey by building type (houses, shops, hotels, etc.). This study also includes much information on the businesses which were active in George Street during the period in question.
When the German military officer, Tom Prince, marched to Uhehe early in 1896 to impose German rul... more When the German military officer, Tom Prince, marched to Uhehe early in 1896 to impose German rule on the warlike Hehe people and their very effective military leader, Mkwawa, he took the unusual step of bringing his wife with him. Magdalene Prince, née von Massow (1870-1935), was the strong-minded offspring of a very conservative, militaristic Prussian Junker family. For the next three years she would live at the German military station at Iringa, where she kept a diary which she first published, in edited form, in 1903. It is a valuable source for the history of the Hehe Wars, which finally ended with the death of Mkwawa in July 1898. It also gives an interesting picture of life on a German military station in the interior of the colony of German East Africa, and tells us much about the role of women in that very masculine environment. This English translation includes a large number of other documents, mostly written by German military officers, which give further information on the anti-insurgency operations conducted by the German troops in Uhehe.
Benjamin Backhouse (1829-1904) was a prominent nineteenth-century Australian architect who practi... more Benjamin Backhouse (1829-1904) was a prominent nineteenth-century Australian architect who practised in Geelong and Ballarat (1853-1860), Brisbane (1861-1868), and Sydney (1868-1884). He was also an active social reformer and politician. This study gives an overview of Backhouse's life and career, but focuses on the seven years that he spent in Queensland. Backhouse was one of the first professional architects to work in Brisbane, and he made a significant contribution to the establishment of the urban fabric of the new colonial capital, designing buildings of all types. An appendix catalogues all of his significant Queensland buildings, for which some form of pictorial evidence survives.
Hans Paasche (1881-1920) was a German naval officer who served in the Rufiji valley of what is no... more Hans Paasche (1881-1920) was a German naval officer who served in the Rufiji valley of what is now Tanzania from August 1905 to February 1906, during the first phase of the Maji Maji Rebellion. His memoirs give us a useful picture of the course of the rebellion in that district, which was just north of the Matumbi Hills, where the rebellion had broken out. Paasche was not a typical German military officer, and his observations of African life in the Rufiji valley are of considerable interest. However his memoirs, published in 1907, give only occasional hints that Paasche would subsequently become a leading pacifist in Germany, and a bitter opponent of the colonial project.
G.H.M. Addison (1857-1922) was one of the leading Brisbane architects of the Federation period. T... more G.H.M. Addison (1857-1922) was one of the leading Brisbane architects of the Federation period. This study of his life and work begins by examining his training and early career in England, where he came under the influence of the Aesthetic Movement. It goes on to describe his work in Melbourne (1883-86) and his long career in Brisbane (1886-1922). In the years around 1890 Addison designed some large Brisbane houses with outstandingly decorative interiors, and it is for these that he is best remembered. His partnership with Leslie G. Corrie during the years 1898 to 1905 was very productive and included a number of fine commercial buildings. During the final phase of his career, from 1905 to 1922, Addison established his reputation as an expert in the refurbishment and remodelling of hotels, but he also found time to design a handful of attractive churches, three of them in the Romanesque style.
Rochus Schmidt (1860-1938) was a German military officer who took part in the suppression of the ... more Rochus Schmidt (1860-1938) was a German military officer who took part in the suppression of the Coastal Rebellion of 1888-1890 in German East Africa (now Tanzania). Soon after the end of the rebellion he published what is still the most detailed military history of the insurrection. As well as recounting the events, Schmidt was also defending the German colonial project in East Africa, and protecting the reputation of the German military in the colony, and in particular their leader, Hermann von Wissmann. Schmidt's history includes a quite damning attack on Wissmann's successor, Julius von Soden, who was the first civilian governor of German East Africa. This English translation of Schmidt's history is intended to make an important historical source available to a wider readership.
This study is a descriptive catalogue of ninety buildings which were newly erected (or significan... more This study is a descriptive catalogue of ninety buildings which were newly erected (or significantly altered) in Brisbane's main thoroughfare, Queen Street, from 1901 to 1941. These buildings form a representative sample of Brisbane's commercial architecture during the Federation and Interwar periods. The study also includes an overview of the development of Queen Street during those years, and information on the architectural styles represented in the sample. There is also a brief summary of the building techniques in use at that time, and general comments are made on the design of specific building types (retail, banking and insurance, office buildings, hotels, cinemas, cafés). Maps are provided to locate the buildings, many of which have been demolished.
The German military officer, Tom von Prince (1866-1914), is one of the best known figures in the ... more The German military officer, Tom von Prince (1866-1914), is one of the best known figures in the history of German East Africa (Tanzania). His memoirs cover the period from 1890 to 1895, when Prince was involved in the latter phases of the suppression of the Abushiri Rebellion, and then in the containment of the Hehe chief, Mkwawa, who was the most successful opponent of the German military forces in East Africa. Prince also took part in Wissmann's expedition to Kilimanjaro in 1891, and he directed the final suppression of African resistance in Unyamwezi (1893) and Ugogo (1895). Prince's memoirs are a rich source for the military historian, but they also give much general information on the early colonial history of Tanzania.
This study aims to provide a complete architectural history of Queen Street, the main street of B... more This study aims to provide a complete architectural history of Queen Street, the main street of Brisbane, Queensland, from 1825 to 1900. The first section provides an overview of the topic, with a history of the development of the street during the nineteenth century, plus information on building materials used, and a study of building styles, and finally an analysis of major building types (houses, shops, banks and insurance companies, hotels). The second section is structured around a block-by-block listing of the buildings which were standing in Queen Street in 1900. For each building a detailed description and history is given, plus a history of any earlier buildings which may have stood on the same site. Of necessity this study includes much information on the businesses which were active in Queen Street during the nineteenth century.
Heinrich Schnee (1871-1949) served in the German colonial service from 1898 to 1918. His memoirs ... more Heinrich Schnee (1871-1949) served in the German colonial service from 1898 to 1918. His memoirs deal with his service in the Bismarck Archipelago of New Guinea (1898-1900), western Samoa (1900-3), and Tanzania (1912-18), and also with the intervening periods when he was employed in the Colonial Office in Berlin in increasingly senior positions. They also give considerable attention to his role in the East African Campaign during the First World War. The book also includes a few sketches from the period of the Weimar Republic in Germany, especially regarding Schnee's efforts to recover the colonies which Germany had lost under the Treaty of Versailles.
Claude William Chambers (1861-1947) had trained and worked as an architect in Melbourne and Sydne... more Claude William Chambers (1861-1947) had trained and worked as an architect in Melbourne and Sydney before coming to Brisbane in 1885. From 1889 to 1914 he was partner or solo practitioner in a series of architectural practices in that city, before moving to Sydney in 1915, where he spent the rest of his long working life. The present study focuses on Chambers' work in Brisbane, in the decades straddling 1900. His output included many fine examples of maritime, commercial and domestic architecture, in the styles popular during the period around Federation. An appendix gives details of about sixty of Chambers' Brisbane projects.
In 1907, the head of the German Colonial Office, Bernhard Dernburg, spent two and a half months t... more In 1907, the head of the German Colonial Office, Bernhard Dernburg, spent two and a half months touring the colony of German East Africa (modern Tanzania), accompanied by a large entourage which included his good friend, the industrialist and banker, Walther Rathenau. The reports which Dernburg and Rathenau submitted to the German chancellor in November 1907, following their return to Germany, are translated here. The topics discussed are wide-ranging: agriculture, transport (especially railways), labour, race relations, the legal system, European settlement, taxation, the colonial administration and its officials, public health, communal administration, and currency. Both reports particularly stress the economic importance of African smallholder agriculture, and the need to construct railways to tap the economic resources of the inland regions.
The nineteenth-century street layout of Brisbane, designed for a small provincial town, had becom... more The nineteenth-century street layout of Brisbane, designed for a small provincial town, had become a significant problem by the beginning of the twentieth century. The laying of tram lines in Adelaide Street between 1915 and 1917 convinced the civic authorities of the need to widen the street, and also prompted the passage of legislation to facilitate this. Between 1924 and 1931 the street was widened on the western alignment by 14 feet (4.3 metres). Thirty-one buildings on that side of the street were either truncated and remodelled or newly erected. This paper provides a background to the street-widening proposal and a short history of the project. Each of the buildings involved is then examined individually, to provide a snapshot of commercial architecture in Brisbane during the 1920s.
This history of the 1905/06 Maji Maji Rebellion in the southern districts of what is now Tanzania... more This history of the 1905/06 Maji Maji Rebellion in the southern districts of what is now Tanzania was written, three years after the end of the rebellion, by the official who had been governor of German East Africa at the outbreak of the revolt. It is essentially a military history, but contains additional comments on colonial administrative policy and practice. However ex-Governor Götzen was remarkably silent about certain policies which he had adopted which were widely seen as having contributed to the uprising; he was more interested in highlighting his success in suppressing the revolt. Götzen's history of the rebellion has long been one of the most-cited German sources on the history of Tanzania, and this English translation will now make it accessible to a much wider readership.
The architectural partnership of Godfrey Aveling Blackburne (1911-1989) and Vitaly Gzell (1908-19... more The architectural partnership of Godfrey Aveling Blackburne (1911-1989) and Vitaly Gzell (1908-1977) was one of the leading Brisbane practices in the field of domestic architecture during the years immediately before and after the Second World War. This catalogue illustrates over one hundred of their projects, listed chronologically, and these provide an interesting insight into residential architecture in Brisbane at the time.
Ada Schnee straddled two worlds, being born as the daughter of an English miner in New Zealand in... more Ada Schnee straddled two worlds, being born as the daughter of an English miner in New Zealand in 1872, and dying as the widow of a prominent German colonial official in Berlin in 1969. Her long life offers an interesting study in social advancement (and pro-colonial activism) in twentieth-century Germany. However there was a need to reconcile her origins, as a member of the antipodean artisan class (and also as a successful stage actress), with her public persona as the wife of the last governor of German East Africa. This paper compares an "authorised biography" (published in 1931) with the documentary evidence of Ada Schnee's life before her marriage. The elisions and embellishments in the authorised biography tell us something about the social expectations to which the wife of a German colonial official had to conform. The story of Ada Schnee's early life is also of interest for historians of the theatre in Australia and New Zealand in the 1890s.
This study charts the emergence of the Brisbane suburb of Greenslopes from the beginnings of whit... more This study charts the emergence of the Brisbane suburb of Greenslopes from the beginnings of white settlement until 1945. Greenslopes was a typical ribbon-development, based around the major arterial road running south from Brisbane. The study focuses on the development of both the suburban fabric (streets and houses) as well as the services (shops, transport, and public utilities) which made that development possible. As very little has hitherto been written on the subject, this study relies heavily on primary sources. The final two chapters provide a history of residential architecture in Greenslopes up until 1945, based on illustrations of precisely dated houses.
In the two and a half decades from the early 1890s until the end of the First World War, a number... more In the two and a half decades from the early 1890s until the end of the First World War, a number of one-storey residences were erected for affluent homeowners in Brisbane to designs which were sufficiently similar to constitute a distinctive style. This style is now generally called the "Federation Bungalow," a label which is problematic and has multiple meanings. Despite these terminological difficulties, the elite Federation Bungalow is a much-admired element of Brisbane's architectural heritage, and there are still many fine examples surviving in the older suburbs. It is the aim of the present publication to examine this attractive style in more detail, based on a sample of fifty houses, which have been dated and attributed to a specific architect, and for which some form of pictorial evidence is available.
Carl Peters (1856-1918) was the most controversial figure from the German colonial period in Tanz... more Carl Peters (1856-1918) was the most controversial figure from the German colonial period in Tanzania. He was responsible for the establishment of the colony of German East Africa in 1885, but his ruthless brutality, impetuous behaviour, and inveterate dishonesty led to his downfall and his self-imposed exile from Germany in 1897. This collection of published and unpublished sources relates to the four periods of Peters' activity in East Africa, namely the Usagara Expedition (1884-85), his work as representative of the German East African Company at Zanzibar (1887-88), his leadership of the German Emin Pasha Relief Expedition (1888-90), and his role as Imperial Commissioner at Kilimanjaro (1891-2). The sources are translated into English, with brief annotations. An introduction gives an overview of Peters' life and career.
The first section of this history of bank architecture in the Australian city of Brisbane gives a... more The first section of this history of bank architecture in the Australian city of Brisbane gives a short survey of the major banks erected in the city during the nineteenth century, before discussing, in overview, the developments in bank architecture in Brisbane during the first forty years of the twentieth century. The second section is devoted to a detailed study of ten major bank buildings erected in the city between 1911 and 1942.
The aim of this study is to identify, illustrate, and describe, as far as possible, each building... more The aim of this study is to identify, illustrate, and describe, as far as possible, each building erected in George Street in the Brisbane CBD between 1825 and 1941. It thus provides a large sample of the commercial, administrative, residential, and educational architecture of Brisbane from the convict era to the Second World War, spanning architectural styles from the Georgian to the Functionalist. In addition, the introduction provides a general overview of the history of the street, and an architectural survey by building type (houses, shops, hotels, etc.). This study also includes much information on the businesses which were active in George Street during the period in question.
When the German military officer, Tom Prince, marched to Uhehe early in 1896 to impose German rul... more When the German military officer, Tom Prince, marched to Uhehe early in 1896 to impose German rule on the warlike Hehe people and their very effective military leader, Mkwawa, he took the unusual step of bringing his wife with him. Magdalene Prince, née von Massow (1870-1935), was the strong-minded offspring of a very conservative, militaristic Prussian Junker family. For the next three years she would live at the German military station at Iringa, where she kept a diary which she first published, in edited form, in 1903. It is a valuable source for the history of the Hehe Wars, which finally ended with the death of Mkwawa in July 1898. It also gives an interesting picture of life on a German military station in the interior of the colony of German East Africa, and tells us much about the role of women in that very masculine environment. This English translation includes a large number of other documents, mostly written by German military officers, which give further information on the anti-insurgency operations conducted by the German troops in Uhehe.
Benjamin Backhouse (1829-1904) was a prominent nineteenth-century Australian architect who practi... more Benjamin Backhouse (1829-1904) was a prominent nineteenth-century Australian architect who practised in Geelong and Ballarat (1853-1860), Brisbane (1861-1868), and Sydney (1868-1884). He was also an active social reformer and politician. This study gives an overview of Backhouse's life and career, but focuses on the seven years that he spent in Queensland. Backhouse was one of the first professional architects to work in Brisbane, and he made a significant contribution to the establishment of the urban fabric of the new colonial capital, designing buildings of all types. An appendix catalogues all of his significant Queensland buildings, for which some form of pictorial evidence survives.
Hans Paasche (1881-1920) was a German naval officer who served in the Rufiji valley of what is no... more Hans Paasche (1881-1920) was a German naval officer who served in the Rufiji valley of what is now Tanzania from August 1905 to February 1906, during the first phase of the Maji Maji Rebellion. His memoirs give us a useful picture of the course of the rebellion in that district, which was just north of the Matumbi Hills, where the rebellion had broken out. Paasche was not a typical German military officer, and his observations of African life in the Rufiji valley are of considerable interest. However his memoirs, published in 1907, give only occasional hints that Paasche would subsequently become a leading pacifist in Germany, and a bitter opponent of the colonial project.
G.H.M. Addison (1857-1922) was one of the leading Brisbane architects of the Federation period. T... more G.H.M. Addison (1857-1922) was one of the leading Brisbane architects of the Federation period. This study of his life and work begins by examining his training and early career in England, where he came under the influence of the Aesthetic Movement. It goes on to describe his work in Melbourne (1883-86) and his long career in Brisbane (1886-1922). In the years around 1890 Addison designed some large Brisbane houses with outstandingly decorative interiors, and it is for these that he is best remembered. His partnership with Leslie G. Corrie during the years 1898 to 1905 was very productive and included a number of fine commercial buildings. During the final phase of his career, from 1905 to 1922, Addison established his reputation as an expert in the refurbishment and remodelling of hotels, but he also found time to design a handful of attractive churches, three of them in the Romanesque style.
Rochus Schmidt (1860-1938) was a German military officer who took part in the suppression of the ... more Rochus Schmidt (1860-1938) was a German military officer who took part in the suppression of the Coastal Rebellion of 1888-1890 in German East Africa (now Tanzania). Soon after the end of the rebellion he published what is still the most detailed military history of the insurrection. As well as recounting the events, Schmidt was also defending the German colonial project in East Africa, and protecting the reputation of the German military in the colony, and in particular their leader, Hermann von Wissmann. Schmidt's history includes a quite damning attack on Wissmann's successor, Julius von Soden, who was the first civilian governor of German East Africa. This English translation of Schmidt's history is intended to make an important historical source available to a wider readership.
This study is a descriptive catalogue of ninety buildings which were newly erected (or significan... more This study is a descriptive catalogue of ninety buildings which were newly erected (or significantly altered) in Brisbane's main thoroughfare, Queen Street, from 1901 to 1941. These buildings form a representative sample of Brisbane's commercial architecture during the Federation and Interwar periods. The study also includes an overview of the development of Queen Street during those years, and information on the architectural styles represented in the sample. There is also a brief summary of the building techniques in use at that time, and general comments are made on the design of specific building types (retail, banking and insurance, office buildings, hotels, cinemas, cafés). Maps are provided to locate the buildings, many of which have been demolished.
The German military officer, Tom von Prince (1866-1914), is one of the best known figures in the ... more The German military officer, Tom von Prince (1866-1914), is one of the best known figures in the history of German East Africa (Tanzania). His memoirs cover the period from 1890 to 1895, when Prince was involved in the latter phases of the suppression of the Abushiri Rebellion, and then in the containment of the Hehe chief, Mkwawa, who was the most successful opponent of the German military forces in East Africa. Prince also took part in Wissmann's expedition to Kilimanjaro in 1891, and he directed the final suppression of African resistance in Unyamwezi (1893) and Ugogo (1895). Prince's memoirs are a rich source for the military historian, but they also give much general information on the early colonial history of Tanzania.
This study aims to provide a complete architectural history of Queen Street, the main street of B... more This study aims to provide a complete architectural history of Queen Street, the main street of Brisbane, Queensland, from 1825 to 1900. The first section provides an overview of the topic, with a history of the development of the street during the nineteenth century, plus information on building materials used, and a study of building styles, and finally an analysis of major building types (houses, shops, banks and insurance companies, hotels). The second section is structured around a block-by-block listing of the buildings which were standing in Queen Street in 1900. For each building a detailed description and history is given, plus a history of any earlier buildings which may have stood on the same site. Of necessity this study includes much information on the businesses which were active in Queen Street during the nineteenth century.
Heinrich Schnee (1871-1949) served in the German colonial service from 1898 to 1918. His memoirs ... more Heinrich Schnee (1871-1949) served in the German colonial service from 1898 to 1918. His memoirs deal with his service in the Bismarck Archipelago of New Guinea (1898-1900), western Samoa (1900-3), and Tanzania (1912-18), and also with the intervening periods when he was employed in the Colonial Office in Berlin in increasingly senior positions. They also give considerable attention to his role in the East African Campaign during the First World War. The book also includes a few sketches from the period of the Weimar Republic in Germany, especially regarding Schnee's efforts to recover the colonies which Germany had lost under the Treaty of Versailles.
Claude William Chambers (1861-1947) had trained and worked as an architect in Melbourne and Sydne... more Claude William Chambers (1861-1947) had trained and worked as an architect in Melbourne and Sydney before coming to Brisbane in 1885. From 1889 to 1914 he was partner or solo practitioner in a series of architectural practices in that city, before moving to Sydney in 1915, where he spent the rest of his long working life. The present study focuses on Chambers' work in Brisbane, in the decades straddling 1900. His output included many fine examples of maritime, commercial and domestic architecture, in the styles popular during the period around Federation. An appendix gives details of about sixty of Chambers' Brisbane projects.
In 1907, the head of the German Colonial Office, Bernhard Dernburg, spent two and a half months t... more In 1907, the head of the German Colonial Office, Bernhard Dernburg, spent two and a half months touring the colony of German East Africa (modern Tanzania), accompanied by a large entourage which included his good friend, the industrialist and banker, Walther Rathenau. The reports which Dernburg and Rathenau submitted to the German chancellor in November 1907, following their return to Germany, are translated here. The topics discussed are wide-ranging: agriculture, transport (especially railways), labour, race relations, the legal system, European settlement, taxation, the colonial administration and its officials, public health, communal administration, and currency. Both reports particularly stress the economic importance of African smallholder agriculture, and the need to construct railways to tap the economic resources of the inland regions.
The nineteenth-century street layout of Brisbane, designed for a small provincial town, had becom... more The nineteenth-century street layout of Brisbane, designed for a small provincial town, had become a significant problem by the beginning of the twentieth century. The laying of tram lines in Adelaide Street between 1915 and 1917 convinced the civic authorities of the need to widen the street, and also prompted the passage of legislation to facilitate this. Between 1924 and 1931 the street was widened on the western alignment by 14 feet (4.3 metres). Thirty-one buildings on that side of the street were either truncated and remodelled or newly erected. This paper provides a background to the street-widening proposal and a short history of the project. Each of the buildings involved is then examined individually, to provide a snapshot of commercial architecture in Brisbane during the 1920s.
This history of the 1905/06 Maji Maji Rebellion in the southern districts of what is now Tanzania... more This history of the 1905/06 Maji Maji Rebellion in the southern districts of what is now Tanzania was written, three years after the end of the rebellion, by the official who had been governor of German East Africa at the outbreak of the revolt. It is essentially a military history, but contains additional comments on colonial administrative policy and practice. However ex-Governor Götzen was remarkably silent about certain policies which he had adopted which were widely seen as having contributed to the uprising; he was more interested in highlighting his success in suppressing the revolt. Götzen's history of the rebellion has long been one of the most-cited German sources on the history of Tanzania, and this English translation will now make it accessible to a much wider readership.
The architectural partnership of Godfrey Aveling Blackburne (1911-1989) and Vitaly Gzell (1908-19... more The architectural partnership of Godfrey Aveling Blackburne (1911-1989) and Vitaly Gzell (1908-1977) was one of the leading Brisbane practices in the field of domestic architecture during the years immediately before and after the Second World War. This catalogue illustrates over one hundred of their projects, listed chronologically, and these provide an interesting insight into residential architecture in Brisbane at the time.
Ada Schnee straddled two worlds, being born as the daughter of an English miner in New Zealand in... more Ada Schnee straddled two worlds, being born as the daughter of an English miner in New Zealand in 1872, and dying as the widow of a prominent German colonial official in Berlin in 1969. Her long life offers an interesting study in social advancement (and pro-colonial activism) in twentieth-century Germany. However there was a need to reconcile her origins, as a member of the antipodean artisan class (and also as a successful stage actress), with her public persona as the wife of the last governor of German East Africa. This paper compares an "authorised biography" (published in 1931) with the documentary evidence of Ada Schnee's life before her marriage. The elisions and embellishments in the authorised biography tell us something about the social expectations to which the wife of a German colonial official had to conform. The story of Ada Schnee's early life is also of interest for historians of the theatre in Australia and New Zealand in the 1890s.
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