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The first years in the life of Ipswich were
busy ones.
Beginning its life as “Limestone”, so named for the
rock mined by convicts around 1824, the settlement grew rapidly.
The beginning of the end of the convict era in 1839 brought
surveyors to the region and they had the enormous task of
creating the official maps. These men worked hard for years,
camping in the bush and surveying the land, to carefully record the
landscape so settlers could establish farms and towns.
The name “Ipswich” came from Governor George Gipps who was
the Governor of New South Wales (which included what was to
later become Queensland). Ipswich’s first town plan drawn up by
surveyor Henry Wade in 1842 clearly shows that “Ipswich” was
being considered as the name for the new city. Some people
think Governor Gipps was naming Ipswich after himself because
the old town of Ipswich in England used to be spelled “Gippeswic”
which means “Gippi’s village”.
On 3 March 1860 Ipswich was proclaimed a municipality with a
population of nearly 3000 people. Local industries included
cotton, sugar and dairy farming, vineyards, boiling down works
(converting sheep carcasses into tallow to be made into candles),
cotton and woollen mills, and coal mining. A walk through the
town centre at the time would showcase a wide range of
businesses such as coopers making barrels, blacksmiths, tailors,
milliners, watchmakers, grocers, cobblers, saddlers, coach builders,
candle and soap makers, cordial makers, bakers, furniture makers
and joiners, lolly makers, chemists and photographers. Gas
lighting illuminated the streets from 1887 when the Ipswich
Gasworks was built.
The Bremer River offered a transport link from Ipswich to Brisbane
and Moreton Bay and looking westward, Ipswich also provided an
important connection to Toowoomba and the Darling Downs. In
fact, Ipswich’s geographical position was judged significant enough
A CITY
“It is therefore highly probable that upon this site of these
Limestone Hills, a town will one day be raised.”
- Allan Cunningham
10
Ipswich 150: 1860 – 2010
Proud Past - Exciting Future