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CAPTAIN COLEY - QUEENSLAND'S FIRST SERGEANT-AT-AR]V1S

by G. Langevad

Delivered at a meeting of the Society on 23 August 1979

In 1838 the Colony of New South Wales was rocked by the news that seven whites had been hanged for the murder of 24 aborigines on Henry Dangar's station at Myall Creek. These executions removed any doubts that may have existed in the minds of the general public on the attitudes of Sir George Gipps and Attorney-General Plunkett. It was now clear that the instiuctions issued by Lord Glenelg as Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, that the Aborigines must be accorded the full protection they deserved as British subjects, would be followed by this Governor and his Attorney-General, i

In 1841 Evan and Colin John Mackenzie arrived in Sydney with a letter of introduction to Sir Thomas Mitchell from Lord Glenelg. Thefr request for a run in the north of the proposed Moreton Bay District was readily agreed to and they received permission to use Brisbane as a port of entry. When Sir George Gipps visited Brisbane town in April 1842 he must have been dismayed to hear reports that a major massacre of Aborigines had occurred on the Kilcoy run, operated by his newly appointed magistrate, the 25-year-old Evan Mackenzie. Despite confirming reports from the Crown Lands Commissioner Stephen Simpson and the head of the German Mission, Wilhelm Schmidt Sfr George took virtually no official action.2

As a result of these paradoxically differing attitudes on the part of Sir George and the resultant failure to have the matter investigated in a court of law, the Kilcoy massacre became and remains a mystery. William Coote, writing in 1882, stated in relation to i t "I am afraid tha t to the disgrace of humanity, the accusation was in this, as in not a few other cases, too true."3 The

-Mr. Gerry Langevad is at present involved in research from primary documen­tary sources on the Kilcoy Massacre, His research is directed towards a thesis in the Department of Anthropology, University of Queensland, in the field of ethnohistory. His longer-term plans are centred around a project for the transscription and organisation of documents relating to earh' Queensland,

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absence, however, of flrm and direct evidence still leaves many doubts. Sir Andrew Garran in 1886 was convinced that the massacre had occurred, but that Sir Evan Mackenzie was absent at the time.-' H. J. Gibbney, in the Australian Dictionary of Bio­graphy, summed up the situation on the apparent evidence when he wrote:

After Mackenzie left Queensland (1846) stories of a mass poisoning of aboriginals by arsenic on Kilcoy during his tenure started to circulate. Though never confirmed, the rumours were mentioned in a select committee in 1861 and repeated by W. Coote in 1867. They became part of the Australian legend but no suggestion of participation by Mackenzie was ever made.^

There are a number of errors in this particular ADB entry, which are being corrected elsewhere.^ However, the entry does provide a lead that presents both anthropologists and historians with an even more challenging research topic than the Kilcoy massacre itself, and provides the subject of this paper.

The evidence from the Select Committee into the Native Police, cited by both Gibbney and Coote, is that of John Ker-Wilson,'' one of Mackenzie's companions when he was opening up Kilcoy. Ker-Wilson's evidence is, at best ambiguous and is far from conclusive. The Courier of 25 July 1861 reported:

. . . the committee is rather for exoneration than investigation

. . . each member of the committee extracted as much as he wanted from the doubtful witnesses, and no more . . . while professing a hypocritical anxiety for the evangelization of the poor wretches (i.e. the Aborigines) whose gradual extir­pation they are actually conniving at.

The bias of the committee comes as no surprise when one remembers that it was composed of five squatters, two members from rural electorates, and a member of Parliament for Brisbane.*^ Before Ker-Wilson, the committee had heard evidence from a certain Captain Coley: direct and firm evidence of the Kilcoy massacre, and evidence that had even more far-reaching implica­tions. This, however, appears to have been ignored by the com­mittee and by many later authors. The official minutes of evi­dence" make quite clear that Coley was an important commercial pioneer in what is now the city of Brisbane. Why has he been ignored or forgotten by authors and historians alike? The ques­tions to be considered in this paper are —

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Who was Captain Coley? Was he a reputable witness?

There is sufficient evidence, as will become apparent to answer positively that Captain Coley was a reputable witness. However, despite a diligent search, the evidence necessary to write a full definitive biography has not come into my posses­sion. Embodied in this paper is a degree of speculation based on the available evidence, and it is hoped that time and additional research may produce the material needed to substantiate or refute claims made herein.

The year 1797 was one in which two unrelated births of sig­nificance to the development of the Queensland of today took place. The first Merino sheep arrived in Botany Bay, and thus the Austialian wool industry was born.'" Wool provided the viable export commodity that made possible the conversion of a dump­ing ground for the unwanted waste of British society into one of the most precious jewels in the British Crown. Australia, the nation, was the product of the pastoral industry, and it was the expansion of this industry that led to the establishment of Brisbane as a service centie for the rich runs on the Darling Downs and the Moreton Bay District.

On the other side of the world, in London, the former Ann Blinkern and Merchant Captain Richard James Coley rejoiced at the birth of their son, his father's namesake.'^ Even later, when he had followed his father into the merchant service,'2 few could have predicted the wide diversity of occupations that he was to follow, or that he was to be one of the major figures in the con­version of Brisbane from a mere service centre into the commer­cial heart of a great sovereign state.

Events in 1835 altered the direction of the second Merchant Captain Richard James Coley's life and set it on a path that was to lead him into Queensland as one of the founding fathers of the city of Brisbane. In that year he married Mary Goggs, the sister of Matthew Buscall Goggs. This marriage took place at South Creek, Norfolk — almost certainly Norfolk, England — and the Coleys migrated to Tasmania in the same year.'3 Mary's brother Mat­thew had migrated there in 1831 and it seems likely that it was his influence that helped to persuade Coley to seek his fortune in thatfar-ofrland.i^

Shipping lists of the 1830s in the Tasmanian do not show Cap­tain Coley as the master of a vessel;'^ but this does not disprove that he engaged in merchant shipping. For the whole of his life he seems to have been plagued by a lack of capital; it is therefore

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probable, if he indeed did engage in merchant shipping, that it was in one of the small coasters that operated on all parts of the Australian coastline, and frequently these appear in the lists without the master's name. Matthew Goggs was involved in this type of trading, and it is probable that he and Coley worked together."'

In Tasmania merchant captain Coley became farmer Coley — not , it appears, very successfully; but this was a difficult period in the agricultural industry.i7 By 1840 Matthew Goggs had moved to the mainland and purchased large land holdings, par­ticularly around a place called Brisbane which was in fact close to Maitiand, New South Wales. He took out a run lease for a pro­perty on the Pages River in the New England District which would place it in the vicinity of present-day Murrurundi.'*^ Goggs later moved to Chinchilla on the Darling Downs. Again it is possible that it was Goggs' influence that guided Coley's deci­sion to leave Tasmania and try new ventures at the new settle­ment at Moreton Bay.

In September 1842 Mr. and Mrs. Coley and their three children left Hobart town and travelled to Sydney in the Sir John Byng; a fellow passenger on this voyage was a Captain Wickham, R.N.,i'^ who himself was to make a contribution to the development of Brisbane town. In October Coley travelled to Moreton Bay, where he stayed briefly before returning to Sydney to collect his wife and family and establish them in their new home in Brisbane in the December.211 Here Coley set himself up as a general merchant a career that he was to follow for the next decade. He never became one of the big merchants, as his impecunious state made it necessary for him to engage in a cash-only business which generally did not attract the major squat­ters, who needed credit to tide them over between shearing seasons.21

BRISBANE'S FIRST PRIVATE HOME On 20 April 1843 Coley made his first land purchase in the

Moreton Bay District. It was this land purchase that has created some confusion among a number of historians. Fox claims that Coley was in charge of police in Moreton Bay in the convict days;22 there is no evidence to substantiate this, but it is easy to see how the confusion arose. Gerler's map of 1844 shows Coley's house at approximately the same location as the old Comman­dant's residence;2" in fact they were not the same building. The land was allotment number 3 of section 9, which was in George Street on the Parliament House side of the present Executive Building, and here Coley built his flrst home, and the first private

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residence in Brisbane: the famous Captain Coley's Cottage, which was still standing early this century.24 He purchased the land from John Christian Handt (the former German mission-arv) and his wife Mary. Since Handt was an alien he could not have freehold title to land in Queensland, so that technically the purchase was from Handt's daughter.2?

In 1844 Coley expanded his land holdings when he purchased allotment 23 in South Brisbane, at Kangaroo Point.2'' In this same year his interest in civic affairs becomes'apparent with his acceptance of an appointment to the committee of the Moreton Bav Benevolent Society. It is significant to note, in relation to his later evidence on the Kilcoy massacre, that two of his fellow committee members were Evan and Colin John Mackenzie; the latter was also one of his residential neighbours.27 In 1846 he chaired a meeting of inhabitants of Brisbane who petitioned the Colonial Secretary against the closing of the establishment of Moreton Bay and the removal of its buildings.2- Coley the estab­lished small merchant was also becoming a public figure.

The year 1850 marked another turning point in Coley's life, and also marked a change in direction for Brisbane. In that year he served as a juror on the first circuit courts in the Moreton Bay Distiict2^^ and on 3 April he was appointed the first Lloyds' Agent for the Distiict. 3" On 14 November the Bank of New South Wales opened not only the first bank in the Moreton Bay District but the first branch established by the Bank of New South Wales, and its temporary premises were the former store occupied bv Richard James Coley. The establishment of this branch was highly significant both for this distiict and for the bank itself, and because of communications problems it was deemed neces­sary to appoint Directors in this district to advise the local man­ager. These Directors would need to be men of exceptionally high calibre with a wide experience in the area of most interest to the bank. It is significant that Richard James Coley and D. C. McConnell were the men chosen. It appears to have been a wise choice indeed: McConnell was an extremelv successful grazier and Coley was at the heart of the Brisbane business com­munity.3i The civic interests continued, and on 29 March 1851 he was on the committee that had been formed for the separation of Moreton Bay and the northern Districts from New South Wales.32 Again the connection with Colin John Mackenzie is obvious: in 1856 Mackenzie stood, unsuccessfully, for the seat of Clarence River, Darling Downs on a Separation ticket. ^̂ '' Coley's trading interests continued; he is shown as the holder of a licence as spirit merchant in 1851. In 1852 another significant

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event in Queensland's development was linked with Coley: on 8 May he was one of the two signatories of Queensland's first bank note issued to the value of £1.34 Coley's career at this time appears to have been more concerned with his duties as a Lloyds' agent and Director of the Bank of New South Wales than with running a store.

In 1853 he sold allotment 23 on Kangaroo Point to John Richardson and the other half of it to Daniel Rowntree Somerset for a total of £400.35 In 1855 he purchased lots 11 and 12 in North Brisbane which he sold in December 1856.3& It seems that in 1857 he had a need for additional money, and in that year he bor­rowed £600 at 10% from William Wilson, a grazier, using his home as security,37 and thus incurred a debt that was to remain with him throughout his life. Early in 1859 he purchased section 191 at North Brisbane for £124; it appears to have been a reasonable investment because on 5 August the same year he sold it to Archibald Young, another grazier, for £350.38 Jn that year he also borrowed from the same Young £600 which he used to repay the mortgage that he had with Wilson.3''

In 1860, with the creation of Queensland, Coley, then 63, was appointed to important positions in the foundation of the State. The future of the new Colony of Queensland was heavily depen­dent on the calibre of the people chosen to advise the Governor. Coley's standing in marine matters is demonstrated by his appointment to the Queensland Steam Navigation Board, and the Queensland Pilot Board, two vital posts in a State so depen­dent on sea traffic for its economic survival.40 Coley continued to be an important commercial figure. On 30 July he was at the first meeting of the Brisbane Chamber of Commerce, but was not appointed to its Committee.-*! In 1864 it was reported that "for some seven or eight years he filled the situation of chairman of the Brisbane Chamber of Commerce, or rather Exchange".^2

OFFICER OF PARLIAMENT The new Colony of Queensland was to be governed under

what has become known as the Westminster system, with guaranteed Government "of the people, by the people, for the people". Under this system a balance is maintained between the Executive Government which includes the Crown, and the people, represented by the Parliament and in particular the Legislative Assembly. The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is the link between Executive Government and the people, and moreover is Chairman of the Legislative Assembly. The Speaker guarantees that Government will be responsible, that is, the Executive answerable to the people through the Parliament.

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The authority of the Speaker is supreme and guaranteed by the Crown, and this authority is symbolised by the Mace. The Mace is borne by the man responsible for upholding the Speaker's authority — his Sergeant-at-Arms. (Ironically, it was in 1979 when the authority of Parliament through the office of Speaker, as opposed to the authority of the Executive Government was undergoing one of its most serious challanges, that Queensland received its first Mace; though symbolically it had always had one.) The man chosen to fill this important position of Queens­land's first Sergeant-at Arms was Captain Richard James Coley, and he held this position until his death.

While the post carried a salary, it should be seen more as an honour than as a job. As Bernays-i3 put it:

Up to the year 1893 the office of Sergeant-at-Arms of the Legislative Assembly had always been preserved as a sep­arate office and filled as a rule by an elderly gentleman in a tiaditional costume of knee breeches, silk stockings, silver buckled shoes and an official cut-away coat with a millin­ery beetle on the neck. The outfit no doubt was impressive as an emblem of the authority of the House^^.

It takes little imagination to see Richard James Coley in his armchair at the Bar of the House, by then his health already fail­ing and to some extent left behind by the flood of development that he had done so much to create. In May 1861 Captain Coley gave evidence before the Select Committee into the Native Police^5; evidence that was to be damning for two people with whom he had most certainly been associated — one Evan Mackenzie and one Colin John Mackenzie; evidence which was, no doubt thoroughly unpalatable to the majority of squatters in the Moreton Bay District. His evidence, however, was indoubt-edly beHeved, for until his death he remained Sergeant-at-Arms and Lloyds' Agent.-i^ His evidence, moreover, was not refuted by Colin John Mackenzie, and the only defence to contradict any of it came from John Ker-Wilson. Ker-Wilson's evidence is clearly more evasion than rebuttal. In presenting Coley's evidence to the House the Colonial Treasurer of the day praised his honesty, integrity, and knowledge.^" The Committee was compelled to support Coley's evidence from information it had itself obtained.

A happy day occurred in the life of the Coley family on 6 July 1864 when the daughter Mary Clara married William Thomson, a grazier from the Leichardt District. Their joy, however, was to be short-lived: on 12 September Coley and his nephew Presley Seal sat and chatted in the parlour of the Coley home. Coley

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appeared to be in high spirits. He excused himself and went to the rear of the house. Seal was then startled to hear the sound of gun shots — in a house where firearms were never normally kept. He went out to flnd his uncle lying dead. Thus ended the career of Richard James Coley, Queensland's first Sergeant-at-Arms and a founding father of the city of Brisbane. The follow­ing day he was laid to rest in the Church of England Cemetery, Brisbane, to be re-interred in Toowong Cemetery in 1913.

The official coroner's verdict on Coley's death, based heavily on the evidence given by Dr. Kearsey Cannan and handed down by coroner Robert Hancock, was that he had shot himself in the head with a single shot pistol, in a fit of temporary insanity brought about by the pain that he was suffering from his persis­tent "gout in the heart and stomach".•*'^ The meagreness of Coley's financial resources are shown in his will, which, while filed with the Supreme Court was never proven, and shows an estate of less than £100.-i'̂

In July 1865 Coley's other surviving daughter Anne Alice married C. B. Dutton, another grazier.so His son Richard James Coley is claimed to have committed suicide in Roma on 16 August 1872 by taking strychnine. An interesting point in this coroner's inquest is that the last person known to have seen him alive was not examined by the coroner and was in fact allowed to leave town. The strychnine bottle was beside his bed still firmly corked.51

Mrs. Coley long outlived her husband. She continued to live in the original Coley residence, still with its £600 mortgage. In 1871 £200 was repaid to Archibald Young, and her brother Matthew assumed the remainder of the mortgage. In 1885 Matthew Goggs released the mortgage on the Coley home, and the property itself was brought under the Torrens title system with a value of £4000." On 14 July 1900 Mrs. Coley, now living in Kent Street New Farm, died at the age of 93. The original home, Brisbane's first private residence, was still standing in George Street covered with its magnificent bougainvillea, on which Lady Bowen so frequently commented.s"* By then Brisbane was a thriv­ing metropolis and many of its citizens had forgotten the outs­tanding contribution to its prosperity and development made by Queensland's first Sergeant-at-Arms. Today his only memorial is a decaying headstone in Toowong Cemetery, urgently in need of restoration.

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ABBREVIATIONS USED IN NOTES ,A0N5\V Archives of New South Wales (actually Archives Author i ty of \'ev\-

South Wales), -Much of this material is available on microfilm through the efforts of the Oxley Library, Brisbane,

Courier Under its var ious names, e,g. .Moreton Bay Courier, The Courier, Brisbane Courier, etc.

ML Mitchell Library, Sydney. NSWGG New South Wales Governmen t Gazette, followed by year and page

number . Q60 Queensland Governmen t Gazette of 1860, followed by the page n u m ­

ber, QGG Queensland Government Gazette, followed by year and page n u m ­

ber. QS.A Queensland State Archives. QTO Queensland Titles Office, "Old Systems Section". QV&P Queensland Votes and Proceedings for the Legislative Assembly —

many copies of these are unpaginated, and page n u m b e r s quoted are from the copy held by the (Queensland Par l iamentary Library.

SL Simpson Letterbook — letterbook of the first C r o w n Lands Commis ­sioner of Queensland. Transcribed by G. Langevad as Xo . 1 of Cultural and Historical Records of Queensland, Anthropology Museum, University of Queensland. Original held by QSA (A20882).

SMH Sydney Herald and Sydney .Morning Herald.

NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY L Brian Harrison, "The Myall Creek Massacre", in Records of Times Past (Isobel

McBr\'de, ed.), Austral ian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra , 1978, p. 17 et seq. "Australian Aborigines — Correspondence relating to the Massacre of Various Aborigines and to the Trial of their Murde re r s " , House of Com­mons Command Paper 1839 (526), Vol. XXXIV, in British Parliamentary Papers — Colonies — Australia — 5, Irish Universi ty Press, Shannon , 1970, p . 371 et seq. Lord Glenelg to Governor Sir Richard Bourke, 26 July 1837, ibid., p . 373.

2, SMH — Shipping Intelligence — 15 March 1841. Lord Glenelg to Sir Thomas Mi tche l l 19 September 1840, ML Ref. A293, p. 159. -AO.XSW Col. Sec. 41 4649 (Oxlev A2:12 1). SL 30 Mav 1842; 20 January 1843; 6 Mav 1843. -\'5\VGG 1842: 249, 619, 689. ,\'SWGG 1848: 613. Wi lhdm Schmidt, in SL 14 Januarv 1843. SMH - Editorial 5 December 1842. Burke s Peerage, Baronetage and Knighta,Je. 1861, p. 692.

3, William Coote, History of the Colony of Queensland, \ 'o l , I, Wil l iam Thorne , Brisbane, 1882, p. 45.

4, Hon. Andrew (3arran, Picturesque Atlas of Australasia, Vol. I, Picturesque Publishing Co., Sydney, 1886, p . 326.

5, Following correspondence be tween myself and Mr, Gibbney, in wh ich I was able to supply addit ional evidence, this article has n o w (1979) been amended by the delet ion of the words " b u t no suggest ion of par t ic ipat ion by -Mackenzie was ever made" . The original article is Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol, 4, Melbourne Universi ty Press, Melbourne , 1966, pp . 170-

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171. The amendment is in the Corrigenda sheets. Vol. 7 of the same work, published in 1979.

6. G. Langevad, The Kilcoy Massacre, B.A. Hons. Thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Queensland, due for completion December 1979.

7. QV&P 1861, p. 477 (Parliamentary Library Copy) — evidence of John Ker-Wilson before Select Committee on the Native Police Force.

8. Members of the Select Committee on the Native Police Force: R. R. Mackenzie, Member for Burnett (Q60:165) of Serocold and Mackenzie, holders of a number of leases (e.g. Dawson Vale — Q60:266); C. Fitzsimmons, Member for Port Curtis (Q60;181) of Sheridan and Fitzsim-mons, holders of a number of leases (e.g. Lotus Nos. 1-7 — Q60:131); R. St. George Gore, Member for Warwick (Q60:165), holder of Canning Creek lease (Q60:367); J. Watts, Member for Drayton and Toowoomba (Q60:165) of Hodgson and Watts, holders of a number of leases (e.g. Eton Vale — Q60:367); C. J. Royds, Member for Leichardt (Q60:165) of C J. and W. Royds, holders of a number of leases (e.g. Wandoan — Q60:193); T. Moffatt, Member for Western Dov/ns (Q60:158); J. Ferrett, Member for Maranoa (Q60:165); C. W. Blakney, Member for Brisbane (Q60:175).

9. QV&P 1861, p. 424 — evidence of Captain John Coley before the Select Com­mittee on the Native Police Force. Coley's name was Richard James, not John, but the evidence given makes it quite clear that they are one and the same man. Similar errors are frequently detected in Minutes taken by Bernays, and in newspaper reports he is simply referred to as Captain Coley.

10. G. J. Abbott, The Pastoral Age, a Re-examination, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1971, pp. 19-25.

11. The 1864 entry (No. 1872) in the Register of Deaths, General Registry Office, Brisbane in the name of Richard James Coley.

12. COURIER, Brisbane, 13 September 1864. 13. Coley's Death Certificate, op. cit.

The entry simply says "South Creek Norfolk". There is no South Creek or Norfolk in Tasmania. The Goggs family came from Norfolk, England. "Creek" is a familiar name in Australia and New Zealand, but not in Eng­land, although it is of English origin, derived from Old Norse. A study by G. F. Jensen of the University of Copenhagen in 1968 indicates Norfolk place-names as being heavily influenced by Old Norse. Such a place-name does not appear in present Gazetteers of the British Isles, but advice from the Bri­tish Consul General's Office in Brisbane indicates that a number of con­solidations have occurred in Britain since the Second World War and it is quite possible that "South Creek" was one of these. In normal English usage it would indicate an inlet and Norfolk abounds in likely sites of this type. The entry in the original register, when compared to other entries in the same register, strongly supports the assumption that the place was in Eng­land.

14. Queenslander, 20 May 1882. Events during Coley's life and after his death indicate a close association with Matthew Buscall Goggs and his sister Mary. It was Goggs who wit­nessed Coley's will in 185(1 (QSA Ecclesiastical Files 233). Goggs adopted an Ellen Bickerton who later married Edward Griffith, brother of Sir Samuel (pers. comm. Jean O. Goggs to Queensland Women's Historical Association,

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21 March 19591, and a knowledge ot the handwriting of Colev s son who was the informant for his death certificate supports the assumption that his mother's name may well ha\e been Bickerton rather than Blinkern. The nephew with him at the time of his death, Presley Seal was the son of another Goggs girl, Mary s next sister Phillis (Goggs family tree in Oxley Library from .National Trust of Queensland, VVoIston House Committee),

15, Shipping Lists in the Tasmanian (1830-33; 1837-39) and the Tasmanian and Austral-Asiatic Revieiv (1834-37),

16, E, G. Heap, "In the Wake of the Raftsmen", Queensland Hcrita-'C. 1'3), 1965, Oxley Library, Brisbane,

17, Courier, Brisbane, 13 September 1^64. 1*̂ XSWGG 1S39: 1496,

,\5WGG 1840: 1194, 12SS, 19, SMH — Shipping Intelligence — 26 September 1842. 20, S-MH - Shipping Intelligence - 18 October 1842; 24 Xovember 1842; 29

.November 1842. 21, Courier, 13 September 1864,

Courier: systematic checking of "Commercial Intelligence", 1846-52; adver­tisement 20 June 1846, "1st & 2nd Flour for Sale at the lowest remunerating price for cash at R, J, Coley's, Xorth Brisbane",

22, N5\N' Registrar General — extract of -No, 955 of Book 7 — 12 December 1 ^44, M, J, Fox, The History of Queensland, \'ol, 2, States Publishing Co,, Brisbane, 1922, p. 894,

23, J, G, Steele, Brisbane Town in Convict Days. University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, 1975, following p. 297,

24, QTO Extract 4 4KK, Courier, 14 July 1900.

25, QTO Extract i 488, 26, QTO Deed ID: 49, 27, .Minutes, ,Moreton Bay Benevolent 5uciet\, 14 October 1844 to 19 .March

1^47: QSA HOSIGI & DI. Lands Department Map 1871, Parish of North Brisbane,

28, AONSW Col, Sec, Register In Letters 1846: 9311; (Oxley microfilm), 29, S, ]. Butlin, Queensland's First Bank, Bank of ,New South Wales, Brisbane,

1950, p. 11. 30, Pers. comm,, Lloyds Bank Head Office, London, 9 January 1979. 31, R, F, Holder, Bank i>t \S\\\— A History, \'ol, 1, .Angus and Robertson,

Sydney, 1970, p. 167, 32, Courier, 29 March 1851 33, William Coote, op, cit., p. 189, 34, NSWGG 1851: 604,

S, J, Butlin, op, dt„ p. 13, 35, QTO Extracts 3 93 & 94,

While the evidence suggests that Cole\'s retailing interests had reduced markedly, he still described himself as a merchant when he signed the Brisbane ,Municipal Petition in 1859 (NSWGG 1859: 134J,

36, QTO Deeds 8C: S8 & 59, (3TO Extract 4 446,

37, QTO Extract 4 4SS, 3^ QTO Deed 7D 160, 39, QTO B(H,k 10, tnlios 16X & 169, 4(1- QGG iHhii: 87, 206, 41, Courier, 30 July 1860,

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42. Courier 13 September 1864. It seems to be widely believed that the Brisbane Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1868 (pers. comm., Brisbane Chamber of Commerce, March 1979), yet the above entry clearly shows that this is not the case. Jack's Cut­ting Book No. 3, p. 34, held by the Oxley Library, probably provides the answer — a 1935 unnamed article explains that all records prior to 1869 had been lost. Coley was involved in the attempt to have a Market established at Brisbane on 12 July 1851 (Courier, 12 July 1851), and whether the entry quoted from his obituary really refers to a Chamber of Commerce or Market has proved impossible to determine; but there can be little doubt that Coley was one of the founding fathers, or perhaps the founder, of the Brisbane Chamber of Commerce, and that this organisation definitely precedes 1868.

43. QGG 1860: 175. R. J, N, Bannenberg, Queensland Parliamentary Handbook, Queensland Parlia­mentary Library, Brisbane, 1977, p. 115 (the date actually shown for the cessation of Coley's appointment is 30 September 1864; this was an error based on Bernays, and will be corrected in future editions, owing to the meticulousness of Mr. Bannenberg).

44. C. A. Bernays, Queensland Politics During Sixty (1859-1919) Years, A. j . Gum­ming, Government Printer, Brisbane, p. 134.

45. QV&P 1861, p. 424. 46. R. J. N. Bannenberg, op. cit.

Lloyds Bank Head Office, op. cit. 47. Courier, 26 July 1861. 48. Jean O. Goggs, op. cit.

Inquest Richard James Coley, QSA JUS/N8: 64-136. Professor M. J. Eadie, Department of Medicine, University of Queensland (pers. comm.) feels that the symptoms of "gout of the heart and stomach" described at the inquest could well have been those of angina.

49. Coley's Will QSA Ecclesiastical Files No. 233. 50. Jean O. Goggs, op. cit. 51. QSA, Report of inquest into death of Richard James Coley, held in Roma, 16

August 1872. 52. QTO: Extract 4/488;

Book 10, folios 168 & 169; Book 37/96 & 97; Book 58/116,

53. J. B. Fewings, Memoirs of Toowong, Oxley Library MS 67-14, approx. 1890.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is impossible to enumerate the many people who have provided assistance in the research that has led to the preparation oi this paper. However, the author wishes to thank the staff and associates of the libraries. Government Depart­ments, University Departments, and voluntary historical organisations within which the research was carried out — all of whose efforts far exceeded the line of duty. My special thanks must go to Barbara Field for her unstinting help and encouragement.