Mechanical contrivances and fancy needlework: the Brisbane Exhibition and education in colonial Queensland

Abstract

Since its inception in 1876, Queensland’s premier agricultural and pastoral show and largest annual event, the Brisbane Exhibition, has provided a forum in which to observe and reflect on the achievements, values, development and scope of Queensland’s education system. The inaugural constitution of the Exhibition’s host body, the National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland, drafted by the first headmaster of Brisbane Grammar School, Thomas Harlin, listed among its objects: ‘To award prizes for the attainment of proficiency by the youth of the colony in specified subjects’. In its first twenty‐five years of annual shows, the Association met this objective at a modest level through its schoolwork category, with the notable exception of 1883, when it sponsored a highly successful Juvenile Industrial Exhibition. Examination of both the regular schoolwork category and the Juvenile Exhibition reveals the elements of the local curriculum that the Association deemed appropriate for inclusion in its annual shows, while comments from newspapers, educators and other individuals on the quality and nature of the schoolwork displays offer insights into the context of and aspirations for the colony’s education system.