BRISBANE, a town of Australia, capital of the colony of Queensland, is situated in Stanley county, on both banks of the River Brisbane, about 25 miles from -its entrance into Moreton Bay. It consists of four parts,—North and South Brisbane, Kangaroo Point, and Fortitude Valley. Among its public buildings are courts of justice, houses of parliament, a governor’s residence, a literary institute, a concert-room, a school of arts, and from twenty to thirty churches. It has also an excellent botanical garden. The river, which is about a quarter of a mile broad opposite the town, is navigable for vessels of considerable burden, and ha3 been made more accessible by the partial removal of the bar at its mouth. Regular steam communication is kept up with Sydney and other Australian ports, and a very flourishing trade is carried on in the export of wool, cotton, tallow, and hides, and the import of European manufactures. The town is the centre of a considerable railway and telegraphic system. Brisbane was founded as a penal settlement in 1825, and was named in honour of Sir Thomas Μ. Brisbane. In 1842 the establishment was abolished, and general colonization set in. The town was politically a part of New South Wales till 1859, when it was made the capital of Queensland. It is the seat of an Anglican and also of a Roman Catholic bishop. Its population was only 5225 by the census of 1861; butin 1871 it amounted to 15,029, of whom 7204 were males and 7825 females. The number of inhabited houses at the latter date was 2931....
BRISBANE, Sir Thomas Makdougall, a distinguished soldier and astronomer, was born in 1773 at Brisbane in Ayrshire. He entered the army in 1789, and served in Flanders, the West Indies, and the Peninsula. In 1814 he was sent to North America; on the return of Napoleon from Elba he was recalled, but did not arrive in time to take part at the battle of Waterloo. From 1818 to 1821 he was military commander in the South of Ireland. He was then appointed governor of New South Wales, an office which he held for four years. During that time he devoted himself most earnestly to the colony under his charge; he introduced new plants and breeds of animals, encouraged the reclaiming of waste lands, and even raised the status of the convicts by his wise measure of granting tickets-of-leave for good conduct. While in Australia he occupied himself in astronomical researches, erected a large observatory, and catalogued 7385 stars scarcely before known. The Royal Society awarded him their Copley medal for this work, The Brisbane Catalogue of Stars. After his return he resided chiefly at Makerstoun in Roxburghshire, where he had a large and admirably equipped observatory. Three volumes of his observations were printed in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1836 he was made a baronet and K.C.B.; and in 1841 he became general. He received the degree of D.C.L. from Oxford, and was elected president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh after the death of Sir Walter Scott. Sir Thomas died on the 31st January 1860. He founded two gold medals for the encouragement of scientific research, one in the award of the Royal Society, the other in that of the Society of Arts.
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