Some more about Brisbane's history?

Following is an extract from "Toowong, A community's history" written by Arthur Beau Palmer, a well known Australian anthropoligist and ethnographic consultant whose top performing Brisbane website is selling Aboriginal artifacts to Australia and the world.

Aboriginal ownership of the area began around 30,000 years ago. At the beginning of this occupation, the sea level was some 90 metres lower and the shoreline would have been about 30 kilometres further east of its present position.

About 6,000 years ago Moreton Bay and the Brisbane River took on their modern form.

The first recorded interaction between Moreton Bay area Aboriginal clans and Europeans was with three castaway convicts Thomas Pamphlett, John Finnegan, and Richard Parsons in 1823. They spent several months living with and moving between Aborigianl groups, clearly enjoying their hospitality and protection.

Pamphlett, Finnegan and Parsons were eventually rescued by Oxley, who set out to explore the Brisbane River in December 1823, and took Finnegan as a guide.

The establishment of the convict settlement at North Quay the following year and the opening of the Brisbane River area to free settlement in 1842, introduced hard men with hard attitudes in hard times.