Collection: Queensland Historical

White settlement began with a penal settlement at Moreton Bay and later free settlements in the 1840s in the Brisbane and Maryborough areas. 

In 1851, a public meeting was held to consider Queensland's separation from New South Wales. On 6 June 1859 Queen Victoria signed Letters Patent to form the colony of Queensland. A proclamation was read on 10 December 1859 whereupon Queensland was formally separated from New South Wales. 

Most silver related to QLD in the nineteenth century are presentation or exhibition pieces. A number of the awards were English made. In the twentieth century, the most prolific Queensland silversmith was FJ Mole in Brisbane. 

There were a number of jewellers that were working in Queensland at the end of the nineteenth/beginning of the twentieth century. Pieces made and stamped by a number of them can be found.