Aboriginal people occupied the area we now know as Brisbane for over 6000 years. Europeans first settled it in 1825. Brisbane developed from a convict settlement to the capital of a new colony in thirty five years. Redcliffe was chosen as the first base, however within a year the Moreton Bay penal settlement was moved to the area which eventually became Brisbane's CBD. Transportation of convicts stopped within 15 years and the area was open to free settlers in 1842. The population was 829 people in 1846.
In December 1826, Captain Patrick Logan journeyed up the Brisbane and Bremer Rivers discovering a hill of Limestone, which became Ipswich City. The following year he established a quarry and kiln to produce lime for the mortar of Brisbane's stone buildings. Subsequently, coal was discovered and the penal outpost named "Limestone Station" grew. It was Sir George Gipps, Governor of the Territory of New South Wales in 1843 who decided a town should be established. It was named Ipswich after the town on the river in Orwell in Suffolk, England. It was declared a city in 1904. The city had an economy based on agriculture and coal mining and a busy river port serving the Lockyer Valley and Darling Downs, which made it a high contender for Queensland's Capital City.
The Brisbane River had been discovered and named by John Oxley on 2 December 1823. Explorations up the Brisbane Valley followed with Oxley and Alan Cunningham travelling upstream to Pine Mountain in late September 1824. John Gray explored up as far as Fernvale in 1825 and in the same year Edmund Lockyer reached Cressbrook. Cunningham on his last expedition in 1829 arrived at Esk on 5 July and Cressbrook Creek on 7 July where one aborigine approached Cunningharn's horse with a spear but did not harm. The party explored as far north as Moore and Linville. The first pastoralists to take up runs in the Brisbane Valley were John and David McConnel, Fredrick and Francis Bigge, Evan and Colin Mackenzie and the Balfour Brothers.
An exploratory trip by Captain Patrick Logan in 1830 was terminated due to debatable circumstances. On 9 October, Logan, accompanied by five prisoners proceeded to Mt Irwin and Mt Brisbane. They were attacked by Aborigines near the Pine Range but continued on their trek. Logan separated from the party planning on meeting up later, however he was surprised by another attack. He was speared as he galloped away, falling from his horse in an attempt to jump across a gully. He was discovered afterwards in the creek, later named Logan Creek.
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Settlers came from the south across the river via Wivenhoe and from the east over the D'Aguilar Ranges from the South Pine area. The settlers always used the Aborigines' routes to the Bunya Mountains ceremonial grounds creating resentment between the two parties. By the turn of the century radical changes had occurred with the emerging timber and dairying industries. The Aborigines were removed to government reserves such as Cherbourg.
Gold and copper have been found in the valley since early settlement. Although mining here was on a small scale compared to places like Gympie and Charters Towers, the valley was the site of the first discovery of coal in Queensland, by Major Lockyer in 1825 just above Kholo on the Brisbane River. In 1838 Andrew Petrie sent samples of coal to Sydney from Pine Mountain. After 1846, salt was extracted in small quantities from the valley and made available to the Brisbane and Redbank boiling down works.
In the early 1850s cotton was grown in the Ipswich and Brisbane areas. The development of the cotton industry was said to have changed the landscape along the Brisbane River in the 1860s. Grazing was dominant around Tarampa and Lowood after the construction of the railway to Esk via Fernvale. After the drought in 1902, many graziers were forced to change from fattening cattle to dairying.
The railway provided fast and cheap transport of timber to Brisbane. The rapid increase in population of both Brisbane and Ipswich meant more timber was required to build houses, which helped develop the timber industry in the valley. Lars Andersen owned and operated ten sawmills in the region located at Esk, Redbank Creek, Toogoolawah, Cressbrook Creek, Deongwah, Happy Valley, Beam Creek, Blackbutt, Wengenville and Reedy Creek. The timber for most of these mills came from Andersen's own land.
Further expansion resulted as rail lines connected Ipswich with Lowood and Esk in the 1880s and Toogoolawah and Linville in the early 1900s. In 1967 the first diesel locomotive operated on the line between Ipswich and Yarraman.
The Boer War brought the first public display of loyalty and commitment to military activity in the Brisbane Valley. Local military activities centred on the Volunteer Corps first established in Esk in 1888, followed soon after in Lowood. When WWI was declared there was an immediate expression of local patriotism. Brisbane Valley men joined the Fifth Light Horse and took their own horses overseas.
Today, beef cattle production is still the main industry. Small crop farmers, grain and fodder producers abound. This coupled with the Lockyer Valley, provide the "salad bowl" of Brisbane. Tourism is a growing industry in the shire with a major focus on the heritage and lakes in the region.
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