wearing

Man wearing a suit and his woman in a casual elegant dress.

Meet James Stewart, our pioneering ancestor and muse. James and Alexander Stewart – lovers of adventure and the finer things in life – were the sons of a Scottish haberdasher. Their enterprising spirit brought them to Australia to open a draper’s store on Brisbane’s Queen Street in 1860. Later it would become one of the country’s first department stores. James (known as ‘Jimmy’) went on to open several more stores, including James Stewart & Co. in Rockhampton, which remains operating today. James Stewart & Co. was the first Queensland store to import international finery, such as hand-spun silks from Japan, hand-crafted knits from Scotland, bentwood furniture such as Thonet from Austria and glassware from Sweden. Jimmy’s sharp eye for design trends – combined with an innate ability to curate and source goods – kept him well ahead of his competitors until his death in 1923. The business continued to flourish and he realised his vision to construct a flagship store in 1926. With its café, fashion shows and couture garments direct from the fashion houses of Europe, it was revolutionary. The business expanded into furniture and fashion manufacturing in the early twentieth century. With 150 years of history, James Stewart & Co. remains Australia’s longest surviving family-owned department store. The James Stewart Furniture Collection draws inspiration from this visionary great, great uncle, evoking his sense of charm and employing his eye for detail. Source: www.jamesstewartfurniture.com.au/blog/2018/1/31/james-ste...

www.mathewsonphotographers.com.au/historical-timeline

Lady with a book wearing a dress with embroidery.

Highlights of Moments in Queensland Racing History! Mid 1880's Track established "by the creek" - Albion Park - with a sand surface. It was purchased by Melbourne businessman, John Wren in 1910, and unregistered race meetings were conducted. In 1924 the Brisbane Amateur Turf Club was formed and purchased Albion Park from Mr. Wren for 300,000 pounds ($600,000). Source: www.teamthoroughbreds.com.au/articles/highlights-of-momen...

Remembering The Creek, Brisbane’s quirky sand racetrack The Creek, Brisbane’s now-defunct Albion Park racecourse, holds special memories for many horse-racing enthusiasts of a certain age. Known as “The Creek” because it was bounded by Breakfast Creek which runs into the nearby Brisbane River, it was an all-weather sand track that provided an alternative to the more upmarket grass tracks of Eagle Farm and Doomben. In hindsight, it could be argued that it wasn’t a smart decision to locate a racetrack in such a flood-prone position. Many times since the track was established about 1854, officials had to clean up after such an event. In a measure of the benefits of a sand track, racing re-started two weeks after the 1974 flood receded. It took workers several days to remove the silt and debris. Gallopers such as Recovery, St Aubin, Auction, Lucky Ring, and Red Seas mostly won at Albion Park and were referred to as champion “Creekers”. The Creek was never going to survive long-term as horse racing expanded. It was the stuff of another era, filled with characters and situations that will be hard for some to comprehend. As well, harness racing events were included on the program on occasions and those who had standardbred horses back then could not have imagined that one day the location would become a world-class venue for that racing code. The site is now headquarters to both harness racing and greyhounds and is still known as The Creek, but many would know little of the history behind that title. Just a short walk from The Creek is the iconic Breakfast Creek Hotel which has long held a reputation as one of Brisbane’s best steakhouses and gathering places. Source: nunn.com.au/the-creek/

Interesting to see almost all spectators are male, and almost all, except just a few, wearing hats.