Bestowing ‘Light’ upon ‘the Moral,Physical and Intellectual Culture of Youth’: Promoting Education in the New Colonial Society of Brisbane between 1846 and 1859

In 1850, in the frontier township of Brisbane, William Duncan argued articulately that National schools bestowed moral benefits to children more effectively than their denominational rivals, but the aloof and sometimes arrogant Brisbane Customs Officer lacked the skill to generate widespread support for his views. In contrast, the proprietor of the influential Moreton Bay Courier, James Swan, and his editors, were more effective. Over the next nine years, they carefully persuaded their readers of the benefits of National education. Consequently, a groundswell of support for the system accompanied the sense of community purpose that preceded Queensland’s formation in 1859. The following year, a large National school commenced in Brisbane and shortly afterwards, under an Education Act passed by the new Queensland government, National schools became virtually the only educational enterprises to receive aid.