History
The site was selected as a public garden in 1828 by the NSW Colonial Botanist Charles Fraser, three years after the establishment of the European settlement at nearby North Quay, Brisbane. In 1855, a portion of the land was declared a 'Botanic Reserve' and Walter Hill was appointed as curator, a position he held until 1881. Some of the older trees planted in the Gardens were the first of their species to be planted in Australia, due to Hill's experiments to acclimatise plants. The experiments served practical outcomes. Plants with potential commercial value were tested in the gardens, first to see if they were viable, to determine what they needed for growth and if a profit could be made.
The extant City Botanic Gardens was formed by the amalgamation of the original Botanic Gardens with the Domain (the southern side of Gardens Point) and Queen's Park in 1916, bringing its total area to around 20 hectares (Queen's Park comprised a 10 acre (4 ha) strip along Alice Street, which originally served as a park and a sporting field, where regular cricket and football matches were held). The former curator's cottage built for J.F. Bailey, curator from 1905-1917, is now the City Gardens Cafe.
Due to the proximity to the river, the Botanic Gardens have been flooded nine times between 1870-2011. With many plants being washed away, the Brisbane City Council established a new botanic gardens at Mount Coot-tha.
The Gardens were also the home for over 100 years for 'Harriet', a tortoise reportedly collected by Charles Darwin during his visit to the Galápagos Islands in 1835 and donated to the Gardens in 1860 by John Clements Wickham, former commander of the HMS Beagle and later 'Government Resident' for Moreton Bay. Harriet was named in honour of Harry Oakman, curator of the Gardens from 1945 to 1962 and the creator of the (now disbanded) zoo at the Gardens.
Read more about this topic: City Botanic Gardens
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