Queensland's first premier in 1859 was most likely gay
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Queensland’s first premier, Robert Herbert, was most likely gay and his constant companion, John Bramston, became Queensland’s first-ever Attorney-General.
Herbert lived with Bramston in a Brisbane home and farm they named “Herston” by blending their surnames.
Herston, the home Robert Herbert and John Bramston resided in. Photo: Tony Moore
The home and the land around it became the site of Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, directly across Bowen Bridge Road from the Royal National Association Showgrounds.
Herbert was appointed premier by Queensland governor Sir George Bowen in 1859. He served until 1866, when he returned to England, where he was knighted.
He never married.
Bramston accompanied Sir George to Brisbane from London as his private secretary, most likely in 1859. The Colony of Queensland was declared in 1859.
The story of the friendship of the “bachelor couple” – Herbert and Bramston – is the subject of the latest Brisbane’s Little Histories report, from Department of State Development historian Dr Harold Thornton.
Each explores life around Queen’s Wharf in Brisbane’s earliest days.
Robert Herbert who was Queensland’s first premier from 1859 until 1866. Photo: Tony Moore
Queen’s Wharf is the large block of land between George and William streets opposite South Bank Parklands, where the city’s new casino and integrated resort will be built over the next five years.
As Dr Thornton writes, the well-educated Herbert and Bramston could be considered the “midwives at the birth of Queensland”.
John Bramston was Queensland’s first Attorney-General. Photo: Tony Moore
“As Sherlock Holmes and John Watson could attest, ostensibly celibate male friends could spend a great deal of time in each other’s company without attracting any social or legal attention,” he writes.
“Thus it was that (England’s) Colonial Office in 1858 dispatched to the about-to-be new Colony of Queensland one of its most trusted officials, Eton and Oxford-educated Robert Herbert as Secretary to the inaugural Governor, Sir George Bowen.”
“Herbert stood unopposed for the Legislative Assembly seat of West Moreton at the 1859 inaugural Queensland election. He continued as premier until resigning to return to England in 1866. He went on to a series of promotions until being appointed to head the Colonial Office as Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Colonies in 1871.
“He was richly decorated by a grateful Crown, becoming the Chancellor of the Order of the Bath. Sir Robert Herbert, GCB, died in 1905 and was buried at Ickleton in Cambridgeshire.”
His constant companion was “confirmed bachelor” John Bramston, who finished his bar credentials in Brisbane.
“Herbert advised Bowen to appoint Bramston as a Member of the Legislative Council of Queensland – a lifetime appointment,” Dr Thornton said.
“Bramston was commissioned to various ministerial portfolios during Herbert’s tenure as Premier, including Attorney-General.
“Although Bramston returned to England with Herbert in 1866, the couple parted ways in 1868 when Bramston returned to Brisbane and resumed his seat in the Legislative Council.
“He was elected to the Legislative Assembly for Burnett at a byelection in 1871 and served as minister in the Palmer government until 1874.
“During this second Brisbane tenure Bramston married Eliza Russell, niece by marriage of Governor Phipps, at St John’s Anglican Cathedral.
“The couple soon thereafter departed Queensland and never had children.”
John Bramston returned to Hong Kong, then to London in 1876 to eventually take charge of England’s Colonial Office after Robert Herbert died.
He died in 1921 as Sir John Bramston.
As Dr Thornton notes: “It is, of course, possible that Herbert and Bramston’s relationship was not sexual.
“Such matters were not discussed in polite circles in those times. The intimacy of their residential relations was likely the subject of scuttlebutt, but none of it is recorded.
“The seriousness with which the law of the time viewed male homosexual acts paradoxically served to protect gay men from public accusations, since without strong evidence such an imputation could itself be viewed as criminally defamatory.
“Although in 1859 it was absolutely necessary for gay male couples to pretend to be celibate if they were to live together, 158 years later Queensland can unambiguously celebrate the relationship that brought this talented couple to disembark at Queen’s Wharf and help found the state.”
The suggestion Robert Herbert may have been gay has been made before, in a stage play in Brisbane in 2009.
Homosexuality remained illegal in Queensland until 1990.
This is the latest in a series of weekly “little Brisbane histories” to be run by Fairfax Media as the Queen’s Wharf development evolves.
Article source: http://watoday.com.au/afl/afl-news/richmond-tigers-have-proven-the-doubters-wrong-with-2017-grand-final-win-20170930-gyry45.html
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