Life of Brisbane cultural pioneer to be told in unique way

When faced with producing the most challenging work of his career historian Rod Fisher didn’t throw up his hands in dismay – rather he came up with a postmodern way of presenting the life and times of Silvester Diggles.

Dr Fisher, honorary research consultant at The University Of Queensland's Centre for Applied History and Heritage Studies, said Silvester Diggles was truly one of the leading lights of Brisbane during the later 19th Century – as yet unrecognised by posterity.

And Dr Fisher decided his subject was so complex and multi-faceted, he could only treat this historical study in the same way.

Hence the publication Diggles Down Under will be available in two formats – a colourful double CD with 110-page manual or the manual with a two-volume book of the CD that will provide a hardcopy of the history section, library of texts and selected images as a boxed set.

"Only some of his birds, insects and landscapes have ever seen the light of day,” Dr Fisher said.

"Here we have everything on CD.”

According to Dr Fisher, Silvester Diggles was a pioneer ornithologist, entomologist, astronomer, photographer, artist, musician and churchman of Australia all rolled into one.

“And he did all this while earning his family’s keep as a teacher and piano tuner,” Dr Fisher said.

“The further I delved into his life the more I realised that no ordinary biography would fit the bill, specifically to do justice to this versatile man in context of his times.”

After his arrival in Brisbane in 1855 from Liverpool, via Sydney, until his unfortunate stroke in late 1875, Silvester Diggles put his weight behind local institutions particularly the School of Arts, Queensland Philosophical Society, Queensland Museum, New Church Society, musical societies, private schools and local exhibitions.

Altogether Diggles strove to transplant the kind of culture he had known in civilised Merseyside to colonial Brisbane.

The huge project of telling the Diggles’ story started in 1997 and has involved four-years’ research in Australia and England – two years writing and two years in production – by Dr Fisher, assisted by multimedia teams from Griffith University.

“It has something for everyone from students to academics with an interest in the era as a whole or any of its elements – or simply the man himself, his family, their migration and many associates along the way,” Dr Fisher said.

Media: For more information contact Dr Rod Fisher (telephone 07 3254 0265) or Andrew Dunne, UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2802).