Carl Feilberg

Carl Adolph Feilberg
Carl Feilberg about 1884 (photo: Albert Lomer, Queen Street, Brisbane)
Born	(1844-08-21)21 August 1844 1 Bredgade, Copenhagen
Died	25 October 1887(1887-10-25) (aged 43) "Claraville", Cordelia Street, South Brisbane
Cause of death	Cardiac syncope, asthenia, emphysema and dropsy (heart failure caused by abnormal bodily feebleness, a chronic irreversible disease of the lungs and abnormal accumulation of fluid) following three months of illness.
Resting place	Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane
Other names	Old Harry, Carolus, C.F. (Carl Feilberg's mid name 'Adolph' was at times spelled as 'Adolf')
Occupation	Journalist, newspaper proprietor, editor-in-chief of the Brisbane Courier and Queenslander
Years active	1870–1887
Employer	Brisbane Newspaper Co
Political party	independent liberal-oriented
Spouse(s)	Clara Smith (1854–1932)
Children	Walter Christian Feilberg (1873–1940), Adelaide Clara Feilberg (1874–1956), Alice Isabel Feilberg (1877–1955), Reginald Carl Feilberg (1879–1946), Winnifred Hilda Feilberg (1885–1948)
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Carl Adolph Feilberg (21 August 1844 – 25 October 1887) was a Danish-born Australian journalist, newspaper editor, general political commentator and human rights activist.

Carl Feilberg was born on 21 August 1844 in a small apartment at 1 Bredgade in Copenhagen, Denmark. As the first born and only son of Danish Royal Navy lieutenant, Christen Schifter Feilberg and Louise Adelaide Feilberg. Louise Feilberg was the daughter of a planter on the island of St. Croix in the then Danish West Indies. Feilberg's second name was spelled Adolph in his birth record and on most contemporary publications for public use, but he frequently used Adolf with 'f' as his personal signature. Following the early death of both parents Feilberg was placed in foster care with Danish relatives, his aunt Louise Stegman and her husband graingrocer Conrad Stegmann at the time living in Edinburgh, Scotland. Thus Feilberg came to receive his formal education in Scotland, England finalising with a year at a college in France. Following his graduation he was employed by a shipping insurance broker of the Lloyds-group in London.

Suffering from a serious case of tuberculosis Fielberg was advised to migrate to Australia where time spent in the dry interior might mitigate some of the symptoms and provide a chance for survival. He arrived in Sydney from London by the Aberdeen vessel Sir John Lawrence on 18 June 1867 travelling onto Rockhampton carrying a 'letter of introduction' to the Scottish squatter Archibald Berdmore Buchanan. He then gained 'colonial experience' working as a shepherd, store and book keeper predominantly at Buchanan's properties. The first six months at Cardbeign station in Springsure district, the remaining time in the Barcoo district on Greendale and possibly other stations in the central west. The knowledge he gained in the outback including his experiences with the Native Police and the darker sides of the colony's frontier policies, would later influence his work as a journalist, political commentator, author.