Scottish-born immigrant cabinetmaker John Wilson Carey (1829–1902) made two exceptional items of Queensland cabinetwork in the 1870s which still exist today. His skilful use of many different Queensland timber veneers makes them cabinetmaking tours de force. Dr David Bedford explores what they reveal of the use of cabinet timbers in Queensland and his parquetry veneering designs. He explores the challenges in translating the common names used for timbers in the 1870s to the current common and botanical names of those timbers.