On 11 December 1827 at about 8 am, a prisoner named John Stones was working at the Moreton Bay settlement making bricks, when a fellow convict William Johnson approached him with the startling announcement “Morris Morgan has threatened to knock my brains out many times, and I hit him with an axe.” Morris Morgan wasContinue reading “Murder at Moreton Bay – William Johnson”
Category Archives: Convicts
Convict Runaways – Sheik Browne
Sheik Browne One of the more fascinating Convict runaways of Moreton Bay was a man named Sheik Browne (or Brown or “Black Jack”). Very little is known of his life before and after his spectacular series of escapes from custody, recorded so painstakingly in Prisoner Registers, Official Correspondence and Court files. In his records, SheikContinue reading “Convict Runaways – Sheik Browne”
A long, strange trip (Part 1)
I was going to write a quick post about the Moreton Bay prisoners who were born far from the United Kingdom, and found their way to the settlement. I’ve decided to make this Part 1, because of the sheer number of extraordinary stories that I came across. AFRICA Francis Andrews, born about 1796 in Africa,Continue reading “A long, strange trip (Part 1)”
Convict Runaways – Samuel Derrington.
Samuel Derrington LOCAL NEWS. DEATH OF MR. SAMUEL DERRINGTON. A very old resident of East Maitland, Mr Samuel Derrington, died on Sunday, from decay of nature, after a long life which had contained an uncommon experience. Mr. Derrington was, in his young manhood, brought by circumstances into the bush on the coast of Queensland, andContinue reading “Convict Runaways – Samuel Derrington.”
Mug Shots – The Snob, the Violent Pretty Boy and the American Sailor.
19th century and early 20th century “mug shots” are often extraordinary, capturing the spirit and story of the accused in a quite poignant way. Our modern digital photographs, taken as a matter of routine in the blink of an eye, usually portray the accused in the dishevelled state that offending, arrest and questioning will cause,Continue reading “Mug Shots – The Snob, the Violent Pretty Boy and the American Sailor.”
Minor Offences
There are few historical resources as compelling as old newspapers. The contemporary accounts of the criminal courts are by turns hilarious and thought-provoking. Hilarious in accounts of the drunken, bumbling criminals whose court cases provided entertainment to the public gallery. (I’ve been unable to resist quoting a couple of the dafter ones in this post.)Continue reading “Minor Offences”
Repeat Offenders
The Moreton Bay penal settlement was set up to punish repeat offenders. It was not a place of last resort – that unenviable title went to remote Norfolk Island – but it was intended to be a place that inspired enough dread in convicts to deter them from offending in the Colony, These prisoners hadContinue reading “Repeat Offenders”
The First Criminal in Australia (no, really)
The first ever court case in Australia was R -v- Barsby, on 11 February 1788, barely a fortnight after the Colony was founded. A convict named Samuel Barsby was charged with on 06 February personally abusing Benjamin Cook, Drum Major of the detachment, quarreling together “with high words passing between them”, and striking John West,Continue reading “The First Criminal in Australia (no, really)”
Moreton Bay and More 