Isaac Alder had a long, hard-scrabble life. Born either in England or on the Hawkesbury, probably in 1826 or 1828, Alder worked as a drover and itinerant butcher in New South Wales and Queensland. He went by a number of aliases, including John King, Isaac Peter Houlder, Wright Houlder, John Smith, Isaac Alder, and JohnContinue reading “A much-persecuted man with a weakness for fowls.”
Category Archives: Courts
Captain Logan and Mr Hall
In 1830, a Sydney newspaper named The Monitor published a series of articles alleging that the Commandant of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement was a bloodthirsty tyrant, and possibly a murderer. That Commandant, Captain Patrick Logan of the 57th Regiment, had prepared to sue Hall for libel, when his own murder intervened. What led toContinue reading “Captain Logan and Mr Hall”
Henry Cowper, Moreton Bay’s First Doctor.
Henry Cowper was 25 when he came to Brisbane to take up the role of Assistant Colonial Surgeon at Moreton Bay. (Assistant was just part of the title – he was the only medical officer at the settlement.) He arrived at the same time as Captain Patrick Logan became Commandant, to a couple of hutsContinue reading “Henry Cowper, Moreton Bay’s First Doctor.”
Mug Shots: what shall we do with a drunken sailor?
Irish sailor John McConnell had a very big night ashore in Brisbane in August 1875. His Brisbane Gaol photo has him dishevelled, sporting a bristling moustache and an unkempt, towering coiffure. It’s unlikely that anyone was game to come near him with a comb, given the circumstances of his arrival. The contemporaneous report is priceless,Continue reading “Mug Shots: what shall we do with a drunken sailor?”
Mug Shots: The Miner from New Orleans
William Warren was born in New Orleans in 1830 and arrived in Australia in 1853 aboard a ship (also) called the New Orleans. While his family and past friends experienced the war between the States, William was in Northern Queensland, eking out a living as a miner, occasionally coming to the attention of theContinue reading “Mug Shots: The Miner from New Orleans”
Mug Shots: Two larcenous lads.
Another sailor on shore in Brisbane in August 1875 was John E. Fincham, aged 20. He was however without a ship and working at a city club as a boot-black. Given that his offence was stealing a coat, it seems appropriate that the unhappy young man is virtually swallowed by the prison jacket. Stealing aContinue reading “Mug Shots: Two larcenous lads.”
Mug Shots: The larcenous clerk.
The photo taken in Brisbane Gaol on 24 May 1875 shows a well-built, slightly perplexed young man with a truly impressive set of whiskers. What could Joseph Arthur Viccars have done to bring him to Boggo Road? Turned up on the doorstep of an old acquaintance from England, claiming to have been shipwrecked, and left with nothing but a cheque forContinue reading “Mug Shots: The larcenous clerk.”
Mr Woodward and the Married Women’s Property Act.
In the 1890, the fifty-fourth year of Queen Victoria’s reign, the Legislative Assembly of the Colony of Queensland passed the Married Women’s Property Act. Similar legislation had already been enacted in the United Kingdom and other Australian Colonies. Prior to this Act, married women did not have the kind of property rights as single women,Continue reading “Mr Woodward and the Married Women’s Property Act.”
The Story of Sedin – murder and riots in the far North.
Two men were executed at Brisbane Gaol on 12 November 1888. They were both foreign-born men trying to make a living in far north Queensland at the time of the northern gold rush. Both had become killers. Edmund Duhamel, a Frenchman working in the gold mine at Croydon, killed his young de facto wife andContinue reading “The Story of Sedin – murder and riots in the far North.”
Snippets: A Remarkable Statement.
Like James Gardner, George Blanton killed the girl he loved. Like James Gardner, George Blanton had been a heavy drinker and this contributed to his violence and his end. Unlike James Gardner, George Blantern confessed immediately, and was deeply remorseful from the instant he had committed the crime. The following is his statement at his sentencing. Continue reading “Snippets: A Remarkable Statement.”
Moreton Bay and More 