Four men escaped from Moreton Bay in October 1825 – did they really commit murder, and leave five drowned comrades? Runaway 4 – John Welsh – Forbidden from Society. John Welsh was born in the historic port and garrison city of Waterford around 1799. Unsurprisingly, he became a sailor. How he got to Nottingham, andContinue reading “The Convict Runaways – Part 4.”
Category Archives: Moreton Bay
The Convict Runaways – Part 3.
Four men escaped from Moreton Bay in October 1825 – did they really commit murder, and leave five drowned comrades? Runaway 3 – William Smith There were 501 convicts transported to Australia with the first name William and the surname Smith. One of these William Smiths was an 18-year-old bootmaker who had been convicted ofContinue reading “The Convict Runaways – Part 3.”
The Convict Runaways – Part 2.
Four men escaped from Moreton Bay in October 1825 – did they really commit murder, and leave five drowned comrades? Runaway 2 – Thomas Mills – “I Never Liked a Redcoat” Robbing the Vicar of Stepney St Dunstan’s Anglican Church, Stepney, known as the “Mother Church of the East End,” had been a place ofContinue reading “The Convict Runaways – Part 2.”
The Convict Runaways – Part 1
Four men escaped from Moreton Bay in October 1825 – did they really commit murder, and leave five drowned comrades? Runaway 1 – John Longbottom. (Updated from the Post – A Notorious Rogue and Vagabond.) At York in January 1817 a young sailor was sentenced to seven years’ transportation to New South Wales. Even forContinue reading “The Convict Runaways – Part 1”
Convict Snapshots – William Mattingly.
Berkshire and London. William Mattingly (sometimes spelled Mattingley) was born on 11 September 1875 in Uffington, to James and Ann Mattingly. He lived most of his time in the parish of Uffington, and nearby parishes of Baulking and Kingstone Lisle. (Since 1974, this part of Berkshire was absorbed into Oxfordshire, an idea that would probablyContinue reading “Convict Snapshots – William Mattingly.”
Convict Snapshots – Samuel Challenger.
Few men are as well-named as Samuel Challenger. He challenged laws, customs, and authority over his long life, which began and ended in respectability. For several decades, he was a pain in the neck of police and prison authorities in two hemispheres. Yorkshire Samuel was born in Darton, Yorkshire on 15 September 1794, the youngestContinue reading “Convict Snapshots – Samuel Challenger.”
On This Day, 6 November 1852: Death of Richard Jones, Esq.
On Wednesday 10 November 1852, the Moreton Bay Courier published a Supplement to its usual Saturday publications. The first item was this black-bordered notice: This wasn’t just the death of a member of the legislature. The passing of Richard Jones, Esq., brought to end an astonishing career that began with his arrival in Australia inContinue reading “On This Day, 6 November 1852: Death of Richard Jones, Esq.”
The Convicts from Mauritius
In April 1840, the Colonial Secretary, by command of the Governor, did himself the honour to acquaint the Commandant at Moreton Bay that the schooner John had been engaged by the Commissariat to bring 15 prisoners to work for that department in Brisbane. The men had been transported earlier that year – 13 in theContinue reading “The Convicts from Mauritius”
18 June 1815 – the Battle of Waterloo
And the Veterans who helped create Brisbane “I say, Carruthers, don’t trip over that dead French chappie”. Waterloo. As any schoolchild knows, Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo in 1815. Well, actually, if the curriculum they study today is anything like the one I passed through, largely unscathed, schoolchildren todayContinue reading “18 June 1815 – the Battle of Waterloo”
The Health of the Colony – the Convict Era
The Convict Hospital When the Moreton Bay penal colony closed for business in 1842 and became a town, the official records dispersed, mainly to Sydney. Many were lost, some fetched up in unusual places, but a remarkable number of documents survived the ensuing 200 years. The records of the Moreton Bay Hospital have largely survivedContinue reading “The Health of the Colony – the Convict Era”
Moreton Bay and More 