German Ada could have been saved from a fatal beating at the hands of James Gardner on the night of 21 August 1883. A neighbour heard her screams as a stammering man threatened her, and went to find the nearest police officer. This constable, on being told that violence was occurring at an address inContinue reading “The Forlorn Women Haunting Our Streets – The Murder of German Ada”
Category Archives: True Crime
The Forlorn Women Haunting Our Streets – the death of Bridget Lynch
Bridget Lynch was found lying unconscious and near death in an old shed in Mrs Tyrell’s house off Margaret Street, Brisbane on the 26th February 1884. She’d been living there for several weeks with John Agnew, a man who treated her poorly. Once upon a time she’d been a servant of Mrs Tyrell. Bridget wasContinue reading “The Forlorn Women Haunting Our Streets – the death of Bridget Lynch”
Murder at Moreton Bay – Bhinge Multo
In late January 1828, Samuel Myers, overseer, Michael Malone and Francis Reynolds were guarding a field of maize on the South Bank of the Brisbane River. There had been problems with the local indigenous people raiding the crops there for six months. In the last bad incident, an indigenous man had been killed, and aContinue reading “Murder at Moreton Bay – Bhinge Multo”
Murder at Moreton Bay – “But for one oppressed man to kill another oppressed man, is matchless in infamy.”
On a rainy morning in April 1830, two convicts from Moreton Bay were taken to the Gallows at Sydney gaol. The usual crowd of spectators gathered to watch the events of the morning. Some were morbidly curious to see the condemned men hanged, others to see if there would be any drama before the hangingContinue reading “Murder at Moreton Bay – “But for one oppressed man to kill another oppressed man, is matchless in infamy.””
Murder at Moreton Bay – I am tired of this life.
Patrick Maguire was 30, and he was tired of life. It was the 6th of January 1832, and he was working in the sun with a young Scot, Matthew Gallagher, getting gravel from the pit to repair the roads. It was humid, it was hot, the sun blazed overhead. The only relief might come inContinue reading “Murder at Moreton Bay – I am tired of this life.”
Mug Shots – Poverty and Illness
The first three of today’s mug shots show what can happen when the law interacts with poverty and alcoholism. There was no capacity in the 19th century court or prison system for social workers, or drug and alcohol counsellors. The gaol instead was filled with mentally ill, poor, or addicted prisoners. In 1876, William Kelly,Continue reading “Mug Shots – Poverty and Illness”
Murder at Moreton Bay – Henry Muggleton
“Be Quick” Sometime between 3 and 4 in the morning of 19 February 1830, in the Prisoners’ Barracks at Moreton Bay, a voice whispered, “be quick”. It was a bright moonlit night, nearing dawn. Some of the prisoners were awake, others oblivious. The Barracks were quite full – almost 100 men – and prisoners bunkedContinue reading “Murder at Moreton Bay – Henry Muggleton”
Murder at Moreton Bay – William Johnson
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”
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.”
Moreton Bay and More 