Category Archives: Uncategorized

February 18, 1867 – Mr Perry was found sane.

How did Courts deal with mental illness in the Moreton Bay era? Today, expert evidence would be sought prior to a trial as to the fitness of the defendant to stand trial. Psychiatrists and psychologists could be called for the defence at trial. The jury would be asked to decide on the balance of allContinue reading “February 18, 1867 – Mr Perry was found sane.”

February 17 1873 – Mayors at ten paces.

Today the town of Drayton has more or less been absorbed by the city of Toowoomba on the Darling Downs of Queensland. It was a town in its own right in the 19th century, a lovely little hamlet established in 1842, and was one of the oldest settlements in Queensland. Some of the charming oldContinue reading “February 17 1873 – Mayors at ten paces.”

Oxley’s settlement at Redcliffe, 24 September 1824.

I wrote about the beginnings of Moreton Bay at Redcliffe earlier this month. There have been explanations of the abrupt departure to Brisbane less than a year later – it was either sandflies, hostile indigenous people or lack of fresh water. My theory is the indigenous people of the area. It’s one thing to findContinue reading “Oxley’s settlement at Redcliffe, 24 September 1824.”

Religious enthusiasm – 23 September 1853

James Kirkwood was a successful man in Brisbane town. The place had only been open to free settlement for a decade, but the young Scot had made his name as a horticulturalist and market gardener. His produce always won prizes. He had a wife, four dear little children and a home in South Brisbane. ThenContinue reading “Religious enthusiasm – 23 September 1853”

Jack Bushman’s Tale – Part 4

The final part of Jack Bushman’s story is about his life as a “free” man, and includes a shooting at Brisbane’s indigenous people known as the “York’s Hollow Shooting”, which occurred in December 1846. The murders of Mary Shannon and Andrew Gregor in October that year had made white settlers fearful of the local aborigines, and keenContinue reading “Jack Bushman’s Tale – Part 4”

Jack Bushman’s Tale Part 3

RETAKEN. -THE PUNISHMENT-OTHER ADVENTURES-LIBERTY. GUIDED by the sound I went to the old hut, and asked, – ” are you there, Charley?” “Oh dear!  I shall die,” was the response. The gleam from the fire gave me light. I saw Charley was care-worn and beaten. His breathing was short and difficult. I stripped, the coveringContinue reading “Jack Bushman’s Tale Part 3”

The Convict Pirates of Moreton Bay – the seizure of the Caledonia Schooner

A series of coincidences led to eleven Moreton Bay convicts seizing an opportunity to become pirates and sailing the South Pacific in a rum-soaked bloody adventure in 1832. On 26 June 1831, a ship named America ran aground on a reef in the Torres Straits, near far north Queensland. She had been on a voyageContinue reading “The Convict Pirates of Moreton Bay – the seizure of the Caledonia Schooner”