Sausages and insults were hurled. David Semple returned to Ipswich in late October 1858, with a Colonial Ticket of Leave allowing him to reside and work in that area. Ellen’s former partner, William Morley, had died, and she was temporarily at a loose end. It seems the couple tried to reconcile for a brief timeContinue reading “Ellen the Cutter – Part 2.”
Category Archives: Women and the Law
Ellen the Cutter.
She went by many names, but the nickname “Ellen the Cutter” was the one that the press and public remembered best. How she came by that nickname was never explained but it seems to have been in common use in Ipswich when she first came to the attention of the constables in the early 1850s.Continue reading “Ellen the Cutter.”
The most famous murder trial you’ve never heard of.
The Indooroopilly Murder. Elizabeth Lansfield was 25, and life had been hard. She’d come out to Queensland with her husband William and their two little ones in 1875. William junior had died on the voyage. While still on board, she gave birth to Winefred, named after the ship the family travelled in. Her new babyContinue reading “The most famous murder trial you’ve never heard of.”
A Disorderly House, a Fire and a Murder.
The woman on the riverbank. On Friday 6 July 1883, a group of boys rowing up the Brisbane River noticed a person lying on the riverbank at North Quay. They pulled over to check, and discovered that it was a young woman, who had clearly been dead for several days. The lads went to fetchContinue reading “A Disorderly House, a Fire and a Murder.”
Prisoners in Brisbane Gaol, 1875: Family Violence.
Domestic and family violence in the 19th century was tried and punished in a society that took a dim view of wives leaving their husbands, and of children who misbehaved. Divorce was only an option for the well-to-do, and women were seen as the property of their husbands. There were no dedicated laws preventing stalkingContinue reading “Prisoners in Brisbane Gaol, 1875: Family Violence.”
The Trials of Annie Clarke
Annie Clarke saw a great deal of courtrooms during her colourful career in Northern Queensland. Some extracts from the reports of her hearings at Millchester gathered here show the times she lived in – times when women who had sex with men they were not married to were not entitled to be believed as witnesses.Continue reading “The Trials of Annie Clarke”
The Marrying Kind
Bigamy in Colonial Queensland – PART TWO Annie Clarke must have been quite a gal. She scandalised three colonies, underwent at least six marriage ceremonies, and created news wherever she went. Who she actually was is hard to pin down, probably because of the number of husbands and surnames she racked up in a hecticContinue reading “The Marrying Kind”
A Disgrace to her Sex
A correspondent in calling our attention to a desperate fight which took place in North Brisbane on Tuesday last, between a soldier and a sawyer, says:- “I counted no less than eight women who were present, looking on with great interest; and one disgrace to her sex was actually cheering and goading the men onContinue reading “A Disgrace to her Sex”
The Infernal Vagabond of a Woman
In April 1840, a young convict servant to Mr Robert Dixon, a Surveyor at Moreton Bay, was sent to Sydney on the Cutter John. Unusually, her fare and rations were paid directly by Mr Dixon, rather than the Government. A year later, she would figure in a trial at Moreton Bay that arose from aContinue reading “The Infernal Vagabond of a Woman”
The Hard Times
Tales from Early Queensland The first European inhabitants of Queensland consisted wholly of those who had no choice in their destination. They were the convicts, soldiers and officials who made up the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement. Upon its demise in 1842, very few remained to take part in the opening-up to free settlement. The ColonialContinue reading “The Hard Times”
Moreton Bay and More 