Hands-on ministrations, ‘horrors’ and vice-regal tours. By 1884, the turbulent administration of Dr Kesteven was a memory, but the Hospital still faced public criticism, largely due to its inability to make inroads into the typhoid problem. The causes of infectious disease were imperfectly known, but the appalling state of public hygiene in Brisbane in theContinue reading “The Brisbane Hospital 1884”
The Brisbane Hospital 1882-1883
Few institutions have undergone an ordeal the like of the troubles of the Brisbane Hospital in the 1880s. Accused of medical, financial and managerial incompetence, the hospital battled its way through catastrophic outbreaks of typhoid and emerged at the end of the decade being lavishly praised by the same press that had vilified it earlier.Continue reading “The Brisbane Hospital 1882-1883”
The Last Moreton Bay Murderer
The 10th prisoner is a shadowy figure in the history of Moreton Bay. He arrived in 1825, sentenced to life by the Sydney Bench for an offence not recorded in the Chronological Register of Prisoners. His record goes on to state that he was 40-year-old cook, of average height and swarthy, born in Naples. HeContinue reading “The Last Moreton Bay Murderer”
The Uncontrollable Child
The ability to control one’s child, especially one’s male child, was a mark of successful parenting in the 19th century. For families of the middle class and respectable working class, children were expected to make themselves generally useful and be subject to parental control before they began to work to help support the family (generallyContinue reading “The Uncontrollable Child”
Juvenile Justice in the 19th Century.
On board the Proserpine, hardened juvenile offenders mixed with small children with desperately unhappy backgrounds. Life was exceptionally harsh in the 19th century for children from impoverished families, and with no social security, crime was an option. The main difference between today’s tales of horror and the Victorian stories is that today there are Federal andContinue reading “Juvenile Justice in the 19th Century.”
Young Patrick's life of crime.
He was born at sea in 1855, and grew up in the Irishtown district of Ipswich. By 15 he was called a hardened criminal by the newspapers. When Patrick Long boarded the Hulk Proserpina in 1871, his parents were no longer in the picture, and although the hulk was supposed to be a reformatory and industrial school, there wasContinue reading “Young Patrick's life of crime.”
The fortunes of Edward Robinson Starkey
The Hulk Proserpine The Hulk ‘Proserpine’ was used as an Industrial School and Reformatory for boys in trouble in the late 19th century. Neglected children under ten years of age mixed with repeat offenders in their late teens on board the ship. Every entry in the admission Register told a tale – usually of familyContinue reading “The fortunes of Edward Robinson Starkey”
The Scandalous Mrs Bailey.
The brief reign of an adventuress in Brisbane Town. Brisbane Town in 1847 was a rough and ready place. Free settlement had been permitted since 1842, but settlers faced an almost complete lack of amenities and commerce. Prior to the skilled immigration movement of Dr Lang, women fell into several distinct categories: wives of GovernmentContinue reading “The Scandalous Mrs Bailey.”
Convict Insolence and Insubordination at Moreton Bay
By the end of the 1830s, the penal settlement of Moreton Bay was winding down operations, and those serving there knew this only too well. There was little chance of being sent to Norfolk Island – even notorious characters were finding themselves fairly respectable work. Constable George Brown, formerly the most flagrant of the Bay’s absconders,Continue reading “Convict Insolence and Insubordination at Moreton Bay”
Mr Higgins and his menagerie.
Charles Higgins had an eventful life in the Colony of Queensland. He kept pet tigers at Toombul, when it was then in the country. He ran a menagerie of exotic wild animals in George Street in the heart of Brisbane Town, suffered a severe mauling at same, donated iguanas to the Museum, and featured in a numberContinue reading “Mr Higgins and his menagerie.”
Moreton Bay and More 