The life and death of Peter Glynn. Imagine the convict experience from the view of a child or a teenager. For whatever reason, usually poverty, you have committed a fairly minor robbery and have been caught. You are taken to Court and tried in a perfunctory way. The Judge exercises leniency, or so he says,Continue reading “An unreformed character.”
Tag Archives: Convicts
Mr Humby and Mr Humby.
The earliest census returns for Moreton Bay had nearly 1600 people spread out over a vast area that ranged from the Darling Downs to the Logan, Pine River, Ipswich and Brisbane Town. In December 1849, there were two men named Humby in tiny Brisbane Town. Both were English. Both were transported convicts. Both had marriedContinue reading “Mr Humby and Mr Humby.”
Bad Company.
Part of an occasional series about convicts who were sentenced to both Moreton Bay and Norfolk Island. The convicts who arrived by the Forth in 1830 seem to have been a particularly unlucky lot. There were 113 men on board, three of whom died at sea. Quite a lot of them died within a fewContinue reading “Bad Company.”
The Old Man Nobody Wanted.
On 6 October 1873, a frail old man suffering from dementia was transferred to Dunwich Benevolent Asylum from the Brisbane Hospital. The hospital couldn’t do much for him – he was old, he was wandering in his mind, but he wasn’t really sick enough to take up a valuable hospital bed. He had been sentContinue reading “The Old Man Nobody Wanted.”
Machine breakers, mutiny, and Moreton Bay: the voyages of the Eleanor, 1831.
The Eleanor was a trading ship, built at Calcutta in 1821 [i]. She worked trade routes from Asia to England before being contracted to transport an unusual group of convicts to Australia – hard-working, honest men who had taken part in industrial action. The Machine Breakers “The men per Eleanor were landed on Monday lastContinue reading “Machine breakers, mutiny, and Moreton Bay: the voyages of the Eleanor, 1831.”
The Young Ones.
Two teenaged criminals who went from Moreton Bay to Norfolk Island. [This is the second in an occasional series that examines the fates of the convicts who had “to Norfolk Island” written against their names in the Moreton Bay Register.] Two of the convicts who went to from Moreton Bay to Norfolk Island arrived inContinue reading “The Young Ones.”
One Hell after another.
Convicts who went from Moreton Bay to Norfolk Island. Edward Doolan’s short life was punctuated by a series of extremely bad decisions. It ended because of one of them. His story is part of a series of posts about the Moreton Bay men who went on to serve time at Norfolk Island. Only a fewContinue reading “One Hell after another.”
The A-Z of Old Brisbane – some “C” stories.
Churches. During the convict period, prisoners were mustered on Sundays and had Divine Service read to them whether they liked it or not. Moreton Bay briefly enjoyed the services of a Reverend Vincent, but he only stayed several months, returning to Sydney after suffering a bad case of Commandant Logan. Once free settlement began, housesContinue reading “The A-Z of Old Brisbane – some “C” stories.”
The Amity Convicts – the Runaways and Incorrigibles. Part 2.
A repost of an earlier account of a convict absconder, to mark the anniversary of the Amity’s landing. 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, and committed a robbery, is unclear, butContinue reading “The Amity Convicts – the Runaways and Incorrigibles. Part 2.”
The Mystery of the First Convict at Moreton Bay.
Who was John Anderson? The very first entry in the Chronological Register of Convicts at Moreton Bay is that of John Anderson, per Baring 2, making him (technically) the first Moreton Bay convict. John Anderson was described in the Moreton Bay records as being 23 years old, a sailor and sailmaker who hailed from Leeds.Continue reading “The Mystery of the First Convict at Moreton Bay.”
