Criminal Trials – Moreton Bay and More

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”

The indictment of the bushranger “The Wild Scotchman”

Before I publish the third part of A Brief History of Queensland Bushranging, I wanted to share the indictment of James Alpin McPherson, alias The Wild Scotchman, who bailed up and stole from the mails relentlessly in the mid 1860s. He did not injure any of his victims, and this is why this particular bushranger was ableContinue reading “The indictment of the bushranger “The Wild Scotchman””

Podgy The Bushranger is sentenced- 25 September

This post was originally published on May 19. Troden was sentenced on 25 September. He was very lucky to avoid the gallows- his saving grace, if it may be called that, was that his victims were inconvenienced rather than harmed. At 4 pm on 30 July 1868, four men were on the road to theContinue reading “Podgy The Bushranger is sentenced- 25 September”

The Story of Sedin – murder and riots in the far North.

Two men were executed at Brisbane Gaol on 12 November 1888. They were both foreign-born men trying to make a living in far north Queensland at the time of the northern gold rush. Both had become killers. Edmund Duhamel, a Frenchman working in the gold mine at Croydon, killed his young de facto wife andContinue reading “The Story of Sedin – murder and riots in the far North.”

Highway Robbery – Podgy and Blake.

At 4 pm on 30 July 1868, four men were on the road to the new gold rush at Yabber (you can’t make these names up). They were Henry Redman, Robert Crothers, John Crothers, and Thomas Gill. The group was about 4 miles from Imbil, inland from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, when two armed men onContinue reading “Highway Robbery – Podgy and Blake.”