“Like most of his class, he continued constantly drinking.” Moreton Bay Courier, 1847 Henry Caldicott’s life was looking up. He had some money in his pocket, a ticket of leave, and some time off. He’d come from a station on the Logan after boiling down season and was in Limestone (Ipswich), and ready for aContinue reading “All for refusing a drink.”
Tag Archives: Murder
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.”
Death at Twelve-Mile Reach.
Before railways and paved roads, the best way to travel between Ipswich and Brisbane was by river. Steamers plied the river, carrying passengers and cargo at what would be to modern eyes, a rather stately pace. Class divides were inescapable. Steamers offered saloons for the better-off, and steerage for the working class. Formal dinners andContinue reading “Death at Twelve-Mile Reach.”
On this day – the capture of John Alexander Herrlich, 8 April 1870.
A small detachment of police had been searching for a murder suspect through bushland around Toowoomba for nearly two months. The man they were hunting was John Alexander Herrlich, a German man in his fifties, who was wanted for the murder of Martin Klein on February 12. Herrlich had shot and killed the man forContinue reading “On this day – the capture of John Alexander Herrlich, 8 April 1870.”
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.”
A Murder. A Deathbed Confession Years Later. Sound Familiar?
It’s a different, but equally terrible, story. The Stranger In the early evening of 19 June 1865, several women were followed about the streets of Toowoomba by a strange man. Some were violently assaulted. At 6:00 pm, Ann Ward was going out of the front door of her cottage in Perth Street when she noticedContinue reading “A Murder. A Deathbed Confession Years Later. Sound Familiar?”
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.”
Snippets: A Remarkable Statement.
Like James Gardner, George Blanton killed the girl he loved. Like James Gardner, George Blanton had been a heavy drinker and this contributed to his violence and his end. Unlike James Gardner, George Blantern confessed immediately, and was deeply remorseful from the instant he had committed the crime. The following is his statement at his sentencing. Continue reading “Snippets: A Remarkable Statement.”
The Forlorn Women Haunting Our Streets – The Murder of German Ada
German Ada could have been saved from a fatal beating at the hands of James Gardner on the night of 21 August 1883. A neighbour heard her screams as a stammering man threatened her, and went to find the nearest police officer. This constable, on being told that violence was occurring at an address inContinue reading “The Forlorn Women Haunting Our Streets – The Murder of German Ada”
The Northern Murderers – Gleeson and Moncaro.
George Gleeson and William Leonardo Moncado were executed together at the Brisbane Gaol on Monday, October 24, 1892. They had both been convicted and sentenced to death at the Supreme Court’s Cooktown sittings in north Queensland a mere month before. George Gleeson George Gleeson (pictured) was a cook at a pearling station on Prince of Wales Island, which was offContinue reading “The Northern Murderers – Gleeson and Moncaro.”
Moreton Bay and More 