In October 1851, Jane Ellis was the most despised woman in Brisbane. At her first Court appearance, crowds of angry citizens jostled for a seat in the public gallery, and when she was released on bail, Mrs Ellis had to be escorted through the hissing throng by two policemen. Mrs Ellis was the wife ofContinue reading “The Most Despised Woman in Old Brisbane Town.”
Tag Archives: Neglect
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.”
Moreton Bay and More 