The Proserpine was converted from a cattle ship to a prison hulk in 1863, and was repurposed again in 1871 to “to receive boys of the criminal class.”[i] The criminal class included children who had been brought before the Bench as neglected. Neglected children are held, by the sixth clause of the Act, to meanContinue reading “Tales from the Proserpine: the orphan who lived long and prospered.”
Tag Archives: Tales from the Proserpine
A Short and Troubled Life – Tales from the Proserpine.
The immigrant ship the Susanne Godeffroy departed Hamburg on 06 May and arrived in Queensland on 06 September 1865, carrying a cargo of hard-working and hopeful immigrant German families ready to try their luck in the New World. Among them was the Ammenhauser family – brothers Johannes and Conrad and their respective wives and children.Continue reading “A Short and Troubled Life – Tales from the Proserpine.”
James Duffy – Crime and Misfortune
Inmate No. 3 of the Proserpine. The Proserpine Reformatory couldn’t reform James Duffy. Unfortunately, nothing could. The son of a colourful ticket of leave man, young James led a life of petty crime and misadventure. James was born in Brisbane on 22 July at 1856, the third son of Timothy Duffy and Catherine Fahey. HisContinue reading “James Duffy – Crime and Misfortune”
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”
Moreton Bay and More 