Moreton Bay Convict Colony
The penal colony Moreton Bay was the first penal colony in Australia Queensland . It was founded in 1824 and operated until 1842. The bay is in front of Brisbane , the capital of Queensland. The convict colony became notorious because of the commandant Patrick Logan , who imposed draconian sentences on both convicts and soldiers.
history
In 1823, Governor Thomas Brisbane was of the opinion that the Macquarie Harbor penal colony was unsuitable for further occupancy because of the many escape attempts by convicts and that it would be better to create penal colonies in preparation for subsequent free settlement. Brisbane passed this knowledge on to England and sought approval of the changed colonial policy from the British Colonial Office . When he received this, he commissioned John Oxley to explore the area around Moreton Bay for this purpose. When Oxley reported positive about this settlement area, Brisbane gave the order to build a convict colony there.
Brisbane named Henry Miller in September 1824 as the first in command of the new convict colony for women and men on Moreton Bay . He arrived in the bay with 50 settlers and 30 convicts. He was replaced by Captain Peter Bishop in 1825 because he could hardly show any results. Bishop blamed this on Miller's harsh disciplinary measures and eased them. However, he did not make any progress with the 200 convicts either and was replaced in March 1826 by Captain Patrick Logan, an explorer and adventurer, who ruthlessly enforced disciplinary measures.
The convicts had to build the buildings from the hard-to-work basalt of the area and clear the area. Logan punished actions like looking in the wrong direction or "bad disposition" with 100 lashes. But he not only punished convicts severely, but also his soldiers; therefore he and life in the colony were hated by both the convicts and the soldiers.
In 1829 there were 700 convicts in Moreton Bay and after Logan was murdered by Aborigines in October 1830 , Captain James Clunie ran the penal colony. He was successful because he had "first-class" convicts available. In his time, the city of Brisbane developed. Clunie was replaced by Captain Foster Fyans in 1835. In 1837 there were 300 convicts left in Brisbane, in 1839 the female convicts were withdrawn and there were only 94 male convicts there. In 1840 the buildings of the penal colony were empty and on February 10, 1842 the entire area was released for free settlement.
memories
The convict colony was located a few miles on the Brisbane River at Redcliffe Point , which is now Brisbane's business hub.
Only two buildings in Brisbane remind of the penal colony, the Old Windmill on Wickham Terrace and the Commissariat Store on the banks of the Brisbane River on William Street . This building was the first post office and immigration depot in Brisbane. St Helena Island in the mouth of the Brisbane River was also a site of the penal colony, which was used as a prison island from 1867 to 1932.
A song was also written about the hard life of the convicts.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b investigator.records.nsw.gov.au : State Records Archives Investigator , in English, accessed November 25, 2011
- ↑ a b artistwd.com : Moreton Bay Penal Establishment , in English, accessed 25 November 2011
- ↑ folkstream.com : Moreton Bay ( Folksong ), in English, accessed November 25, 2011