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| Plan of River Brisbane and chart of Moreton Bay, as drawn by John Oxley, 1823 |
Queensland Convict and Prison Indexes
(Includes Records of Early Settlers)
Click titles to be taken directly to the record
The following records are available at Queensland State Archives:
Moreton Bay Convict Register 1824 to 1839
Lists the names of convicts (Crown prisoners) at Moreton Bay penal settlement from 1824 to 1839. Information also includes prisoner number, the name of the ship on which the convict first arrived from England, original conviction date and Queensland State Archives' catalogue details.
* Note: Database includes link to digital image.
Lists the names of prisoners in the Ordinary Service of the Crown at Moreton Bay in 1839. Information also includes prisoner number, name of the ship on which the prisoner arrived at Moreton Bay, date and Queensland State Archives' catalogue details.
* Note: Database includes link to digital image.
* Note: Database includes link to digital image.
Lists the names of convicts (Crown prisoners) at Moreton Bay penal settlement from 1824 to 1839. Information also includes height, complexion, eye and hair colour, age, religion and native place and Queensland State Archives' catalogue details.
* Note: Database includes link to digital image.
Alphabetically lists the names of individuals at the Moreton Bay Settlement during the period 1829 to 1837. Information also includes the activity, date, page and Queensland State Archives' catalogue details.
* Note: Database includes link to digital image.
Lists the names of prisoners held at St Helena Penal Establishment between 1863 and 1936. Information also includes aliases, the prison number, year and Queensland State Archives' catalogue details.
Lists the names of prisoners discharged from HM Gaol (later Prison) Toowoomba from 1869 to 1879. Information also includes aliases, gaol number, date discharged, and Queensland State Archives' catalogue details.
Lists the names of prisoners tried at criminal sittings at Toowoomba and other regional courts in south east Queensland. Information also includes aliases, the court and date of sitting and Queensland State Archives' catalogue details.
Lists the names of male and female prisoners admitted to HM Gaol (later Prison) Toowoomba from 1895 to 1906. Information also includes aliases, prisoner number, date of conviction and Queensland State Archives' catalogue details.
Lists the names of female prisoners admitted to HM Gaol (later Prison) Toowoomba from 1887 to 1891. Information also includes aliases, date of sentence, date of receipt into the gaol and Queensland State Archives' catalogue details.
Photographic records, descriptions and criminal histories of prisoners executed - HM Gaol/Prison, Brisbane (Boggo Road) - (Scroll to Digital Images to Access)
Queensland prisons kept records of prisoners' admissions, criminal history and physical descriptions, either separately or combined in the same register. This series consists of a register of prisoners executed in Queensland between 1883 and 1913.
Photos were taken by the Police Department, Criminal Investigation Branch and copies forwarded to the Police Commissioner's Office for distribution to prisons and police stations throughout the state as well as to interstate police.
Information given includes: a front photograph of the prisoner from the shoulders up (sometimes the profile as well and, in one case, the whole standing person); name (and alias/es); prisoner number; ethnicity, if not white; date portrait taken; native place of origin; year of birth; ship and year when arrived in Colony; occupation or trade previous to conviction; religion; education; height; weight on committal; colour of hair and eyes; marks or special features; where and when tried; offence; sentence; remarks (including when executed); past criminal history (where convicted, when, offence, and sentence. Each page includes the stamp of the Brisbane prison and the stamp of the Executive Council, Queensland and date.
Note: This volume includes details of Ellen Thompson [Thomson], the only woman executed in Queensland, and of John Harrison, her lover, both sentenced to death for the murder of Thomson's husband, both executed in 1887.
From the State Library of Queensland
Convict Queenslanders, from the State Library of Queensland, are short dossiers compiled on people who arrived in Australia as convicts, then made their way to Queensland where they became a part of the colony's history.
This database has been compiled from British Home Office (HO) records which are available on microfilm as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP). The HO 11 Criminal – Convict Transportation Registers series has been indexed by the State Library of Queensland and contains the following information:
- Name of convict, including any known aliases
- Place of trial *
- Term of years
- Name of ship and date of departure
- Place of arrival
- Miscellaneous notes e.g. Died at sea; Ticket of Leave, etc.
* The date of trial is recorded on the original registers and will be gradually added to this database
These records mainly include those convicted in England, Wales and Scotland. Only a small number of Irish convicts appear in this series of the Home Office records. The database also includes soldiers who had been court-martialled and sentenced to transportation. These 'soldier convicts' may have been convicted in various British colonies including the West Indies, India, Pakistan and Canada.
Over 123,000 out of the estimated 160,000 convicts transported to Australia are recorded in this database. These include prisoners sent to New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), Moreton Bay (Brisbane), Port Phillip. Western Australia and Norfolk Island. Also recorded are some ships which were bound for Gibraltar. The records cover the period of 1787 to 1867.
Inside Boggo Road
In the inner suburbs of Brisbane stands a heritage prison with an incredible history. You can explore it on Inside Boggo Road, the premier online resource for Boggo Road, with over 170 pages of history, hundreds of images, and over 1000 links to records and newspaper articles.
In the inner suburbs of Brisbane stands a heritage prison with an incredible history. You can explore it on Inside Boggo Road, the premier online resource for Boggo Road, with over 170 pages of history, hundreds of images, and over 1000 links to records and newspaper articles.
Pictured: Plan of River Brisbane and chart of Moreton Bay, as drawn by John Oxley, 1823; Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
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