The Moreton Bay criminal agreement was established in 1824 in response to a recommendation by Bigge Reports that another place of secondary punishment be provided to deal with the wave of crime in Sydney and the sentences imposed on repeat offenders. On September 12, 1824, Lieutenant Henry Miller, of the 40th Infantry Regiment, was formally appointed to establish Moreton Bay. Miller had already taken care of the preparations, having arrived in Sydney a couple of months earlier and organized six months worth of supplies, including sheep, goats, pigs and poultry. They departed Sydney on August 29 and arrived at Moreton Bay on the Amity brig on September 10. The Moreton Bay Penal Settlement was established as a place of exile and punishment for repeat offenders.
The first Europeans who discovered the Brisbane River and selected the site for the city of Brisbane are attributed to several people, including three ex-convicts. This handy guide provides specific information about the history and records related to convicts in Moreton Bay. Links to websites are included, as well as several titles to read more. On February 10, 1842, Governor George Gipps declared the Moreton Bay prison settlement closed and the district open to free colonization.
The Moreton Bay penal settlement was closed in 1842, when the Moreton Bay area was opened to free settlements, with the city of Brisbane as its center. Also at that time, the southern entrance to the bay, which provides easy access to the river, was unknown. Starting in the 1830s, would-be landowners, businessmen, and merchants from South Australia called on the colonial government to open the entire Moreton Bay to free settlers. The other survivors, believing that they had landed south of Jervis Bay, made plans to walk north to Sydney.
In October 1823, he sent Lieutenant John Oxley, surveyor general of New South Wales, north from Sydney, aboard the HMC Mermaid to find a site for a penal settlement in Moreton Bay. All architectural drawings of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement and archival records from the time of the Queensland convicts have been digitized and are available online. Use the New South Wales State Archives Guide related to convicts and convict management to find a summary of records found in State Archives & Records NSW from Penal Settlements in Moreton Bay, Norfolk Island and Port Phillip. The Moreton Bay penal settlement was established on Redcliffe Peninsula in Moreton Bay in September 1824 following John Oxley's instructions that a suitable place would be easy to access yet difficult to escape or attack; it should also be close to fresh water with three hundred acres for cultivation. They spent a couple of days looking for an appropriate site and researched both islands within bay as well as those on mainland. The history of Moreton Bay Penal Settlement is an interesting one with many stories waiting to be told.
From its establishment in 1824 until its closure in 1842 it served as a place of exile and punishment for repeat offenders. It also saw some of its first European inhabitants being three ex-convicts who discovered Brisbane River and selected site for city of Brisbane. Architectural drawings from this period have been digitized and are available online along with records from State Archives & Records NSW related to convicts and convict management. For those interested in learning more about life during this period there are several books available as well as websites providing specific information about history and records related to convicts in Moreton Bay. So if you're looking for an interesting story about Australia's past then look no further than exploring history of Moreton Bay Penal Settlement!.
