The extraordinary story of a Russian scientist visiting Queensland and what he did with the heads of four executed prisoners in Brisbane.
Tag Archives: Brisbane history
The Hempen Halter: Criticising the Boggo Road Gallows
Some very resounding criticism of the Boggo Road gallows (and superintendent Vivian Williams) from a Brisbane tabloid newspaper of 1903.
Colonial Columns: Mount Coot-tha in 1929
A description and history of Mt Coot-tha, Brisbane, from 1929.
Death Rides a Penny-Farthing
How a fall from a 19th-century bicycle led to a injured finger and to death and a surprising headstone symbol.
The Gallows of the Old Windmill Tower
Two Aboriginal men were hanged at the Brisbane windmill in 1841. I look at the unresolved question of exactly what type of gallows was used that day.
The Seven Devils of George Street
Seven sandstone devils keep watch over Brisbane’s George St. from their vantage points on the old Printing Office. Find out how these rather strange objects found their way there.
Colonial Columns: ‘Observations made on a journey to the natives at Toorbal, August 1841’ (Part Two)
The vivid description of missionaries journeying a few day’s north of Brisbane in 1841, and their encounters with various Aboriginal peoples along the way. Part Two.
Colonial Columns: ‘Observations made on a journey to the natives at Toorbal, August 1841’ (Part One)
The vivid description of missionaries journeying a few days north of Brisbane in 1841, and their encounters with various Aboriginal peoples along the way. Part One.
The Tiger Man of Brisbane
Learn about the remarkable Charles Higgins, 19th-century Brisbane’s tiger-tamer extraordinaire.
Christopher Dawson 