10 years passed between the burial of Johanna Goodwin and her infant on St Helena Island and the next woman to die and be buried there also. My last blog post in this series ‘New arrivals, new stories and old mysteries in 1852’ detailed the arrival of the immigrant ship ‘Maria Soames’ and the first immigrant burials recorded on St Helena Island, Moreton Bay. Fast … Continue reading New arrivals, new stories and old mysteries – 1862
While our focus is often on the prison era of the St Helena Penal Establishment from 1867, the previous 15 years saw St Helena Island used as a quarantine site. Moreton Bay settlement was opened up to free immigrants in 1842 and in doing so it became exposed to outbreaks of disease the immigrants brought with them on the ships. The story of these immigrant … Continue reading New arrivals, new stories and old mysteries in 1852
Brand new research has come to light for St Helena Island! Our discovery has realised that there was a prisoner in St Helena Penal Establishment who was also a convict transported in 1840. Continue reading St Helena Island is NOT a place for convicts… until now.
In prison 1st January 1921- 158 prisoners.Received through the year 117. Discharged through the year 186 In prison 31st December 1921 – 89 prisoners. Prisons Department Report – Year ended 31st December 1921 In 1921, The Home secretary, Mr McCormack controlled prisons. Major discussions had been ongoing for years regarding the best way to administer and manage prisoners in Queensland. The final decisions, outlined in … Continue reading ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER ON ST HELENA ISLAND
What did Christmas and New Year Celebrations look like on a prison island? Roast beef and Plum Pudding were a feature of even St Helena Penal Establishment’s Christmas celebrations . Continue reading ‘All I want for Christmas’ at St Helena Penal Establishment.
Bob Jnr and Fred Murrie’smother Charlotte (nee McMunn) was one of the few women on St Helena Island in the 1910’s. Becoming Senior Warder in 1913 meant Bob Murrie Senior was allocated a small cottage, and was one of the few warders given permission to have his wife and children living with him on St Helena Island. This Mother’s Day, let’s celebrate the contribution of … Continue reading 100 years ago – celebrating the St Helena Island mothers
George Buist, the last know returned soldier arriving at St Helena Island in September 1920 as a warder, was only on the island for 9 months. Not much happened, excepting a miscount of a prisoner at evening muster in C Wing. But his war service deserves a special mention as not too many men met and married their wife and had a child all while … Continue reading Maltman, Soldier, Warder, Newsagent. The many lives of George Buist.
It’s 2020! The beginning of a new decade always brings a sense of excitement and possibility. Psychologically we’re entering a new chapter that seems to be an open book in front of us, waiting to be written in. Numerically 2020 has a nice ring to it through the repetition of numbers. I thought I’d start this year reviving an old, annual tradition from the time … Continue reading 100 years ago – 1920 to 2020
I thought I’d resend this blog post as we have room for more people on our 14th July tour! This will be the only tour I can run this year… I’d love to take you out for a fabulous day in a special place. Please head to ‘Shop’ and book ASAP if you would like a special day on St Helena Island…. Belinda Being an … Continue reading Who’d like to come on a tour of beautiful St Helena Island?
I remember being on St Helena Island in the late 1990’s, when an olive expert gave advice to severely prune the trees in the olive grove. These had been growing without any expert tree care for around 80 years and were huge, rambling, messy things that still bore fruit and thrived no matter what. Ranger Paul brought out the chainsaw and did as was advised… … Continue reading The good oil – St Helena olives
