Life & Death in the Sunshine State

This post can be viewed in PDF format here. It is an article called 'Privatising History at Boggo Road Gaol' and is taken from next month's Boggo Road Bugle #52. It looks at some of the problems created by the current Boggo Road Gaol fiasco in terms of the practice and presentation of history itself, and how the Queensland public have been short-changed in how they can experience the old prison.

The next article on The Boggo Blog will look at another aspect of trying to turn history into private property.

(Adobe Reader can be downloaded safely for freehere)

The attempted privatisation of Boggo Road Gaol has raised a number of important issues relating to the practice and presentation of History. On one hand, when you visit the gaol you can only hear this one limited version of Boggo Road's history, written by a person who never set foot it when it was open, the same person who has silenced the voices of those who actually worked or lived there by denying them fair and equitable access to share their stories. This is what happens when personal profit motives are put ahead of community good. The Boggo Road Gaol Historical Society understands a dynamic and vibrant historical interpretation of the old prison needs many different voices. A private business looks after #1 every time and if that means stopping more-deserving people from telling their stories and depriving the public of a decent choice, then so be it. All this was covered in this recent essay.

There is, however, another aspect of this privatisation approach that has just raised its head - what happens when you attempt to privatise folklore? I ask this because the other day somebody sent me a link to a Facebook post written by a person claiming to have been on a ghost tour of Boggo Road. I won't link it here because I'm not even sure it's an authentic account of events. It did, however, give an insight into the attempted privatisation of folklore, or the appropriation of memories. At one point this person writes:

"I won't go into detail of the stories and experiences told to us by Jack Sim, as I don't want to be sued or have any sort of legal case thrown at me for using his material."

So you pay $40 to hear a few camp-fire tales on a tour and come away thinking that if you repeat those stories in any way then the tour guide will actually sue you? Charming.

Here's the drum on this one: You can't get sued for talking about a story you heard on a guided tour. Sure, if you use that specific sequence of words when doing your own tours or books then there might be a problem, but when it comes to the source material, NOBODY OWNS THESE STORIES. There's nothing you can hear on a tour that other people don't already know. God knows I've heard them all from other sources anyway. Now if somebody tells me a story, that doesn't mean that I suddenly own it. I don't own their stories and I don't own their memories. And they've probably told loads of other people anyway.

So just like you can put a plot outline of Star Wars on Wikipedia without being sued by George Lucas, you can recap something you heard on a tour. Or write a review. For example, this review of a 'South Brisbane Cemetery Ghost Tour' appeared in QWeekend in September 2011 and critically recalls a number of story elements:

We've heardthese claims of private ownership folklore before, and from the same person. When Tracey Olivieri was writing her book The Ghosts of South Brisbane Cemetery she was threatened with these words:

‘The ghost stories and tales used our tours are from specific sources which can be identified. They are not common knowledge or in the public realm. They are our legal property.’

So Tracey was told that she wasn't allowed to tell the stories that she had heard as a kid growing up near the cemetery because they nowbelonged to a businessman. The legal threat was ignored and Tracey pressed ahead with her book as anybody with a functioning brain could see that the claim of 'legal property' was complete and utter codswallop. I won't explain the bleeding obvious reasons why here as it's all covered in Tracey's book anyway.

So there is no legal impediment to talking about - in your own words - something you heard on a tour. You can do it with our Moonlight Tour stuff, and you can do it with any other tour too. This nonsensical notion of folklore as private propertyneeds to be stamped out.

Courier-Mail, October 1949.

With no apparent sense of irony, columnists for News Ltd have recently used their coast-to-coast media platforms to complain about proposed new laws that they claimed would diminish their ‘freedom of speech’. They would perhaps do well to remember the times when people found themselves actually locked up in Boggo Road for real freedom-of-speech issues.

One of these people was Gilbert Burns, who in the 1940s was an executive member of the Communist Party of Australia (CPA). A former coal miner from Sunderland, England, he had set up the radical Anvil Bookshop on Elizabeth Street in Brisbane in the 1930s and then stood for state parliament as a CPA candidate in Bremer. Anti-communism was rife within official circles and the authorities were content to use the law or plain brute force to suppress it. Burns and his fellow communist Fred Paterson were under constant surveillance by the Commonwealth Security Service, and in March 1948 Paterson, by now a state MP for the CPA, was knocked unconscious by a policeman when he intervened to stop the officer assaulting a civilian during a strike march. Paterson had to suspend political activity for several months as a result of the severe head injuries he had sustained. An inquiry found that ‘no wrongdoing had occurred’ and no police officer was ever charged. Paterson had been attending a march of striking railway workers. Officials Ted Englart, Max Julius and Mick Healey served 15 days in Boggo Road in 1948 for their failure to pay fines incurred under anti-picketing laws during that strike.

Ted Englart (seated left), Max Julius and Mick Healy on the
morning of their release from Boggo Road.

In September of that same year Gilbert Burns participated in a public debate in Brisbane between the Queensland People’s Party and the CPA on the topic ‘That communism is not compatible with personal liberty’, which was a somewhat ironic topic given what happened next. Members of the audience were allowed to ask questions of the speakers, and a QPP plant in the audience asked Burns:

“We realise the world could become embroiled in a third world war in the immediate future between Soviet Russia and the western powers. In the event of such a war what would be the attitude and actions of the Communist Party in Australia?”

Burns was evasive with his response, so the questioner interjected and demanded a direct answer so Burns said, “All right, we would oppose that war. We would fight on the side of the Soviet Union. That’s a direct answer.”

This set-up by the QPP to trap Burns into publicly stating his loyalty to the Soviet Union led to him being prosecuted under the federal Crimes Act 1914 on a charge of uttering seditious words. Prompted by the 1917 Bolshevik revolution and (to a lesser extent) the Irish Easter rebellion of 1916, the Commonwealth Parliament had amended the Crimes Act in 1920 by criminalising seditious speech and conduct.

1950s ASIO surveillance photograph of political activists,
including Gilbert Burns in the dark suit (National Archives of Australia)

Courier-Mail, October 1948.

Burns was convicted of uttering seditious words and initially sentenced to six months imprisonment in Boggo Road. He spent one night there before being released on bail pending his High Court appeal, arguing that his answer to a hypothetical could not establish the seditious intent required under law. The Chifley government, facing a deteriorating Cold War situation, disregarded unanimous legal advice that Burns had committed no offence and instead instructed the Crown solicitor to prosecute Burns and lay as many charges as possible. Burns’ appeal was eventually rejected by the High Court in October 1949 and the 46-year-old was taken from his Morningside home to Boggo Road to serve out his original sentence. The court had also confirmed the conviction of Laurence Sharkey, the Communist Party’s General Secretary in Melbourne, who had made a similar statement in response to a query from a Daily Telegraph reporter. Sharkey received three years in prison, but only served 13 months.

There would be numerous other occasions when political activists were locked in the Boggo Road cells, most famously during the ‘free speech’protests of the 1980s. If it was China we would no doubt be calling them 'dissidents'. Those events will be covered here on the Boggo Blog at a future date,

We have put our petition for 'A Better Future for Boggo Road' online, basically demanding that Boggo Road Gaol is run for public benefit and is not privatised by the Queensland Government. If you haven't done so already, SIGN IT! If you have signed it, thanks from all of us.

The response has been good so far, but the best part for me havebeen the replies to the question underneath the petition, 'Why is this important to you?' I'll just run a selection of them here, as they are and without further comment:

douglas cooper AUSTRALIA

WITH 15 YEARS OF WORKING THERE THE SITE SHOULD BE KEPT FOR ALL TO SEE THE HISTORY OF BRISBANE

Mary Wilson AUSTRALIA

It is essential that ,as a heritage site with an important history, that it be managed as a not for profit site for the community to visit & appreciate our history. It should never be used as a commercial money making venture.

Albert Webb AUSTRALIA
Keep it in the family

Rosalind McConnel AUSTRALIA
I'd like it to be run by passionate historians who are in it for historical accuracy and preservation, not personal profit and thrills.

Michael Flannery AUSTRALIA
Once it’s gone its gone forever

Rob Colthorpe AUSTRALIA
Fair & equitable access for all!

Shane Daley AUSTRALIA
It is heritage site not somewhere to make a joke of

Michele-Rose Boylan BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
direct descendent of key leader of 1891 Shearer's Strike held there.

fred joughin AUSTRALIA
we seem to be going back to the eighties for example belle view, cloudland and anything else that could be knocked down . we deserve better.

Paul Ricketts AUSTRALIA
Heritage.

Steve Beutel AUSTRALIA
This historical site belongs to the public and as such should not be used to allow individuals to make personal gain!! Never Ever!!

Lauren Penny BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
This historical public asset is owned by the people of Queensland, yet Campbell Newman saw fit to give to a man whose business is based on ghosts free rent for 5 months and all he had to do was pay for electricity. Even our elderly don't get that sweet a deal.

Silvia Borges BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
Boggo road deserves a better future.

Scott Brown NEW GISBORNE, AUSTRALIA
Boggo Road gaol is a site of historical significance to Queensland and should remain under public ownership and management. The cost impacts of privatisation is damaging not only the utility of the site for public organisations of interest but is also damaging the tourist potential of the site through the exorbitant fees being charged. Australia's heritage should not be for sale and should remain under Government control and management

Fiona Brown NEW GISBORNE, AUSTRALIA
I spent 10 Years in Qld and consider it my second home. Boggo Road Gaol is a significant piece of Australian and Queensland history which should not be handed over to a private company without due process and public consideration. This is a valuable historical asset which should be upgraded and able to be turned into something special.

Lee Blume AUSTRALIA
Our heritage is NOT for sale.
Who next, Clive Palmer and the Royal Brisbane Hospital;?

Matthew Atkinson AUSTRALIA
This site is a public asset and as such should be used for public education. No public asset should be used as an asset to build private wealth

KAREN LINDSAY AUSTRALIA
history

Lynette Ward AUSTRALIA
Its our history every other country preserves there's and Australia rips ours down to build new. Well we dont want new. Leave our old building alone

Paula Elliott SOUTH BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
Its part of history and should be available to the masses and not just to rich people.

Emma Snow AUSTRALIA

Boggo Road jail is historical. The jail should not be used for private profit as it is part of history and a part of the local community where it stands. This jail should belong to the people not the 'man'.

Debra Atkinson AUSTRALIA
This privatisation experiment of public heritage listed buildings has failed on all levels. The site is an important part of our history. It is a public asset and should remain so. It should not under any circumstances be run for private profit.

Matthew Dixon AUSTRALIA
Run Boggo Road Gaol museum for public good, not private profit!

Nathan Applebee AUSTRALIA
Its part of QLD history, this should be a public run not for profit for the the community. As with every thing else as soon as something that was originally for the community is privatised it becomes too expensive as it is changed to become a profitable business.

Dave Snow AUSTRALIA
The government tends to outsource everything now days this historic site should not be under should not be under the control of just 1 person make it fair for everyone queensland owns it. let's keep it . I say no to privatisation

Stephen Green AUSTRALIA
Previously employed in Queensland Prisons and believe that this icon is not being effectively utilised for the public good at present.

Andrew Murray BRAY PARK, AUSTRALIA
History and tradition belong to the people and not a private entity

Jeff Campbell ESK, AUSTRALIA
The Public should be able to enjoy the local heritage, without having to pay large amounts to see it

Attila Kaldy AUSTRALIA

Compared to most countries we lack our own heritage. This is just another act of severing another historical place from our community

Phyllis Hunt GYMPIE, AUSTRALIA
I believe we should maintain the integrity of our past. We are losing too much, or people are changing the facts! I am also a former

Gillian Carter AUSTRALIA
The Ghost Tours hogging the entire interim opening is really just wrong on many levels. I would prefer to see the diverse range of options as other similar sites around Australia. An absolute bloody shame!!!!

Peter Alleman AUSTRALIA
It is a publicly owned Qld historical iconic site and should be available to all and not be there for private profit.

Nathan James PARKINSON, AUSTRALIA
Privatisation of some of Queensland's most historic monuments is completely unacceptable. The Newman government should hang their heads in shame if this goes ahead!

Vanessa Lycho AUSTRALIA
its part of qlds history and shouldn't be turned into a money making machine

Sharon Kirk AUSTRALIA
there are not many things left that are available to the public (tours etc), and this place has a lot of history. We moved from NZ and knew about it before we even thought about moving to Australia!!

Rachael Hodgen AUSTRALIA
Because the Gaol belongs to all Queenslanders. No one individual should be able to profit from this historical site

Maureen Young BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
Qld's historical sites belong to the public.

Des Lee AUSTRALIA
Family worked there

Candice Sellwood BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
This is Queensland's heritage, not a place for one person to make profit out of.

Tracey Olivieri AUSTRALIA
The Gaol should be available to everyone - not just one greedy businessman

Thanks everybody. After all the idiocy and deceit surrounding the Boggo Road decision, my faith in humanity is being restored.

My last blog article looked at some of the wonderful comments left by people on our petition for a better (non-privatised) future for Boggo Road Gaol.

The signatures have kept coming, giving us a really good start as we begin campaigning in the community. Once again though, a highlight has been the support expressed through the comments section under the online petition. A few of these people I do know, but the vast majority are strangers to me and it is that fact that really encourages me and the historical society. The basic idea of community groups getting a fair go at Boggo and being allowed to present affordable and better tours for the visiting public is hard to argue against. The idea of volunteers being required to work for the financial benefit of a private business is hard to defend.

As with that last article I will reproduce most of the latest comments here by way of thanks (I should add that not every single sentence necessarily reflect my owns views!)

Lee Potter PORTLAND, OR

This happens a lot and there is no need for a private business to get involved. Unless there is a profit. Historic Boggo Road Goal museum and others alike are handed over to the private sector to easily with a lot of regret in the future.

John Burns AUSTRALIA

As member of a not for profit museum I have seen the benefit to the community that volunteers can do for the public good. It gives active older citizens an outlet to assist in imparting the history of the area

Roz Kuss AUSTRALIA

Heritage-listed public assets should be protected, not handed over to commercial businesses. Let the not-for-profit organisation be in control for the benefit of ALL who revere our history.

Brendan Palmer AUSTRALIA

I am involved in several Historical Organisations and consider Boggo Road Gaol a historic site and wish to see the volunteers continue to provide their services to the Public who visit this site.

Graham Kluver AUSTRALIA Volunteers are just that!! They give their time and effort for the good of the community. Providing benefit for a private enterprise is tantamount to slave labour with no benefit to the community, only the money making of private concerns!!!

Patrick & Lois O'Shea VIRGINIA, AUSTRALIA

Boggo Road is part of our heritage and a reminder of how bad things once were.

Peter Haycock AUSTRALIA

I am a member the BRGHS and an ex Prison Officer at that Gaol. It should be kept in good repair it is part of our Heritage!

Marleen Paff AUSTRALIA

The stories from the gaol as told by the pople who actually worked there are intriguing, entertaining, and historically accurate... as opposed to a Jack (why let the truth get in the way of a good story) Sim Tour. Shame, Campbell Newman, SHAME.

Megan Symes WENDOUREE, AUSTRALIA

This should be a public visit place australian history is important for everyone especially for our future generations to come, there are places in Australia where other cities live underneath the current city. I live in Ballarat Victoria a well known historical town. Allowing this to become public would increase township sales and tourism and that would make more jobs and help out Australia. I urge you for the sake of our people our communities and the history of our ancestors, to make this public for all to enjoy. Even if you have to make an entry fee, this place would be a wonderful place to visit. I know id spend my money in your town for your locals to help me get a grasp of what it was like back then and how good we all have it now. Please this is all we ask. Thank you

meryl parr PALMWOODS, AUSTRALIA

This place holds a very special place in my heart. Please don't let them take it over.I like to go and there and just think as i walk around the premises.

Stanislav Bernat AUSTRALIA

It's a historical site, that belongs to public and not for business greedy enterpreneurs. Brisbane can't afford to loose this one. There is not to many left.Many invisible life stories are written in those walls.

Katharine Stenhouse BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

It is an important part of Queenslands' history and should be accessible for all, not just to those who pay. In order for our community to thrive in the future, we need to know our past. This is a disgrace!

Andrea Davison AUSTRALIA

Because we should protect Australian historical sites and our heritage

Craig Bradley AUSTRALIA

There are only so many things that can be sold off to overseas owners before its all gone. This is yet another Australian icon that would be definitely be owned by non Australians.

Elisha D'Antonio LENEVA, AUSTRALIA

I think it's very important for future generations to keep historical sites like this alive!!!

kade jones AUSTRALIA

this is a site that needs to be and should be used as an educational facility. The history of this site and what it means to people is important to share. Why should the govt and a certain Mr Jack Sim be using it as a money grab and using it for the wrong purposes? This site should be open for all, invest in the future, turn it into a living museum.

Louise Thomson AUSTRALIA

People need to know the history of this heritage listed public asset and not have someone reap in money into their own pocket.

For the people!!!!!!

Georgia Dawson AUSTRALIA

We don't need another privatised organisation

Matthew Mulroney AUSTRALIA

History is for the people

Martin Slack AUSTRALIA

I love history and in particular Brisbane. This is an important piece of history for the people and should not be sold off as with our other assets.

Liam Baker AUSTRALIA

Boggo Road Gaol is an invaluable historic, social & educational resource owned by the people of Queensland - to allow a commercial enterprise to control this resource, wholly for personal profit to the detriment of the greater community, is an absolute travesty.

Simon New AUSTRALIA

Historical sites like this should remaining in public hands not not private business.

Ros Kelly AUSTRALIA

Allow all the public to enjoy and learn from our wonderful past.

Lucy Bick AUSTRALIA

I think that the government should keep heritage properties and maintain the litlle bit of history that still remains in Brisbane. If only the government appreciated the history of Boggo Road gaol as much as the City Halls history.

Mike Vickers BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

because being charged $25 to see 1 cellblock is a straight out rip off. get them out of there

Deborah Finney AUSTRALIA

Should be run by historical society. They are dedicated to our history and not ruled by the almighty dollar.

Simone Vinton JENSEN, AUSTRALIA

Privatization generally means destruction. We will hav enothing left if you keep fucking selling everything off.

Ian Smedley COORPAROO, AUSTRALIA

Why should our State's history be denied to us by way of greed?

David Brady AUSTRALIA

History should be accessible to anybody.

Ken Heelan AUSTRALIA

It is a part of our Heritage.

Emily Mayes DUTTON PARK, AUSTRALIA

The history of Australia belongs to its people! Not to a private owner!

Rob Pensalfini FAIRFIELD, AUSTRALIA

I live locally, and have a professional interest in prison history and prisons.

Pam Maegdefrau MONTVILLE, AUSTRALIA

Our Heritage sites need to be protected and maintained... not put in private hands or bulldozed at the wim of politicians

Graham Garrett AUSTRALIA

Keep this public , because once private enterprise gets their hands on it , they will be driven by profit only , which will then deny a lot of people the opportunity to visit .

Terry Elliott AUSTRALIA

Give everyone a chance to access Historic buildings

Rebecca Jamison-Jones AUSTRALIA

Because we should protect Australian historical sites.

James Small AUSTRALIA

Its a piece of history that should be for the people to enjoy.

Neil Degney BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

Another Newman decision that lacks transparency and accountability and for which no tender process was undertaken.

Greg Brown AUSTRALIA

As an important historical site, it should me managed in a way that returns the best availability and access to the people of Queensland and tourists alike.

Jacinta Bull CORNUBIA, AUSTRALIA

The Queensland government's lack of transparency in handling heritage sites is appalling. Brisbane in particular is renowned world-wide for destroying buildings of great cultural & historical significance. History is a public domain thus "museum sites" such as Boggo Road Gaol should remain under public not private control. This would ensure all monies generated by the public asset go directly into maintenance and protection of the site for future generations as opposed to private profit.

Hayley Attard AUSTRALIA

Boggo Road is an important historical site. Too many historical sites are being lost to privatisation

Shane Russell DEAGON, AUSTRALIA

Would love to tour it, but at $25/Adult...no thanks.

Brian Menzies WOOLLOONGABBA, AUSTRALIA

Surely there is a dark dungeon there to put Campbell Newman for the rest of his natural life.

Bridget Jane FOREST LAKE, AUSTRALIA

Public good, what more do we need to say!!!

Noeleen Neate NOOSA HEADS, AUSTRALIA

It OUR History, not the LNP's to sell off!

Many thanks to you all!

This is Eddie. Eddie is happy for me to tell his story but he’s a bit reluctant to show himself on the Internet and Eddie is not his real name. He is, however, a real person. I have known him for several years now, have spent many hours talking with and recording him, and he counts me among his friends, which is something I regard as both an honour and a surprise. I say surprise because we’ve led very different lives.

A quarter-century ago when I was a hedonistic 20-year-old , Eddie had already lived more of life than I ever will. He had served in Her Majesty’s forces decades before and experienced powerfully dramatic events in the line of duty that I won’t go into here but they still affect him to this day. After leaving the armed forces to settle down he joined the prison service and worked in Boggo Road for years. He is adamant that some of the events he was involved in there probably had even more of an effect on his psyche than being in combat zones.

When it comes to being in a position to tell some stories about Boggo Road history, Eddie has more than earned his stripes. Heknows the place inside out and can see a mark on the floor or a hole in the wall and be able to tell you the stories behind them. He tells them well and he really enjoys sharing his knowledge with the public. However, Eddie and others like him have a problem at the moment.

That problem is the fact that Boggo Road Gaol is managed (for the time being) by a small businessman with an absurdly irrational hatred of ‘competition’ and all the public spirit of a shark with rabies, and so Eddie and his comrades are only allowed to share their stories with the public if they work for the financial benefit of that small business.

As a result of this, all that is currently on offer for visitors to Boggo Road are third-hand-but-expensivestories peddled by people in fancy dress who never set foot on the prison. This is what really irks Eddie. Cameron ‘Jack’ Sim makes much of his stories being ‘sourced’ from former officers, but he got those stories for free.And now he won’t let those same officers tell the same stories – their stories - at the prison unless they do it for his own personal profit.

Eddie and his colleagues find this incredibly disrespectful. Their stories and memories are being sold to visitors by a person who now demands that they pay him up to $120 every time they want to share their stories with the public themselves. As far as I’m concerned, this is an absolute disgrace.

The public are missing out on a unique and finite opportunity to hear some compelling first-hand history from those who lived it, and at the same time those storytellers are being denied a fair chance to share what they know with the public.

This is the kind of lose-lose outcome that is sadly all-too-typical of the failed interim opening of Boggo Road. With long-term planning now in process, we need to make sure it doesn't happen again and the public can finally get to listen to people like Eddie and other former officers and inmates. I've written about why their tours but be the best before, because when it comes to telling history, there ain't nothing like the real thing. Which is a terrible double negative but a great song.

You can help the cause by signing the petition HERE.

Here's the third installment of comments from our 'Better Future for Boggo Road' petition over at change.org. Once again a big thanks to everyone who has signed so far, especially those who leave comments too.

Thanks also to the thousands(!) of people who have signed the paper version of the petition.

Ian Hutchinson

heritage sites are public assets for the benefit of the whole community and should not be privatised

Stephen Paul Oldham

It is MY history and I have every right to protect it.

Ted Domanski

Because people who never experienced the feel of working amongst prisoners, shouldn't be running the place.

Julie Massie

I am concerned it will just get sold

Evelyn Williams

part of our history, i teach Legal Studies

Tony Smallwood

Heritage should be vailable to the community as easy as possible.

Chris Dillon

This is part of our heritage and history something needs to be protected. Find somewhere else to ruin and leave this historical site alone.

Lorraine Carter

My father was born in Brisbane and I have cousins who still live there. I fly from WA to Queensland each year to do family research. Family researchers need easy access to all records. Boggo Road Gaol should be for the community and looked after by the govt as many heritage properties are.

Chris Wright

This is Qld Heritage and should be available to all Queenslanders, which cannot be guaranteed if it is sold.

Marion Hall

The Boggo Road Goal is a heritage museum and should be available for the public as such.

Kevin Wallace

Public access to historical buildings is important and this must always be inexpensive.

dawn pearce

this is OUR heritage and should not be used only by private companies

Bruce Woodstock

As a fellow Historical Society we realise the importance of havibg access to premises that reflect the history of our state or country

Denise Comerford

I think our Public Heritage Assets should be protected.

Tony White

Keep our heritage in the hands of the people

Tennikah Webster

Brisbane has such few remnants of its history, don't take what's left.

Lynn Anich

Important parts of our state heritage are too important to be handed over to private enterprise

Kate Krause

This is a significant part of our history and everyone should be able to access it...it needs to be run by those who are passionate about taking care of it.

Lynda Hinz

Our Australian is so important to all of us and especially our children.

Anne Panitz

As a community museum volunteer i know the work it requires to keep these places open to the public. Dedicated volunteers have a love for these places and for preserving the history of such a place. Please let dedicated people with the history of Queensland in their hearts run such a place!

sonya jackson

history is history it should be protected not sold to someone who may turn it into a shopping complex!

Barbara Wild

Brisbane deserves an accessible, interactive historical site. Why should Melbourne and Sydney have all the fun?

Denis Peel

The Historical Society has contributed a huge amount to the preservation and development of the gaol and are now being effectively locked out.

fred van essen

I recently took my family to the gaol. It is a fantastic site, the entry fee may have been expensive. but.... if the money made is also used for maintainence, you do not mind!!.but .... their is no maintainence being carried out on this site.So if placing control of this site back to the government brings the goal back to its formerly glory, then this should be done.

Robyn Evans

I am sick of governments selling off our assets & history and would like to visit when I come to Qld every winter.

Tricia Simpson

This process should have been tendered and the historical society should have been taken into consideration

Ron Pokarier

History belongs to the people, not to commercial operators.

Glenda Pokarier

This historic site should not become an opportunity forsmall business profiteering.

Mick Dance

I worked at Boggo Rd for 11 years in the 1980's. It is a very special place for me and holds many memories. It should be refurbished and protected as an historical site. There are many tales to be told about "THE ROAD".

Maree Ganley

the work of volunteers researchers and tour guides helps to ensure all of our history is known and preserved for generations to come. We go into the future with the strength of knowledge of our past

Lynette Fleming

As a member of a local Family History Society I see the importance of preserving our history.

Evan Skuthorpe

Important part of our heritage.

Ken Davis

I'm sick of back door privatisations of public assets against the will of the community. Enough!

Steve Reynolds

People should be able to listen to the people who were warders or prisoners, not some pack of kids who know nothing about the jail.

John Strike

Lets keep history for future generations in the hand of people who are concerned for the Gaol as it is, not for money hungry privateers.

Laura Adler

this is heritage for everyone, should not be profit for only some!

Peter Wilson

Historical Society were fantastic, finding information and assisting my research. Why destroy an outstanding community organisation for a few pieces of silver, Campbell?

suzanne andrews

Because it's a wonderful part of Brisbane's history and should be available to all not at a profit for a private company.So many fantastic things about this city.It shouldn't have a price .

Karen Webster

the heritage of the State belongs to the people of Queensland, so they can learn about their history and where they have come from.

Jan Grant

Because it is a heritage site and should be managed by people who know how to preserve this heritage and keep accessibility free of private commercial control whose only interest is in making money.

Ray Thurlow

Heritage matters are best left in the hands of a not-for-profit organisation as is already the case in many other places.

Margaret Greer

Our historic buildings should be accepted as such. And not allowed for private profit

Dorothy Joycey

The Historical interest is huge.

Rebecca Fitz-Herbert

History gives perspective on where we have been and who we are now. The story needs to be told properly!

Lee Hunter

because we have sold off far too much of our government owned land and property as it is. Something like this needs to be preserved and available to the general public, not just those who can afford to pay the high prices a private firm would charge for access (if they dont just find a way to tear it down in the first place!)

Colleen O'Leary

It is part of our history in this state and should not be run as a profit making business.

Glenys Prins

Our heritage belongs to the people no to some private company to make money out of.

Tara Young

Australia's heritage & landmarks should be accessible by both Australians & tourists at a reasonable cost. They are our heritage & a symbol of our past, not a business to make a profit from. We have lost too much if our heritage already to it her Privatisation gone wrong or modern development. Listen to the people...we want this Gaol to remain affordably accessible & maintained for our future generations.

Stefania Zara Kleynendorst

because it's a public historical building that should be available open to all

Cat Steele

Shame LNP shame! Boggo Road is our heritage

Bob Aldred

Historical sites are the property of the community, and not for the commercial profits of individuals and companies. Also, not for profits have something different to offer that commercial companies.

John Elliott

to preserve the historical site

Annette Hall

Too much of Queensland's history has been demolished. The future is important but the past once was the future and is worth hanging onto for all time.

Greg Glidden

This is an important heritage site of historical significance. Furthermore, it is an asset which was paid for and belongs to the people of Queensland and must continue to be managed by the government. Private enterprise has no place here!

Steffy Duncan

Because my Grandfather worked there, not sure what his role was as I was only young but a part of Boggo's history is a part of my family history.

Brodie-Ann Wright

History belongs to us all.

Peter Johnson

As this is a Qld heritage site, it should not become a private business venture.

IMPORTANT UPDATE HERE

Can we run Boggo Road?

YES. WE. CAN.

Okay, some jolly nice person has been very kindly putting it about that the Boggo Road Gaol Historical Society doesn’t have the 'commercial experience' to run Boggo Road for twelve months. For now, let’s ignore the fact that this splendid chap runs a small business that stagnated ten years ago and barely makes enough to support even one full-time job, and give him a little history lesson.

Boggo Road was open as a historical site until 2005. The BRGHS ran it under Public Works 2004-05. Back then we had ten members to start with, growing to 25. Here’s what happened during that time:

The gaol was open every day it was supposed to be.
We ran several hundred tours and never missed a single one. That’s tens of thousands of visitors.
We had an average of six volunteer staff turn up on opening days. More than was actually needed.
We researched, designed, constructed and installed dozens of displays and exhibits both inside and outside the gaol.
We did the cleaning and minor maintenance tasks
We re-registered, cleaned and stored thousands of museum artefacts.
We established the ‘Inside History’ publishing project which has since released nearly 40 titles
We established a library of historical records
We established productive working relationships with other community organisations, and we worked very well with government

All that with just a handful of people. Now fast forward seven years. Even though the gaol has been closed all that time, we have grown to over 270 members – over TEN TIMES the size we were.

So can we run it again?

Yes we can.

Can we have something different happening every weekend to keep the crowds coming?

Yes we can.

Can we get more staff than we know what to do with?

Yes we can.

Can we get visitors through the door?

Yes we can.

Can we create a dynamic cultural and community hub that is a credit to the Boggo Road Urban Village?

Yes we can.

Can we give a voice to the former officers and inmates who know the place like nobody else does?

Yes we can.

Can we run tours for schools, Seniors, other adults and the ghost crowd?

Yes we can.

Can we create jobs?

Yes we can.

Can we make brilliant groups like the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble part of the Boggo Road family?

Yes we can.

Can we make it affordable for all?
Yes we can.

Can we allow private businesses access?

Yes we can.

All too easy.

We can do all that, and more. We've done it before.

And now (given the chance) we can do it bigger than before, and we can do it better than before.

We historians get very busy when centenaries come around. I found that out back in 2003 when the Boggo Road Gaol Historical Society organised the Centenary Open Day tomark the opening of Boggo Road’s No.2 Division back in 1903 (when of course it was known as the Prison for Women). These days there is always some kind of anniversary going on, be it the 50^th, 80^th, 135^th, whatever, it seems that any old round-ish or quartile number will do for a commemoration.

Truth be told, I’m not a fan of all these ‘110^th’ or ‘65^th’ anniversaries we see being bandied around all the time now. It makes the actual numerically-significant commemorations so much less special, and half the time it’s just impatient people trying to milk a bit of publicity out of nothing.

2013 brings us two actual centenaries, with 1913 seeing the end of one thing and the beginning of another. These were the last hanging to take place in Queensland, and the founding of the State’s premier historical organisation, the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, and as it happens I have a finger in both these pies.

Ernest Austin (Qld State Archives)

It was the morning of Monday 22 September 1913 when convicted murderer Ernest Austin was ‘launched into eternity’ on the Boggo Road gallows. Nobody there could have guessed that this was to be the last time they would be required to go through the ritual of judicial execution. Plenty more men were sentenced to death over the following nine years but they all had their sentences commutated. In 1922 Queensland became the first part of the British Empire to abolish capital punishment and Austin took his place in history. He was the 94^th person to be hanged in Queensland and despite the horror of his crime (the brutal murder of 11-year-old Ivy Mitchell near Samford) he was by no means the worst or the most interesting of those who were executed here. Nonetheless, being the ‘last man hanged’ brings with it a certain kind of infamy and Austin’s name is invariably evoked in shortlists of famous prisoners. His name will no doubt be heard a lot more as the centenary of his death approaches, and while I'll be doing my bit in all that I think that reflection upon where we stood with capital punishment in 1913 is of more historical significance than revisiting the gory details of the demise of Austin and his victim.

This brings us to the other centenary, which is one that ties in neatly with the last hanging. On Sunday 2 June the RHSQ will be hosting a Centenary Open Day at their Commissariat Store home on William Street in the city, with special exhibitions, classic cars, a sausage sizzle, and a series of public talks, one of which will be given by the Boggo Road Gaol Historical Society. We will also be on hand to chat with visitors about the Boggo Road hanging beam they have on display there. This beam is still housed in the case that BRGHS members made for it when I curated the ‘Gallows of Boggo Road’ exhibition at Boggo Road itself back in 2005.

(Courier-Mail, July 2005)

I have also been invited to present a paper at the RHSQ Centenary Seminar, and the subject matter will of course relate to the 1913 hanging.

So what else is happening? Well, later this year the Supreme Court of Queensland will be hosting a new exhibition in the Sir Harry Gibbs Legal Heritage Centre to mark the centenary of the last hanging. I am doing ongoing consultation work with them on this project, including writing an article for the exhibition catalogue, and can tell you (without spoilers) that they have some brilliant stuff up their sleeve over there.

Sir Harry Gibbs Legal Centre (SCQ)

In addition to all that I’m also looking to complete a new e-book this year on the complete history of hanging in Queensland. This has been an on-off project of mine for several years now. The BRGHS are also working on a few ideas for other 1913 centenary projects that are yet to be announced. Then we can drop the whole subject for a while, at least until 2022 brings the centenary of abolition.

So, yes, centenaries are a great opportunity for historians to get some much-needed work as we attempt to convince the public that this-or-that is interesting and important, and it’s especially good to work around genuinely-significant dates.

"Statistics may be defined as "a body of methods for making wise decisions in the face of uncertainty."
(Wilson Allen Wallis)

Public Works recently stated that 3,000 people visited Boggo Road Gaol in the four months during December 2012-April 2013. We don’t know how these figures were checked or obtained and so we can’t comment on their accuracy, but it is interesting to compare them to official visitor figures from Boggo Road during 2004-05, when the place was under not-for-profit management.

Visitor numbers, Boggo Road Gaol, 2004-05 and 2012-13

	AUG 2004- DEC 2005	DEC 2012- APR 2013
General admission	1484	-
Guided Day Tours	9415	-
Guided Night Tours	1,648	-
Ghost Tours	-	-
Functions	3, 706	-
Other events	374	-
Totals	16,627	3,000
Inc. Ghost Tour figures*	18,710	-
Average/month	1,100	750

*‘Ghost Tours’ figures were not disclosed, so final totals include a
conservative guess of 20 people per week from these events.

Obviously the 2004-05 figures are higher, but they were achieved at a time when the capacity of the BRGHS to offer visitor services was much more limited than it is now. Our membership base back then was less than 10% of our current size, and although we had an average of six staff at the museum per day, we only had had two or three tour guides available. All staff were volunteers with other lives to lead, so we did hold back somewhat when it came to marketing the tours.

Of course, things have changed now and a tour guide recruitment drive late last year resulted in nearly 30 people putting their hands up, not to mention the other volunteers who wanted to be on regular staff. So with a much larger staff base and talent pool, these numbers show that the BRGHS could bring in plenty of visitors to Boggo Road under a not-for-profit management model.

IMPORTANT UPDATE HERE

Can we run Boggo Road?

YES. WE. CAN.

Boggo Road was open as a historical site until 2005. The BRGHS ran it under Public Works 2004-05. Back then we had ten members to start with, growing to 25. Here’s what happened during that time:

The gaol was open every day it was supposed to be.
We ran several hundred tours and never missed a single one. That’s tens of thousands of visitors.
We had an average of six volunteer staff turn up on opening days. More than was actually needed.
We researched, designed, constructed and installed dozens of displays and exhibits both inside and outside the gaol.
We did the cleaning and minor maintenance tasks
We re-registered, cleaned and stored thousands of museum artefacts.
We established the ‘Inside History’ publishing project which has since released nearly 40 titles
We established a library of historical records
We established productive working relationships with other community organisations, and we worked very well with government

All that with just a handful of people. Now fast forward seven years. Even though the gaol has been closed all that time, we have grown to over 270 members – over TEN TIMES the size we were.

So can we run it again?

Yes we can.

Can we have something different happening every weekend to keep the crowds coming?

Yes we can.

Can we get more staff than we know what to do with?

Yes we can.

Can we get visitors through the door?

Yes we can.

Can we create a dynamic cultural and community hub that is a credit to the Boggo Road Urban Village?

Yes we can.

Can we give a voice to the former officers and inmates who know the place like nobody else does?

Yes we can.

Can we run tours for schools, Seniors, other adults and the ghost crowd?

Yes we can.

Can we create jobs?

Yes we can.

Can we make brilliant groups like the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble part of the Boggo Road family?

Yes we can.

Can we make it affordable for all?
Yes we can.

Can we allow private businesses access?

Yes we can.

All too easy.

We can do all that, and more. We've done it before.

And now (given the chance) we can do it bigger than before, and we can do it better than before.

Busy, busy, busy... Liam Baker and myself spent several hours in Brisbane city centre last night exploring the out-of-the-way streets and places of historical interest. Why? We have been busy preparing a whole new history tour experience in the city - the ‘Haunts of Brisbane’ night tours that will be kicking off sometime this winter.

The tours were inspired by the success of Liam’s ‘Haunts of Brisbane’ blog, which features critical analysis of some of the ghost stories of the Brisbane area, most of which (thanks to the depth of his research) don’t survive the experience intact. Not that he didn't think there had been some paranormal incidents in these places, just that quite often the stories attached to them don't hold water. Through this work he found that there was a large audience of people who liked all things paranormal and not having their intelligence insulted. From the blog came the popular ‘Haunts of Brisbane’ Facebook page, which has branched out into other unusual or tragic aspects of Brisbane history. As a result of all this work, Liam has become something of a walking encyclopedia of historical knowledge.

The convict-built Commissariat Store at night (L Baker)

Having worked together (with Tracey Olivieri) on the South Brisbane Cemetery Moonlight Tours, which contain a large element of 'looking behind the myths', we realised there was a market for similarly-styled history tours in other places, and the natural starting point would be the city centre. Look around most major cities and you will find regular history tours on the streets. There have been a number of these in Brisbane in the past, but not many, and we want to bring something new to the marketplace. In fact, one of the best things about last night was the number of innovative and fresh ideas we had as we walked and talked. Creative brainstorming does get the adrenalin going, but there's still some planning and practicing to be done so we'll see how these ideas play out practically before anything further is said.

So, while the ‘Haunts of Brisbane’ Tours are being prepared for a winter launch, you can catch us in the meantime on the South Brisbane Cemetery Moonlight Tours. Liam will also be speaking at this weekend’s Centenary Fair of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland on the crime and execution of Ernest Austin in 1913. I will be presenting a paper at the RHSQ’s centenary seminar a few weeks later.

The ‘Haunts of Brisbane’ tours will be not-for-profit, run under the auspices of the Boggo Road Gaol Historical Society, and therefore (as you'd expect from the BRGHS), quite affordable.

THIS IS NOT THE LOGO! It's just some preliminary promo work.

Over the next few weeks this blog will be undergoing some renovation. Not so much in the way it looks, because God knows I've fiddled with that stuff enough, but more in the content side of things. This mostly for two reasons:

Firstly, the Boggo Blog has been running for about three years now, and much like a cluttered garage the hundred-plus posts here contain a bit of irrelevant deadwood, some boring crap, and some stuff I really liked. It's time for a good solid spring clean.

Secondly, and even though the spiel down the left sidebar includes the disclaimer "opinions expressed on this page are not necessarily those of the BRGHS", I want to make it clearer that this is my page and not the Boggo Road Gaol Historical Society's. That way, anybody who takes offence at what I write here can't go squealing like a stuck pig about the BRGHS. Hypothetically speaking of course. Although I might sometimes write about issues affecting the BRGHS, I'm only one of a few hundred members and it's not my fiefdom.

Making this more obviously my own page allows a bit more freedom topic-wise too, so I'll be dipping more into some of other things I've studied through life.

Also... there is now a new Boggo Blog Facebook page, which will not only link in with the stuff here but also feature its own array of special bits and pieces. Whoopee-do.

(See here for Part One of this article)
Conditions at Petrie Terrace
Overcrowding soon became as much of a problem at Petrie Terrace as it had been at the older Queen Street gaol. The visiting surgeon was concerned that such a crowded gaol would lead to an increase in serious diseases, and the whole situation lent urgency to the move to erect the lunatic asylum at Woogaroo, which eventually opened in 1864. Later in the decade it also saw the opening of the gaols at Toowoomba and Rockhampton and the use of the ship Proserpine as a prison hulk, which was moored at Fort Lytton and received 104 prisoners during 1864.

Queensland’s first set of prison regulations were issued in April 1864, and they provided for the separation of the prisoners into six classes. The gaol at Petrie Terrace, however,was too small to enable this and it was to be some time before the classification of prisoners was practical in the colony. In his 1862report, the Registrar-General noted that:

“I need hardly point out... how utterly futile it is to make any attempt at the proper classification of the prisoners – young and old, the thrice-convicted felon and the lad guilty of robbing an orchard, the murderer, and the servant who has broken his agreement, are all huddled together; reformation is, I fear, under such circumstances, past hoping for.”

Although conditions were thought to be worse at St Helena Island, there were several factors that made Petrie Terrace unhealthy. In 1868, Dr William Hobbs, the visiting surgeon at the gaol, claimed that the ventilation at the gaol was “very imperfect”, especially in the hot climate, and the high gaol walls prevented air circulation. He also noted that the cellblocks were facing the wrong way and received too much sun, making them unbearably hot in summer. He thought that the main cause of sickness at the gaol arose from “the derangement of the digestive organs from want of exercise and from the superabundance of food that the prisoners are allowed”.

Who were the Petrie Terrace prisoners?
The gaol was originally designed to hold both sexes, with individual room for 108 male and 36 female prisoners. Before 1867, the year that the penal establishment at St Helena Island was in full operation, the Petrie Terrace received an average of just over 600 prisoners per year. Of these, 10-15% were women, while 5-10% were classed as ‘lunatics’. From 1870 on, all female prisoners were sent to the gaol in Toowoomba. The oldest woman ever held at Petrie Terrace was 76 years old and was convicted of stealing clothes. The youngest was only 11 and was sent there for stealing poultry. The oldest male prisoner was 96 and was convicted of vagrancy, while the youngest male was sentenced for stealing money from a till when he was just ten years old.

After 1870 the average number of prisoners per year dropped to under 500, and with a daily average that was just less than the capacity of the gaol it soon became clear that a new gaol would be required.

The staff
It was not only the prisoners who found life at the gaol difficult. The staff made a public comment about their conditions in July 1863, when they presented a petition to Parliament asking for more money, so that in the case of “debility or infirmity” they could receive medical attendance and medicine. Moreover, they complained of fatigue after working long shifts, often at night. Sundays were dreadful days when they could not go to the pub (old turnkeys rule – do not frequent places where you might meet some of your recent ‘guests’), and visits to church often ended in sleep because in “the hallowed precincts of a place of worship, the fatigue of the body, through the length of time on duty, and more especially at night, overpowers inclination, and shrouds it in unconquerable drowsiness”. It was signed by 14 men, describing themselves as “the Turnkeys of Her Majesty’s Gaol, and Warders of the Lunatic Asylum, Brisbane”.

One visitor to the gaol in 1876 was a reporter for The Week, who presented a somewhat rosier picture of life inside:

“One of the most noticeable features in connection with the gaol is the air of cleanliness and neatness which pervades the whole establishment. Every prisoner admitted has a bath and a shave, and those who intend to partake of [the chief Gaoler’s] hospitality for any length of time are supplied with a suit of clean clothes, and during their detention all the prisoners are obliged to take a bath at least once a week; but in this matter they do not need much pressing, as it rarely happens that the prisoners’ ablutions are confined to the minimum enjoined by the rules of the establishment. Shower baths are to be seen in all directions. In pleasing contrast to the ever-present massive masonry, I was glad to perceive that every available spot of ground had been utilised for the planting of flowers, and fruit and shade trees, the latter proving a very welcome shelter to the prisoners in their leisure hours.” (The Week, 18 November 1876)

As with the Queen Street gaol before it, the Petrie Terrace facility soon became obsolete, and demolition began in 1881 as a new gaol was constructed on Boggo Road, South Brisbane. All the prisoners were transferred to that establishment in July 1883.

Next in 'Know Your Colonial Prison History' - The first Rockhampton Gaol, 1864-84

In the classic 1949 Ealing comedy Whisky Galore!, the unwelcomely sober lives of the inhabitants of the Hebridean island of Todday are considerably enlivened when they realise a cargo ship sinking off their coast contains 50,000 crates of whisky. Much of the comedy revolves around the attempts of the islanders to salvage the whisky and hide it from the stuffy authorities. This was actually based on a real-life incident, when the whisky-carryingSS Politician sunk off the island of Eriskay in 1941.

A somewhat similar incident occurred in Brisbane once, only this time involving beer and not whisky, and with a lot less hiding and more instant consumption. This was during the devastating floods of 1893, which showed that although natural disasters can bring out the best in people, others can be quick to seize an opportunity no matter what the circumstances.

The West End Brewery during the 1890 floods
(State Library of Queensland)

The damaged building in this case was the West End Brewery, which had opened on the corner of Montague and Merivale Streets in 1886. The brewery contained a lot of rickety wooden sheds that were inundated when the Brisbane River flooded in March 1890, although not too much damage was done at that time.

Worse was to come in the larger flood of February 1893, and of the five breweries in Brisbane that year, West End Brewery suffered the most. The rising water reached up to the second-storey windows of the main tower, and of course all the houses in the immediate neighbourhood were submerged. Although the brewery tower survived the experience, the timber buildings were wrecked by the raging torrent. The damage is apparent in the State Library of Queensland photo below.

Not only were many brewery buildings gone, so too were 500 kegs of beer, worth about $250,000 by current values. Some were carried by the waters to the railway embankment, the nearest high ground, while others washed ashore at the foot of Bowen Terrace. The results were all too predictable. Word spread quickly and large numbers of men swarmed to the riverbank. The scene was described in the Brisbane Courier:

"A great deal of drunkenness was unfortunately observable in various directions. The weather was no doubt the excuse for the over-indulgence of many; but when kegs and barrels of beer floating away from the West End Brewery were washed ashore at the foot of Bowen-terrace and others from the Phoenix Brewery were picked up in Fortitude Valley the scenes enacted were disgusting in the extreme, and men were seen drinking all they could and then quarrellingforpossession of the cask containing the balance. Several of the accidents which occurred are undoubtedly the result of this and similar misconduct."

Another news report read:

“Hundreds of casks of beer from the West End Brewery were seen floating along, some of which were rescued along the banks, tho bungs knocked out, and conscienceless beings (I cannot call them men) swilled the contents till they became mad drunk.”

It is not too hard to imagine similar scenes taking place now if kegs of beer were washed down the Brisbane River, and much of it would no doubt go straight onto YouTube, complete with overloaded utes, bogan fistfights, and the author of the 'Boggo Blog' struggling down the street with a wheelbarrow full of beer.

Despite their massive losses, the West End Brewery was rebuilt as an imposing brick structure and by the following year the owners were claiming to have the largest output of beer in Queensland.

(Brisbane Telegraph, 1894)

It might have survived massive floods, but the West End Brewery closed in 1913 and the premises was turned into a bottling factory.

For most Brisbanites the Great Flood of 1893 had been a tragic disaster, but for a few 'conscienceless beings' it brought manna from Heaven in the form of a bounty of free beer. What would you have done?

‘Some traces of antiquity are so faint that only contrivance secures their recognition. In the absence of signposts, how many visitors to an old battlefield could tell that it was an historical site? But for markers, people would generally pass by most ancient monuments unaware of their antiquity.’
(David Lowenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country, 1985)

If you're a regular visitor to the South Brisbane Cemetery, then you might have noticed a sandstone block with a plaque near the big green shed in the centre of the cemetery. This marker, unveiled in 2005, identifies the graves of the 42 prisoners who were executed in Boggo Road during 1883-1913. I was the historical researcher for this project, which spanned two years from the time that the Boggo Road Gaol Historical Society approached the Brisbane City Council with the idea. It was, from start to finish, a bit of a strange project because someone kept trying to throw spanners in the works to stop it, and in retrospect none of the trouble-making made any sense.

The fact that the prisoners had committed capital crimes made the project a sensitive one to begin with, and an early idea to have images of the prisoners on the plaque was discarded, as it was felt this might be 'sensationalist or macabre’. Problems had previously been caused when a tour operator placed a small plaque on the grave of Patrick Kenniff by a tour operator in 2003, marking the centenary of Kenniff’s execution. The invitations for the ‘solemn and sad occasion’ of the unveiling referred to attendees as ‘mourners’ and asked that they wear black. Prayers were read at the graveside and flowers were laid during the pro-Kenniff ceremony. Unsurprisingly, about 30 complaints were received from descendants of the victims of Kenniff.

It was rather hypocritical, then, that the same tour operator later tried to stop our project by complaining that it would ‘affect the historic validity of the site’, and somewhat airily claiming that that the official rationale for burying executed prisoners in unmarked graves was that ‘beyond execution was to be eternal punishment in unconsecrated ground and the graves were to remain unmarked; deliberately forgotten’. Codswallop. As an 1834 Australian law stipulated that the bodies of executed prisoners could receive full funeral rites, ‘eternal punishment’ was obviously never a consideration. The graves were unmarked simply because the government didn't want to pay for headstones.

And as a member of the public wrote to a newspaper in defence of the project:

‘He refers to the practice of and attitudes of the times – “leaving graves unmarked, unconsecrated and deliberately forgotten, to be eternally punished”. Is it good for society to carry on such an unforgiving attitude? To mark the graves does not, necessarily, mean to honour the dead but to remember the guilty and the ultimate penalty they paid. In doing so we remember their victims.’ (Courier Mail, 2 August 2004)

Another attack on the project involved the claim that not all the prisoners were buried there, that a couple were buried 'elsewhere' and there was secret 'proof' of this that the claimant refused to produce when challenged. The cemetery records tell a different story of course, and in later years the person making these claims had to concede he was wrong. Which we knew anyway.

The project received BCC approval in mid-2004 and the planning of form and content began. The marker was to be comprised of a plaque and accompanying stone, with the plaque containing a list of the prisoner’s names, years of birth and death, and place of origin. Underneath this were Ellen Thomson’s words on the gallows when she was hanged in 1887, ‘Goodbye everybody; I forgive everybody from the bottom of my heart for anything they have wronged me in this world. I never shot my husband, and I am dying like an angel’. This quote raised objections from the tour operator, who felt it presented a sympathetic view of prisoners. It was subsequently replaced with a statement from Joe Lesina, a politician who had pioneered the parliamentary push to abolish the death penalty in Queensland:

‘The criminal is not a wild beast… he is an erring brother whose feet have wandered from the narrow path which we all weakly strive to follow. To take his life is not the way to cure him; you only brutalise him. It has been condemned by history as a failure… If I should fail I can only fail and somebody else as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow, will take the matter up where I leave it. I feel perfectly satisfied that it will not be many years longer before the humanitarian feeling now spreading through the colony, and through all civilised communities, will demand once and for all the abolition of flogging and the death penalty.’ (Queensland Parliamentary Debates, Vol.82, p.60)

The project was supported by politicians and such groups as the Brisbane Council of Elders, but the tour operator STILL wanted to stop it. He even contacted the Queensland Police Union about the project, and a November 2004 editorial in their journalcriticised it, arguing that the historical validity of the graves would be compromised, and that the marker was intended to commemorate the prisoners. The QPU were reassured that the project was not intended to commemorate ‘killers’, and in the absence of any further opposition the BCC and BRGHS agreed upon the final version of the plaque in early 2005. A sandstone block from Boggo Road stood behind the plaque, embedded in a concrete base. The top lines of the plaque read, ‘This stone marks the place where forty-one men and one woman are buried. They died by the gallows of Boggo Road Gaol. Only one man’s grave was marked’. This was followed by the list of biographical information about each of the prisoners. Underneath this was the Lesina quote, and then:

‘This stone was placed here by the Brisbane City Council and the Boggo Road Gaol Historical Society on 6 May 2005. This sandstone block was carved by convict labour for the construction of Boggo Road Gaol. Two broken pieces that have come back together – representing Reparation; the fabric of imprisonment reappropriated to commemorate a humanitarian shift in social policy. May these executed prisoners and the victims of their crimes rest in peace.’

The unveiling ceremony was held on a lovely morning in May 2005 and attendees included local and federal politicians, several religious ministers, descendants of the victims, and representatives from the Brisbane Council of Elders, heritage organisations and various government departments. The first speaker, from the Council of Elders, set the tone for the ceremony when she described the executed Aboriginal and South Sea Islander prisoners as her ‘forgotten brothers’. The local Councillor who unveiled the plaque, and the Federal Senator who spoke after her,both voiced their opposition to capital punishment. The tour operator then gatecrashed the ceremony and demanded that he be allowed to speak. To the obvious bemusement of the guests he declared his support for capital punishment and described the prisoners as ‘vile’. It was a badly-judged tirade that went down like a lead balloon. The following week, in a newspaper article about the unveiling ceremony, he described the marker as ‘totally offensive’. Michael Banks of the BRGHS countered that:

‘The plaque’s focus was to inform and educate the public and to show that Queensland became the first part of the British Empire to abolish capital punishment. If people think we are glorifying criminals, which is what these people were, then they have missed the point.’ (Southern News, 12 May 2005)

The marker was actually making several points. The conflicting opinions of it were shaped by differing attitudes to capital punishment and criminals, and also to the intended function of the plaque. As for the persistent attempts to derail the project and even disrupt the unveiling ceremony, well, we think the motives were more linked to commercial interests than any genuine concerns.

As a result of this process, the marker evolved from being a local history plaque into something that also commemorated the political shift to abolition, a shift that was the first of its kind within the British Empire. It also served to act as a defacto gravestone. So it was that the South Brisbane Cemetery plaque came to represent heritage significance at local, State and international levels, and even took on a religious significance.

Councillor Helen Abrahams speaks at the plaque unveiling ceremony (BRGHS)

The plaque project was the subject of a grant-funded documentary called ‘The Plaque’. It was produced by Griffith University academics Ann Smallwood and Marilyn Carney.

Rockhampton Wharf, 1888.

This prison was officially proclaimed open on 29 March 1864, making Rockhampton the secondtown in Queensland (after Brisbane) to have such a facility. Prior to the building opening as a prison it was used to house victims of severe floods in the area. Unlike the one at Petrie Terrace, this prison was based on the discredited ‘associated system’, whereby inmates were housed in large communal wards instead of separate cells. As was said in the Rockhampton Bulletin, ‘is this not an admirable school for crime, where graduates are instructed by the great masters?’

“There are at present about 40 prisoners in the gaol, the number including one female; but there is proper accommodation for only 30 – viz. 12 in each of the two association wards, instead of 18, as at present, and there are six single cells. The latter, however, are not all available, as one of the cells, small, and close as an oven, is used as a guard-room, while two are set apart for the cooks, and two for female confines – a magnificent suite of apartments, truly. There is just one cell vacant.”

(The Bulletin [Rockhampton], 7 April 1877)

The vacant cell was the condemned cell, which had its own private but very small yard. Seven men were executed at the prison, all of them during 1868-75.

Rockhampton Gaol, 1868. The two rows of cells shown to the side here were planned but never built.

In the late 1870s the prison was in poor repair and being heavily criticised in the local press:

“The site is bad. The building stands on a mud flat, the foundations have yielded, and the brick walls show several fissures, two of which extend from top to bottom, while one permits the daylight to pass through, and would afford capital loopholes for a garrison. But for their wooden supports, the walls would have crumbled to pieces long ago. Then, the large door is rotten. If reports be correct, a panel fell out on one occasion; and the patchwork is conspicuous, a thin piece of wood figuring transversely in one place, and a bit of tin in another, while decayed portions of the original door could be pulled off by the hand. A few blows from a sledge hammer would send the whole thing to pieces. This may do very well here, but the “boys” of the “Far West” would only laugh at such a barrier, and certainly King Lynch wouldn’t stand it a day. Further, there is no inner gate, a fact requiring no comment. All this insecurity necessarily throws additional work on the warders, who have thus to be excessively vigilant.”

(The Bulletin [Rockhampton], 7 April 1877)

This decaying building was closed when a new prison, known locally as the ‘North Street Gaol’, opened in 1884. No known photographs of the first facility have survived.

"Statistics may be defined as "a body of methods for making wise decisions in the face of uncertainty."
(Wilson Allen Wallis)

Visitor numbers, Boggo Road Gaol, 2004-05 and 2012-13

	AUG 2004- DEC 2005	DEC 2012- APR 2013
General admission	1484	-
Guided Day Tours	9415	-
Guided Night Tours	1,648	-
Ghost Tours	-	-
Functions	3, 706	-
Other events	374	-
Totals	16,627	3,000
Inc. Ghost Tour figures*	18,710	-
Average/month	1,100	750

*‘Ghost Tours’ figures were not disclosed, so final totals include a
conservative guess of 20 people per week from these events.

This is the sixth article in a Boggo Blog series about Queensland’s 19^th-century prison system, and this one takes us to the Darling Downs town of Toowoomba.

Toowoomba, 1888.

In 1864 Toowoomba became the third Queensland town (after Brisbane and Rockhampton) to have an officially-proclaimed prison. A courthouse first opened there in 1863, dealing with cases from the Darling Downs, the Maranoa and Warrego, and as an assize town Toowoomba needed a prison to house convicted prisoners or those awaiting trial. This was erected behind the courthouse on Margaret Street and was proclaimed a prison in June 1864, although the boundary wall and main gateway were not completed until September of that year.

The initial capacity of the Toowoomba prison was 46, and during the first full year of operation a total of 145 prisoners were confined there. Just six of these inmates were women. From 1870 onwards all female prisoners in southeast Queensland serving sentences of more than two weeks were incarcerated in the Toowoomba facility, as the Brisbane prison on Petrie Terrace became all-male in an attempt to resolve the overcrowding problems being experienced there. This move was opposed by leading citizens of Toowoomba, who publicly argued that when the women were released onto the streets of their town they would ‘resort to crimes of the most flagitious and demoralising character’. Of the 212 inmates held in the prison during 1871, 76 were women.

Toowoomba was also the first Queensland town outside Brisbane to host executions. A total of four men were hanged at the prison during 1864-70. Hangings took place in the prison yard, but as with the Petrie Terrace prison the low walls allowed people perched in nearby trees or on rooftops to get a view of the proceedings inside.

In 1882 the old Toowoomba courthouse was converted to a female reformatory to house juvenile female offenders, allowing them to be confined away from the older prisoners who were reported to be having a negative effect on them.

The dimensions of the Toowoomba Gaol were described in the Darling Downs Gazette in 1889:

'This mainly consists of two buildings, both originally of one story but to one a second storey had been added some five years ago. Together they contain two cells for male prisoners, each cell being 16x19ft and 10 feet high, each with 4 openings (for ventilation) 2ft 9in square, barred; 2 cells for females 18ftx10ft, with 3 openings; 4 single cells 8ft 8in x 7ft 2in x 10ft, with 2 openings; 1 female dormitory (upstairs) 32ft x 21ft 9in x 8ft 6in, with 8 openings, each of 2ft 1½in x 1ft 6in, shuttered, and with 2 ventilators; a hospital cell14ft 2in x 10 5in x10ft, with 2 glassed windows; a workroom 16ft x 18ft x 10ft, with 6 openings. Of these latter rooms, the female dormitory, hospital cell, and workroom are contained in the two storey building.' (Darling Downs Gazette, 23 February 1889)

Toowoomba Gaol plan, 1868.

The three wings to the side of the central wards in the above plan (from the 1868 'Select Committee Report on Prison Discipline') were planned but never constructed. The courthouse would have been to the left of this area.

In September 1898 the facility was proclaimed a female-only prison, but it was finally closed in October 1903 after the new women’s prison opened off Boggo Road in Brisbane, and all the inmates at Toowoomba were transferred there.

(Photo: Leong Ming)

It was a striking sight. I was drinking tea at a shaded table on the side of the square when a Muslim woman walked past, dressed head to toe in a black burqa, a niqab covering her face. A few steps behind her was a woman in the typically-colourful robes of west Africa, and then came a little Vietnamese pensioner in a conical 'paddy hat'. They just blended into the passing crowd, nobody stared, and I thought 'This is how the world should be all the time'. Of course the world is not like this all the time, but at the Inala Civic Centre it often is. Which makes it my favourite public space in Brisbane. What makes it relevant to the pages of this blog is the surprising undercurrent of history that makes the Civic Centre what it is today.

Just to describe the place first, the Civic Centre is the outdoor shopping space right next to the indoor (and rather nondescript) 'Inala Town Centre' shopping mall on Inala Avenue in the Brisbane suburb of (you guessed it) Inala. The shops there form a rectangle, facing into an open space about the size of a football field. At first approach it doesn't seem overly promising, but while it might not be the snazziest shopping space in Brisbane, it is certainly one of the most alive.

History is often viewed as something that happened in a disconnected past, but in reality it is constantly shaping the world around us. Every street in every Brisbane suburb looks the particular way it does because of what went before feeding into what is happening now. The Inala Civic Centre has also been shaped by history, not the Victorian or Edwardian type, but a more recent backdrop of warfare and diaspora, and it is everywhere you look.

The first connection to war came with the creation of the suburb of Inala in the 1940s-'50s as 'Serviceton', a new housing project built for returned World War 2 service people and their families. Thousands of homes were built here, little houses on little blocks, cheap enough for those families to make a fresh start after the war. There were also post-war refugees from Italy, Greece, Poland and Russia. In later years a strong community of Seniors formed in the area, and they are still very active today, but by the 1970s many of the original families had moved on and the cheap housing saw the area develop as one of the poorer parts of Brisbane with a bit of a tough reputation that persists today.

Serviceton housing project, 1952 (State Library of Queensland)

A massive demographical transformation came with the arrival of thousands of Vietnamese refugees after the end of the Vietnam War. These were the famous 'boat people', and thanks to the cheap houses they made this corner of Queensland their own. Today Inala and the surrounding suburbs are home to the heaviest concentrations of Vietnamese-speaking people in Australia

That influence is quite clear in the Civic Centre, which looks like a 'Little Saigon' because shops with Vietnamese signage and products dominate the place. There are numerous grocer shops with market-style frontages, and butchers, fishmongers selling a massive variety of seafood I'd never seen before, Vietnamese travel agents, movie and music shops, jewellers, hairdressers, vegetarian speciality shops, chemists, newsagents, cafes and restaurants. Even on a midweek morning these food outlets are busy with Vietnamese people, a sure sign of quality food.

(C Dawson)

There are also many foodstalls here, stacked high with containers of Vietnamese meals and deserts. I'm not sure what some of the food actually is but it all smells great. Adding to the sensory onslaught in some parts is modern Vietnamese pop music. There are always small crowds of men around tables eagerly watching and discussing ongoing games of xiangqi (Chinese chess). come here at Tet (Vietnamese New Year) and the place is going off with firecrackers and lion dancers.

Xiangqi at Inala Civic Centre, 2012 (Brisbane Daily Photo)

While the Vietnamese influence is the most obvious at the Civic Centre, the market-like setting of crates of Asian vegetables, herbs and fruit spilling out from shopfronts seems to suit the shopping habits of many other people from around the world. Although most people shopping at the Centre dress much like myself in bog-standard suburban-wear, there is always a healthy sprinkling of of cultural clothing that livens the place up visually. Muslim women in burqas and scarves, their men in white, and sometimes bearded elders dressed as though they have just been teleported from a remote Afghan or Hindu Kush village. There are West Africans in brilliantly-coloured hats and dresses, the occasional Vietnamese person in the famous round-brimmednón lá (leaf hat). On special occasions and Sundays, Samoan and Tongan men will wear lava-lava skirts, and Indian and Sri Lankan women might do their shopping there in sari's, and Buddhists monks often drop in too.

There of course plenty of Anglo people around, and Inala also has a notably strong Aboriginal community. Go back far enough and there's plenty of conflict on that front too.

What makes it such a sight is the balanced mix and variety of national styles. That mix seems to become more diverse with each passing year. It is obvious that many of these people are refugees from the some of the worst trouble spots of recent decades. Vietnam, Sudan, Afghanistan, West Africa, Syria, north Africa and Iraq to name a few. They have formed their own community groups and religious centres,and the Civic Centre seems to be another place for them to catch up with each other. The community hall is as likely to be filled with the beautiful sound of Sudanese or Samoan congregations as it with pensioners playing hoy or having 'Waltzing Matilda' singalongs (as I heard last week).

(Photo:Julia's Pantry)

There is a genuine sense of 'community' (always a vague notion) in the square. People know each other, and stand chatting to the neighbours and friends they chance across there. You might get a sense of community in other public places, but all too often you don't. What I like about the Civic Centre is that sense of community is natural and not self-conscious, it just happens and people don't make a big deal about it (except maybe me).

The Inala Civic Centre in 2013 is a place that has been shaped largely by people returning from or escaping from war zones. They have created a harmoniously multicultural oasis, but as history unfolds around us it will doubtlessly change and who knows what this place will be like in 20 years time? It could well have disappeared beneath some godawful Anglocentric and soulless Westfield shopping complex and Brisbane would be much the poorer for it. As it is now, however, this is just how the world should be.

I'd suggest paying it a visit while it is still here. Any day of the week is good, but Saturday mornings is 'Crazy Time' when it is always jam-packed and you will struggle to find a car park. There is a bus stop right outside, where the 100 Buz is very regular.

Privatising History at Boggo Road Gaol

Look, nobody is going to sue you for sharing a story...

1948: Reds in the Cell Beds

It warms the cockles of my heart

The Kindness of Strangers

At Boggo Road, There Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing

The Kindness of Strangers, Part 3

Can we run Boggo Road? Yes We Can!

The Last Hanging: Remembering 1913 and all that

Prison Numbers: Boggo Road Visitor Stats

Can we run Boggo Road? Yes We Can!

'Haunts of Brisbane' Goes Live!

Boggo Blog Springcleaning

Know Your Colonial Gaol History #4: Petrie Terrace 1860-83 (Part Two)

Beer Ahoy!

The Story of the 'Executed Prisoners' Plaque.

Know Your Colonial Gaol History #5: The first Rockhampton Gaol 1864-84

Prison Numbers: Boggo Road Visitor Stats

Know Your Colonial Gaol History #6: Toowoomba Gaol, 1864-1903

War & Peace & the Inala Civic Centre