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In the Line of Duty: The Boggo Road Riots of 1986
This weeks blog is given over to a letter I recently received from Tom King, a former prison superintendent. He was writing after two tragic events - the devastating prison fire in Honduras, and the...
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World Leader Pretend: Exposing the 'most haunted' lie
"Brisbane has been voted the 2ndmost haunted city in the world by National Geographic magazine." Or so the story goes.This claim has been made loud and proud by Cameron ‘Jack’ Sim, owner of a...
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The National Trust of Queensland and Boggo Road
VOTE IN THE BOGGO BLOG POLL AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE! There's been a fair amount of talk recently about the possibility of Boggo Road Gaol becoming a National Trust of Queensland (NTQ) site, but one...
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The Stammerer in History
Well, after a nice little couple of months hiatus, during which I did some paid (and ongoing) historical work and got caught up in research into one or two other areas, the Boggo Blog is back up and...
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A Night Alone in a Boggo Road Cellblock
I once spent a night alone in a Boggo Road cellblock. In fact the entire prison was empty apart from me. The 'lights out, gates locked, 3:15a.m.' kind of empty. As far as I know, I'm the only person to...
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Boggo Road Reopening Saga: Deja vu all over again
It's been a while since I posted an update about the future of Boggo Road, mostly because we are still in the 'waiting and seeing' phase. As far as we know, the developers from Leighton Properties...
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Filming Boggo Road
Every now and then the Boggo Road Gaol Historical Society is approached by university film students wanting to make a Boggo Road-related film as part of their assessment. We help out when we can (which...
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The Ghosts of the Boggo Road Exercise Yards
This week marks the 20th anniversary of the closure of the last male prison at Boggo Road. That last prison was the big white concrete-and-besser-block monstrosity known as No.1 Division. The...
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Why sharks love it when dogs swim in the Brisbane River
Above: A dog lover.The other day I was down by the riverbank near the SouthBrisbaneCemetery and saw an old friend of mine throwing a stick into the river for their dog to retrieve. I had recently been...
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Know Your Colonial Gaol History #1
Solitary cells and gaol room, MoretonBay Penal Settlement, 1828Here it is - the first in a new and recurrent 20-part Boggo Blog series called Know Your Colonial Gaol History. Each article will provide...
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What's in a business name? Not a lot, apparently
I have made the point here before that being in a local history group is not all nice cups of tea and cardigans. What should be an interesting and enjoyable hobby can occasionally be spoiled by people...
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'In Heavenly Garb': Secrets of the cemetery
Well, it's here at long last. The new Inside History book In Heavenly Garb: The headstones of theIpswich General Cemetery is back from the printers and ready for purchase. Publication has come a few...
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Dig the New Breed: Has Queensland ‘ghost history’ research turned a corner?
Regular readers of this blog, or those who have read my Haunting Question book, will be well aware of my opinion of the appalling standard of historical research behind most ghost stories. All too...
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'Know Your Colonial Gaol History' #2: The prison on Queen Street
Thanks to government cost cutting and lack of foresight, the prison that stood on Queen Street in downtown Brisbane during the 1850s was one of the very worst prisons in the history of Queensland. It...
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You Reeker, Eureka
Wooden outhouse, Rathdowney ( John Oxley Library)The Boggo Road prison had many neighbours over the years, but none caused as much of a stink as the Eureka Sanitary Company. From 1889 onwards the...
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Unnaturally Offensive: Queensland Zoophilia
Yes, a grown adult who sees this as a logical sequence gets to be an actual senator.Given that a Federal senator lost his job as a parliamentary secretary yesterday after suggesting that allowing equal...
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Boggo Road Sh*t Tubs
D Wing toilet tubs in the sanitary yard, Boggo Road, 1989 (BRGHS)To cap off what has been (even by the usual standards) a very unsavoury month on the Boggo Blog, what with articles on poo disposal and...
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The Best Tours of Boggo Road are...
Exercise yard muster, No.2 Division, Boggo Road, 1989 (BRGHS)IMPORTANT UPDATE HEREIt is quite possible that the gates of Boggo Road will be open to the public again soon. While we in the Boggo Road...
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The Moon Man, the Headless Murderer, and Me
(Warning! This article contains a gruesome image [two, if you count the photo of me] that some readers might find disturbing.)Back in 2004 I was researching the stories behind the men who were hanged...
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Chinchilla Jones and his Unlucky Legs
Brisbane man Charles Julius Jones, nicknamed ‘Chinchilla’ (or ‘Chiller’ for short), was born in 1885 with two healthy legs. As a young man in South Brisbane he put those legs to good use and became a...
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