Colonial Queensland Prisons

Boggo Road was not the first prison in Queensland. In fact, since the convict years, it was about the 12th carceral facility opened north of the Tweed River (not counting police lock-up cells). This series, from the 'Life & Death in the Sunshine State' website, is a chronology of each of the colonial Queensland prisons.

1: Convict Cells and Gaol Room, Moreton Bay (1828) 
Learn all about the solitary cells and gaol room at the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement that housed convicts.

2: Queen Street, Brisbane (1850-60) 
Learn about the prison that once stood on Brisbane's downtown Queen Street in the 1850s, and everything that was wrong with it.

3: The Gaol on Petrie Terrace (1860-83) 
Learn about the history of the prison on Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, from 1860-1883.

4: Fortitude Valley Police Gaol (1863–1903) 
Learn about the 19th-century police lock-up at Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, that held short-term female prisoners - and why it failed.

5: The First Rockhampton Gaol (1864-84) 
Learn about the history of the first prison at Rockhampton prison, Queensland, from 1864-1884.

6: Toowoomba Gaol (1864-1903) 
Learn about the history of the Toowoomba prison, Queensland, from 1864-1903.

7: The 'Julia Percy' and the 'Proserpine' (1863-67) 
Learn why an old ship on the Brisbane River, Queensland, was used as a makeshift prison in the 1860s.

8: St Helena Island Penal Establishment (1867-1932) 
Learn about the history of the St Helena Island Penal Establishment on Moreton Bay, Queensland, during 1867-1932.

9: Roma Gaol (1872-1903) 
Learn all about the 19th-century prison at Roma, Queensland, that was open from 1872 -1903.

10: Maryborough Lock-Up (1877) 
Learn all about why the lock-up at Maryborough, Queensland, was turned into a prison in 1877 just for the execution of two men.

11: The First Townsville Gaol (1878-96) 
Stuart Creek was not the first prison in Townsville, Queensland. Read about the original prison here.

12: The First Boggo Road Prison (1883-1960s) 
Learn about the first prison to open off Boggo Road in Woolloongabba, Brisbane.

13: Mackay (1883-1935) 
Learn about the early prison in Mackay, Queensland.

14: The Second Rockhampton Gaol (1884-1948) 
Learn all about the Rockhampton prison of 1884-1948, the second one in this Queensland town.

15: Police Lock-ups of 1887 
Was there a police lock-up in your local town in the 1880s? Check this complete list of Queensland lock-ups.

16: Thursday Island Prison (1891-1983) 
Learn about Queensland's northernmost prison, which opened on Thursday Island in 1891.

17. Blackall (1891-1902) 
Learn about the prison in the Queensland town of Blackall, 1891-1902.

18. Normanton (1893-1945) 
Learn about this quiet prison in the north-west of Queensland.

19. Cooktown (1893-1922) 
Page under construction.

20. Stewart's Creek Penal Establishment, Townsville (1893-) 
Page under construction.

21. Cairns Prison (1897-1925) 
Page under construction.

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