To begin with, in late 1950 the female prisoners were moved from their old timber building and over to the east side of the prison reserve, to a brick building that had recently been the VD hospital.
In 1953/54 the former Female Division was converted into a facility for confining men serving very short-term sentences for drunkenness and vagrancy, which at the time made up the majority of offences in Queensland. This building was now renamed as No.3 Division.
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Divisions of Boggo Road, circa 1956. |
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Aerial view of No.1 Division with G Wing, circa 1954. (State Library of Queensland) |
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No.3 Dormitory, Boggo Road, 1960s. (BRGHS) |
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Aerial south-west view of Boggo Road, circa 1954. (State Library of Queensland) |
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Carpentry shop inside the Boggo Road workshops, circa 1960s. (State Library of Queensland) |
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Kitchen in No.2 Division, Boggo Road, undated. (BRGHS) |
Overcrowding at Boggo Road was further relieved by the opening of HM Prison Wacol on the outskirts of Brisbane. This was a medium-security facility used mostly for prisoners who had served part of their sentences elsewhere.
A busy decade was rounded out with the introduction of the Prisons Act 1958, which sought to modernise the prison system.
READ MORE
- 1953: 'Boggo Road Now Full!' (The Truth). Report on overcrowding at the prison.
- 1954: 'Boggo Road Jail Bulges at the Seams' (Courier-Mail). A description of the overcrowding problem at the prison.
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