From the headlines…..A Bright Day for Prisoners!
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year from everyone here at Boggo Road Gaol!
We hope that 2018 is a safe and prosperous one for you all.
A new year brings new things! Look out here for some new articles and interesting tid-bits over the coming weeks! We are excited to continue creating new and exciting experiences for our readers and our guests. So that said…
Ever wonder what did the prisoners in Boggo Road do on New Year’s Eve?
Safe to say there was no champagne or fireworks!
But what did they do?
Read on to find out!
From the headlines…Daily Mercury: Monday 3rd January 1938 Page 6.
“BRIGHT DAY FOR PRISONERS” Daily Mercury: Monday 3rd January 1938 Page 6.
James Francis Whitney
BRIGHT DAY FOR PRISONERS.
COMMUNITY SINGING AT
BOGGO ROAD.
BRISBANE, Jan. 2. — Community singing in which the long service men joined with zest was a feature of the New Year party given In No. 2 prison of Brisbane gaol on Saturday afternoon. Archbishop Duhig was present.
The Comptroller-General (Mr. J. F. Whitney) welcomed the Archbishop, and thanked the Roman Catholic chaplain, Father J. Butler, and his sister, Miss Butler, for arranging the party.
Archbishop Duhig commended the Government and the Comptroller-General for extending humane treatment to prisoners, ‘which, he said, was’ more beneficial than the old system of durance.
Archbishop James Duhig
The community singing was led by Mr. E. Sheridan. Mrs. Sheridan played piano accompaniments and marches, and Misses Nancy and Babe Bridges and Mr. Clifford Bridges Introduced varied entertainment. Refreshments provided by Miss Butler were distributed. The huge hamper contained 1000 home-made, cakes, 301b of peanut toffee, and seven cases of fruit.
Archbishop Duhig spoke to inmates individually, and wished them a happy New Year.
Mr. R. Rapson, acting superintendent of the gaol, supervised the arrangements.
Want to hear more amazing stories about life inside Boggo Road? Our experienced guides would be delighted to lock you up for a while! Visit us for our History Tour
This article was contributed by Research Coordinator Sue Olsen as part of the ongoing research program for Boggo Road Gaol Pty Ltd. The aim of the program is to bring to light and share articles relating to Boggo Road for the purposes of review and study. Do you have a story to share or something you would like us to know about? You can contact the research team here
BOGGO ROAD OFFICIALLY CLOSED 25 YEARS AGO
BOGGO ROAD OFFICIALLY CLOSED 25 YEARS AGO
BRISBANE CORRECTIONAL CENTRE CLOSES – 27 JULY 1992
25 years ago, on Monday 27 July 1992 Corrective Services Minister Glen Milliner closed the gates of Number One Division of the Brisbane Correctional Centre, officially ending the era of Boggo Road Jail Australia’s most notorious prison. In May 1988 the Kennedy Report had recommended the closure as well as a new focus on rehabilitation rather than retribution.
Over 119 years of operation, thousands of men and women served time behind its red-brick walls.
There were many infamous inmates including the “Houdini of Boggo Road” escapologist and jail-breaker “Slim” Halliday and the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub fire-bombers James Richard Finch and John Andrew Stuart. Forty-two prisoners were executed by hanging – the last in 1913.
In the 1980s Boggo Road was the scene of dramatic escapes, riots, hunger-strikes and roof-top protests which led to the prisons official closure 25 years ago in July 1992.
Heritage-listed No. 2 Division – the remaining section of Boggo Road – is as it was when it closed. It is part of the new Boggo Road Urban Village redevelopment. Since 2012 Boggo Road Gaol Pty Ltd has conducted guided tours, events and experiences at the historic site.
SPECIAL EVENTS: Thursday 27 July 2017 – 10.30am outside the prison gates to commemorate 25 years since Boggo Road Gaol’s closure + History. Saturday night – Ghost Tours. 28 / 29 July – Hourly History Tours with re-enactments by the Prison Players.
Jail Open 7 Days – HISTORY tour (11am)
Book Group Tours and Jail Hire / Events
RSVP bookings@boggoroadgaol.com
PRISON’S FIRST TALKIE
FROM THE HEADLINES…PRISON’S FIRST TALKIE
Eighty-Two years ago… The prisoners of Boggo Road Gaol got a very rare treat. They saw their first ‘Talkie’! that may not sound like much to you and I but these are men who had never seen a motion picture with sound. Something that today is unheard of with the advancements in technology, surround sound, multidimensional extravaganzas that we see each week…. Not to mention the equipment we have in our very own living rooms and even on our mobile phones! Some would say they should have never received such an opportunity. Some would say it was about time that prisoners were treated as human beings and witness some of the outside world. All of this was very controversial at the time…
There were no better films at this time than Charles Dickens’s “David Copperfield”. It was and still is a masterpiece of its generation. If you haven’t seen it…I can highly recommend it. So this Friday the 7th of July, get out the popcorn, and catch a ‘talkie’… in the comfort of your very own lounge chair.
Or, if you want a truly authentic experience…Join us at Boggo Road Gaol for the Prison Movie Series. For dates and times visit www.boggoroadgaol.com/movies/
PRISON’S FIRST TALKIE
Boggo-Road Men See First Local Release of Film
“DAVID COPPERFIELD” IN GAOL
Some Brisbane residents who previously had never heard or seen a talkie, yesterday of seeing such as had the privilege yesterday of seeing such a picture for the first time in their lives.
Unique in many ways was the occasion. For it marked the first showing of films in 10 years at Boggo-road Gaol, and the first exposition of talkies in that institution at any time.
One hundred and ten prisoners comprised the audience, among them many of the most famous criminals in the State – men who had seen nothing but the inside of the gaol since long before the first talkie was shown in Brisbane!
SILENT films were shown to the prisoners about a decade ago, and concert parties have visited the gaol on regular occasions, but many of the long-termers have never witnessed a talking film.
The program yesterday commenced with a colored “Silly Symphony”, after which the film version of Charles Dickens’s immortal “David Copperfield,” which has not yet been released to the public in Brisbane, was screened, and the show concluded with one of the famous Laurel and Hardy comedy shorts.
The effect on the 110 members of the motley audience was astounding. Men like Jeynes, Turner and Fountain-men whose crimes had shocked a nation- sat enthralled by the movements and voices of the silver figures on the sheet as the “David Copperfield” story was unfolded.
Like a well-ordered class of school boys at their first picture show they sat… Murderers, thieves, knockdown men, “con” artists, criminals of all descriptions… laughing uproariously at the antics of the comedians…charmed by the beauty and simplicity of Dickens’s famous creations.
Permission for the prisoners to see the films was obtained from the Home Secretary (Mr. E.M. Hanlon). The Comptroller of Prisons (Mr. J.F.Whitney) was host to a party of visitors that included Mr. Les. Andrews (MGM Films), F Mussared (Cremorne Theatre), G. Campbell (R.C.A Photophone), and Mr. McLeod a Brisbane engineer. “The men’s reactions to the films were a most extraordinary sight. “ Mr. Mussared said last night. “And it was an experience that one doesn’t have very often.
In the front row sat three men convicted of murder. In other seats, were men convicted of other crimes of violence. Yet the effect of the pictures on them was- well as far as was observable, the same as the effect on any ordinary, average, theatre audience.” “Mr. Micawber must have caught their fancy,” he went on, “for every time he appeared they burst into laughter. It was good to think that the pictures helped them to forget their own troubles for a little while, at least.”
10 out of 10
Went on the Ex-Inmate Tour at Boggo Road Gaol on Sunday 6th March, 2016, with an Ex-Inmate by the name of Wayne, and it was brilliant.
Was amazing to hear about what life was like being locked up in prison straight from a former prisoner’s mouth!
Did the History Tour a few weeks ago too, another brilliant tour. Was fascinating to hear the stories and information that was shared.
Highly recommend both tours to everyone, you wont be disappointed!!
Next Tour, the Escapes Tour, cant wait!
Matthew – Gold Coast
Boggo Road Gaol Redevelopment Update 26.10.2015
The redevelopment at Boggo Road Gaol has entered into the next stage.
Calile Malouf Investments, who have the rights for the redevelopment, lodged their development application (DA), on Tuesday 20th October.
Boggo Road Gaol is the last undeveloped heritage site in the inner-city. Its value to the people of Queensland and Australia is immense.
Boggo Road Gaol Pty. Ltd. has held a license to operate tours and events at this historic site, for the past three-years. Boggo Road Gaol Director, Jack Sim – and his staff – have been associated with the jail for 18 years.
To date, we have had more than 50,000 people visit the Gaol on tours, functions and events, Mr. Sim said.
“Over the past-three years, we have developed the Gaol into a vibrant community space”.
“We’ve been in a unique position to gauge the public’s thoughts, as to what they want for the future of Boggo Road Gaol”.
“Visitors and locals want the Gaol to be a major tourist attraction for Brisbane and Queensland – like Port Arthur and Old Melbourne Gaols”, Mr. Sim Said.
To make Boggo Road Gaol a fantastic tourism experience, comparable to these heritage attractions, the remaining cell blocks and cells must be retained, to convey the sites historical significance.
“The proposed markets and entertainment precincts are great ideas. However, the balance between how much of the gaol is adaptively re-used for entertainment, café’s and bars, versus the retainment of cultural heritage tourism is not right”, Mr. Sim Said.
Excellent access for visitors, especially – senior citizens, schools, students and disabled groups – is essential.
The ability to drop these groups literally at the gates, will end with the current proposal.
The Gaol belongs to the people of Queensland. We encourage the public to play their role in Boggo Roads future, by examining the plans and submitting their thoughts.
You can comment on the development application (A004241967), to Brisbane City Council by going to this link http://bit.ly/1QZevwQ
Boggo Road Pty. Ltd. will submit a proposal, in line with the development application process.
We will continue to work with the developers and Brisbane City Council to achieve a positive outcome for all stakeholders.
We have been greatly involved in the process to date. We will continue our liaison, as part of this process, and to share feedback from visitors and tourists alike.
Alternatively, you can contact council directly by:
Phone: 3403 8888
Website: www.brisbane.qld.gov.au
Or Post:
Brisbane City Council GPO Box 1434 Brisbane Qld 4001
You can follow our latest updates at the Boggo Road Gaol Facebook page: www.facebook.com/boggoroadgaol/
Tours at Boggo Road Gaol will continue to operate.
To book, visit www.boggoroadgaol.com/tours/ or call (07) 3844 0059.
To view this release online visit www.boggoroadgaol.com/media-releases/
Ends//
Media Contacts:
Jack Sim
Boggo Road Pty. Ltd. Director
P: 0409 617 394
Kayla Pratt
Boggo Road Gaol Marketing Coordinator
P: 0478 191 901
E: marketing@boggoroadgaol.com
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO BOGGO ROAD GAOL
Boggo Road Gaol will be closing for tours & events late 2015. The Gaol is to be redeveloped in 2016. The heritage-listed Gaol will be adaptively reused and the modern sections of the prison will be demolished to make way for bars, restaurants and cafes. Visitors will be able to eat and dine where prisoners served life sentences. Current plans are that one of the three original cellblocks will be retained in its original form; a new museum will tell the Gaol’s story with artefacts and displays. Please support Brisbane’s history and take a tour of Boggo Road before it closes. This is the public’s last chance to see the Gaol as it is.
Please join our Boggo Road Gaol Facebook page to be kept informed about the Gaol’s redevelopment HERE
Boggo Road Gaol Pty Ltd will be keeping you regularly updated with news on the development here on Facebook.
Please share this post with your friends.
THE FRAZER VAULT : ROOKWOOD CEMETERY (1974)
Jack Sim recently visited the city of Sydney, and explored the Necropolis that is Rookwood Cemetery, – it is literally the City of the Dead and has lived up to its name. Parts of the cemetery are wild, overgrown with a bizarre combination of bushland and exotic flowers, vines, trees and shrubs. Wildlife abounds. It has been the scene of sorrow, reunion, salvation, sadness, tragedy, violence, crime, murder and death.
Rookwood was created to accommodate a growing population, the old cemeteries of Sydney had filled up. It would be a great gothic theme park, designed to entertain the living and honour the dead.
In 1868, far from the city of Sydney (so property values were not affected) the new cemetery was opened to the public. The first burials took place in 1867; the first cremation in 1925. The “crem‟ as it is known is the oldest operating crematorium in Australia. The original cemetery was 200 acres, the cemetery today has grown to cover 699 acres (283 hectares). The remains of approximately a million people are either buried or held here.
Mausoleums, crypts and vaults dot the landscape. Grand gravestones and memorials of the rich and powerful sit side by side with more modest tombstones. Many have been damaged by more than a century of vandalism, neglect or decay.
One of these graves is the Frazer Vault – Built in 1894, this grand mausoleum dominates the Rookwood Necropolis. It once belonged to the Frazer family. The largest mausoleum in Rookwood, this vault was once the resting place of seven members of the Frazer family:
John – died 27 October 1884, aged 57 (founding father)
John – died 15 December 1878
Arthur Griffiths – died 8 November 1900
Sarah & Alice Mary – died 21 February 1901
Elizabeth – died 2 July 1914
They are no longer there.
It was commissioned by John Frazer prior to his death. Born in Ireland in 1824, Frazer immigrated with his brother and two sisters to Australia in 1842. In partnership with them, he built John Frazer & Co into one of Sydney’s biggest businesses.
Though John Frazer died relatively young, aged only 57, in 1884, he died very wealthy – the third richest man in the country, leaving an estate worth over 400,000 pounds.
Before his death he commissioned the building of an elaborate and theft-proof mausoleum to contain himself and his family for eternity – forever. It was never meant to be disturbed. In reality, it was to hold them all less than a century.
In 1974, Mr Mervin Manning, who was then the Manager of the Independent Cemetery here at Rookwood, received a bizarre telephone call at his office.
A funeral director requested permission to remove the coffins of the Frazer‟s from the vault. Apparently a distant relative of John Frazer wanted to have their remains cremated at the crematorium.
The undertaker was merely following the directions of the relative. Unable to believe that anyone would want to do such a thing, Merve decided to meet the person. The lady seemed nice enough – she was the great granddaughter of John Frazer – but determined to have her ancestors removed, no matter the cost.
A whole crew of people assembled on the day that the bodies were to be exhumed. It took a week for the experienced mason to dismantle each onyx sarcophagus. Each had been designed to never be opened after being sealed. Despite this, great care was taken to ensure that nothing was damaged. Mr Manning made the mason number each section in the hope one day maybe somebody would put them back together again.
When the first crypt lid came off a strange smell filled the room. It was not decay for the occupants had been dead for years. It was some kind of gas, perhaps methane. One by one, as each tomb was opened, the sweet smelling vapour, sealed for decades inside the stone vessels, drifted out.
The lady was adamant that every person was to be removed. Armed with records of who was buried there, each coffin had to be identified, opened and matched to the old registers.
When the lids were removed, the coffins inside were found to be in very good condition, but they discovered something unsettling.
A Boring Escape: Joseph Alexander Raymond Valentino (1927)
The name Valentino was making headlines in 1927, nearly a year after the death of silent screen actor Rudolph Valentino. He was regarded by his legions of female fans as the personification of sex. Joseph Alexander R. Valentino, on the other hand, was certainly not in the headlines.
In Boggo Road Gaol for vagrancy, this young man had only just started serving his sentence when he decided it was time to return to the outside world. As he was deemed a low risk prisoner, he was given work outside the prison walls, often unsupervised.
There was nothing sensational about Valentino’s escape. His actions were so commonplace that no notice was taken when he simply downed his garden tools and casually walked out of the prison grounds. When out of sight, he quickened his pace to a run and the subsequent search failed to find him. He did not stay in one place, moving from Spring Hill and the Valley, but he was eventually recaptured in Woolloongabba.
He finished his time and was discharged on the 25th of August 1927 and once again disappeared into the public.
“HOUDINI” ESCAPED BOGGO ROAD 75 YEARS AGO…
“SLIM” HALLIDAY – ESCAPED 28 JANUARY 1940
Special Event – Wednesday 28 January 2015
Join us Wednesday 28 January 2015 at 3pm outside the prison gates to commemorate 75 years since Halliday made his first daring breakout.
RSVP bookings@boggoroadgaol.com
*************************
Seven and a half decades ago, on 28 January 1940, a housebreaker from New South Wales, 30 years-old Arthur Halliday – nicknamed “Slim” on account of his tall, thin frame – made his first successful escape from Boggo Road Gaol’s
Number 2 Division – this section of wall became known as “Halliday’s Leap”. He would again escape in 1946 – taking two other dangerous men with him including Victor Travis, a would-be gun-man and Derwent Arkinstall, a convicted killer of an elderly Brisbane taxi-driver. Halliday was one of the few who ever escaped Boggo Road Gaol twice. Released in 1951, the following year he returned to Boggo Road Gaol – this time for the murder of Gold Coast. taxi-driver Athol McCowan.
Regarded as the most dangerous man in any prison in the British Commonwealth, Halliday was the Brendan Abbott of his time. Although Halliday never succeeded in actually escaping Boggo Road again, it wasn’t for the want of trying. Throughout the 1950s he continued to make headlines – his most audacious saw him make a replica Colt handgun out of soap! Halliday was kept under the strictest of supervision, isolated from other inmates, becoming a living legend within the walls. His uniquely-modified cell, No9, D Wing cellblock, Number 2 Division had three slide-bolts to keep him secured.
He was easily the prison’s most infamous inmate earning the title of the “Houdini of Boggo Road,” after Harry Houdini, the world famous escape artist. After 23 years of incarceration, Halliday was eventually paroled and released as a free man.
Until his death, Slim maintained he was not responsible for the murder for which he served a life sentence – claiming he was framed by former Police Commissioner Frank Bischof – today widely regarded as corrupt.”SLIM HALLIDAY: The Taxi-Driver Killer” by Ken Blanch found vital evidence that would have benefitted Halliday’s defence was deliberately held back by police at the time. ESCAPES Volume 1 by Gaol Director Jack Sim details Halliday’s two escapes and other gaol-breakers of Boggo Road.
Heritage-listed Number Two Division is today the only remaining section of “The Road”. Since December 2012 Boggo Road Gaol Pty Ltd has been conducting historical tours, events, re-enactments & experiences at this historic site.
*************************
Gaol Open 6 Days
HISTORY tour (11am) & new ESCAPES tour (1pm)
http://www.boggoroadgaol.com
THE LAST BUSHRANGER IN QUEENSLAND : James Kenniff (1940)
Charters Towers, a beautiful outback town South West of Townsville was once a thriving hub due to the large deposits of gold (the second largest city outside of Brisbane). As the gold dried up, mining became uneconomic, Charters Towers population slowly declined, but the stunning old buildings and ghosts remained.
On the outskirts of Charters Towers sits what the locals call “the old cemetery”, the Lynd Highway Cemetery was established in 1895. This bleak, barren and dead flat cemetery is bordered by a well maintained cast iron perimeter fence and charming front gate. It is the resting place for a number of interesting local characters including Jupiter Mossman who, as the local lore has it, was one of the party that discovered gold in Charters Towers; Doctor Leonard Redmond who discovered Australian Dengue Fever; Frederick Pfeiffer, owner of the rich Day Dawn PC Mine and James Kenniff who was the last bushranger in Queensland.
The Grave of James Kenniff
James and his older brother Patrick were expert horsemen who made a living by horse stealing – a very serious crime.
They were wanted in connection to the theft of a horse. A police constable, Aboriginal tracker and station master pursued the brothers for several days through hard, mountainous country in Western Queensland. Surprising Patrick and his brother James they managed to overpower and arrest them both. As the tracker was sent to get handcuffs from the constable’s packhorse, gunshots rang out and the tracker ran for his life.
A later search found the constable’s horse wandering through the scrub and the burnt remains of the constable and station master. The brothers were tracked down again and following a shootout, both were captured and tried for murder.
Throughout the trial Patrick maintained his innocence and was denied the right to appeal to the Privy Council in London, by the judge Samuel Griffith. Though there was public shock and outcry, the Queensland Government seemed to be determined to see him hang.
Patrick was sent to the Gallows of Boggo Road Gaol, protesting his innocence to the very last. His final chilling words were saved for one man, the Chief Justice, now Sir Samuel Griffith: “I am as innocent as the judge who sentenced me.”
James’s life was spared, but he was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. Being released in 1914, he refused visitors and lived out his life alone. Some say he was the one who pulled the trigger. He took the secret to his grave in Charters Towers.
Grave of Patrick Kenniff
Hear about this amazing story on Australia’s longest running true crime show “True Crimes” – presented by Jack Sim on 4BC Nights with Walter Williams. Thursday evenings 9.35pm on Radio 4BC.
Visit the grave of Patrick Kenniff on a South Brisbane Cemetery Ghost Tour
