A Convict's Life
You are about to walk through the streets of modern Brisbane — but at each stop, the past will rise around you.At every location, press play to watch a cinematic video as Mary guides you through the realities of convict life in 1829. Each story is connected to the very ground beneath your feet.Take your time. This is a self-guided journey. Pause whenever you wish and move at a pace that feels comfortable.When you’re ready, press play on the video below and then click “Next”.Make your way to the first stop at General Post Office, 261 Queen Street, Brisbane City.
Stop 1
Where the General Post Office now stands, there was once confinement, labour, and the quiet endurance of transported women at the edge of the colony.In 1829, as the Moreton Bay penal settlement expanded, a small Female Factory operated within this convict precinct. The first transported women began arriving in Brisbane in 1827–1828, sent from Sydney to support the growing settlement through assigned labour.The women were housed here between government work and private assignment. Conditions were basic and tightly supervised — yet separation from the male population proved difficult. Reports describe men attempting to climb stockade walls to reach the women, and authorities struggled to control the situation.The problem grew serious enough that officials eventually moved the women further upstream, away from the main male barracks, in an effort to reduce “temptation” among both soldiers and convicts.
Stop 2
Before it became a narrow service laneway lined with cafés and back entrances, this corridor sat behind the main convict barracks of the Moreton Bay penal settlement.In the late 1820s and 1830s, the area formed part of the working yard attached to the male barracks. Here, convicts assembled for labour gangs, received rations, and were mustered under guard before marching out to quarry stone, clear land, and construct the early buildings of Brisbane.Punishment was also carried out in spaces like this — public and deliberate. Floggings were intended as a warning to others, reinforcing discipline in one of the colony’s harshest outposts.The name “Burnett Lane” came later, but beneath the pavement lies the footprint of Brisbane’s original convict yard — a place of strict order, heavy labour, and unyielding authority.
Stop 3
The sandstone Treasury building you see today was begun in 1886 — long after the convict era ended. In Mary’s time, this elevated corner above the river formed part of the government and military heart of the Moreton Bay penal settlement.Before the Treasury stood here, this ground lay within Commandant Patrick Logan’s domain. Nearby were government offices and military quarters where orders were issued, punishments approved, and the settlement tightly controlled.Though the architecture has changed, this corner has long been a place of authority — where power shaped the lives of every convict in Brisbane.
Stop 4
Built in 1829, the Commissariat Store is one of the oldest surviving convict-era buildings in Queensland. Constructed by convict labour using locally quarried stone, it was designed to store food, clothing, tools, and essential supplies for the Moreton Bay penal settlement.From this riverside storehouse, rations were issued daily to soldiers and convicts alike. Flour, salted meat, maize, and government stores passed through these doors under strict record-keeping and supervision.In a remote and tightly controlled outpost like Brisbane, the Commissariat was vital — without its supplies, the settlement could not function. Today, its thick stone walls remain a rare physical link to the harsh, disciplined world of the convict era.
Stop 5
In the late 1820s, this stretch of the Brisbane River served as an early landing place for the Moreton Bay penal settlement. Convict transports and supply vessels arrived here from Sydney, carrying prisoners, soldiers, and essential provisions.There was no grand wharf in Mary’s time — only rough timber landings and muddy banks. For newly arrived convicts, this was the moment exile became real, as they stepped ashore into one of the colony’s most remote and strictly controlled settlements.
Stop 6
Before Parliament House stood here, this hill formed part of the government reserve of the Moreton Bay penal settlement — open ground within the military and administrative precinct overlooking the river.Transportation ended in 1842, and as Brisbane grew into a free settlement, plans for a permanent seat of government followed. Construction of Parliament House began in 1865, with the first section completed in 1868.This site marks Brisbane’s transformation from penal outpost to self-governing colony.
Stop 7
In the late 1820s and 1830s, these cliffs across the river formed one of the main quarry sites of the Moreton Bay penal settlement. Male convicts were sent here in chain gangs to cut and haul stone from the rock face.The stone quarried at Kangaroo Point was used to construct many of Brisbane’s earliest buildings, including the Commissariat Store and other government structures. The work was physically demanding and carried out under strict supervision.The sound of hammer on stone would have echoed through the settlement — a constant reminder that Brisbane was built by convict labour, carved directly from these cliffs.
Stop 8
Established in 1828, the Government Garden was created to supply food to the remote Moreton Bay penal settlement. Situated on the fertile river flats, convicts cleared the land and cultivated maize, vegetables, and fruit to feed soldiers, officials, and prisoners alike.Both male and female convicts were assigned to work here under supervision. The produce grown in these gardens was essential to the survival of the settlement, reducing reliance on supply ships from Sydney.Though today the Botanic Gardens are a place of leisure and beauty, this ground once echoed with the steady labour of convicts working the soil to sustain a harsh and tightly controlled colony.
Farewell
You have walked the ground where Brisbane began — not as a city, but as a place of labour, punishment, and endurance.Through Mary’s eyes, you’ve seen the barracks, the river landing, the quarry cliffs, and the gardens that sustained a fragile settlement. The streets around you may be modern, but beneath them lie the foundations laid by convict hands.History does not disappear.It lingers in stone, soil, and shadow.If you’re ready to step deeper into Brisbane’s past — beyond hardship and into legend — join us on the Ghosts of Brisbane Tour, where whispers of the unseen still echo through the city streets.Until then, thank you for walking a convict’s life.
