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Moreton Bay Penal Colony - Red Cliff (Redcliffe) Settlement - 1824-1825
Moreton Bay Penal Colony - Red Cliff (Redcliffe) Settlement - 1824-1825
Exploration
In 1823, Sir Thomas Brisbane, the Governor of the Colony of New South Wales, sent Lieutenant John Oxley, the Surveyor-General of New South Wales north in an attempt to locate a place suited to the housing of convicts. On the 29th November, 1823, Oxley anchored off what was then known as Skirmish Point but is today known as South Point on Bribie Island.
When the party went ashore they were greeted by the local Aboriginal people and two ex-convicts – Thomas Pamphlet and John Finnegan. In March 1823, Pamphlet and Finnegan with two other ticket-of-leave convicts named Richard Parsons and John Thompson, had unknowingly been blown north of Sydney, during a storm while endeavouring to reach Five Islands (Illawarra) to cut cedar. Thompson died during the voyage and their small boat was wrecked on Moreton Island. In their efforts to get home they discovered the Brisbane River.
Pamphlett and Finnegan showed Oxley the mouth of the Brisbane River. Oxley, under the guidance of Finnegan, explored the river for about 20 kilometres. On his return to Sydney, Oxley recommended Moreton Bay as the place for a penal colony.
Upon John Oxley’s suggestion, the area then known as Red Cliff Point was approved to establish a penal colony.
Arrival
On 12 September 1824, the brig Amity sailed into Moreton Bay with a party of soldiers, convicts and others under the command of Lt Henry Miller. On board were Oxley, Lieutenant Miller, botanist and explorer Allan Cunningham, soldiers, and the first party of convicts. Sharing the journey were the wives and families of some of the soldiers. On 13 September 1824, the party landed at Redcliffe.
The site chosen is today on the northern side of Anzac Avenue, from Redcliffe Parade to John Street. It was selected as it had a permanent water supply nearby (Humbybong Creek) and good soil for agriculture on the western side of the creek. Grazing pastures and plentiful timbers were also cited as reasons for this choice.
Later on, the convicts discovered a very good quality of clay, suitable for brickmaking. It was at the creek near the land now occupied by the Redcliffe Museum. They erected a kiln on the bank of the creek and made the bricks from which permanent brick buildings were constructed.
Relocation to Brisbane
The Redcliffe site was only ever intended as an interim site as Oxley’s report to the Governor of Brisbane details below.
Oxley wrote:
Should it be deemed expedient to establish a Settlement in Moreton Bay, the Country in the vicinity of Red Cliff Point offers the best Site for an Establishment in the first instance.
Oxley then goes on to say:
Red Cliff Point must however be viewed as being better adapted for a Military Post and Stores than as the Site of a Principal Settlement, and that the Brisbane River presents so many superior situations.
Therefore, as per Oxley’s recommendations, the convict colony moved further upstream to the site of current day Brisbane in May 1825.
When the decision was made to relocate to the banks of the Brisbane River eight months later in May 1825, Redcliffe was deserted and remained so until the 1860s when the area was declared an agricultural reserve.