Visit to the Heritage listed Boggo Road Goal
10 Oct 2018
26 members from Sunnybank Hills Club went along for the very interesting heritage tour. The gaol was named after the road which led to it, that became a boggy quagmire after rain.
It was one of Australia’s most notorious prisons and operated for 119 years. Conditions were primitive with no running water connected to cells.
Number Two Division was closed in 1989 following an inquiry into living conditions. Number One Division closed in 1992 and demolished in 1996. However, the Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre remained open until 2002.
There were many infamous inmates including the escapologist and jail-breaker, “Slim” Halliday. In the 1980s, it was the scene of dramatic escapes, riots, hunger-strikes and roof-top protects which ultimately led to its closure.
Between 1883 and 1913, 39 men, one woman and two children were hanged on the gallows.
The cemetery fog, a thick, white, curling fog would be observed rolling over the southern wall of Number Two Division. From the guard tower it could be seen coming up over the hill from the Dutton Park Cemetery where prisoners who died in custody were buried in unmarked graves.
Cats were tolerated at the prison and some were “owned” by prisoners. The most famous was Tripod and many prisoners claimed ownership. Many more just loved his company. He was the top tom cat in the gaol, the mascot of Number Two Division. Prisoners jokingly referred to him as a “lifer” after 16 years of being in Boggo Road. The animal’s spirit is said to still haunt the gaol.
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