Capital Punishment in Queensland

Presented by Brisbane History Group in collaboration with Queensland Police Museum.

Queensland Takes the Initiative

“The sentences of punishment by death shall no longer be pronounced or recorded, and the punishment of death shall no longer be inflicted”, so reads Section 2 of the Criminal Code Amendment Act of 1922. When, on August 1st of that year, the assent of the Governor was announced in Parliament, Queensland became the first part of the British Empire to have abolished capital punishment.

On 13 November at the last BHG seminar for 2022 we will hear from four speakers on this topic:

Dan Morgan was admitted as a barrister in 1998 and practises almost exclusively in succession and trusts. He has a Ph.D. in constitutional law from The University of Queensland, with a particular focus on parliamentary law. He has an interest in the politics behind Abolition and how Queensland became the first place in the Commonwealth to abolish of capital punishment.

Chris Dawson is a Brisbane-based professional historian specialising in the history of capital punishment in Queensland. He leads the popular ‘Hangman’s Walk’ history tours at South Brisbane and Toowong cemeteries, founded the Boggo Road Gaol Historical Society, and has written several publications and articles about hanging.

Jess Parker is an undergraduate Historian currently completing a Bachelor of History Inquiry and Practice with the University of New England. She has a passion for historic cemeteries and a keen fascination of the stories of their residents. Both through her studies and her volunteer work, Jess seeks to uncover the histories of some of Brisbane and Queensland’s most fascinating people. She is a member of Brisbane History Group, The Royal Historical Society of Queensland, and Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery.

Lisa Jones is Curator of the Queensland Police Museum, a position she has held for 25 years. She enjoys speaking about the history of the Queensland Police and is particularly fascinated with the events that led to the murders of two police officers in 1867 and the subsequent hanging of Gold Commissioner Thomas Griffin.