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Discovering history out there everywhere you go | Harold Peacock | Author | Historian | Detectorist

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Category: Convicts

2 weeks ago November 1, 2026November 1, 2026History Out There

Alias John Wilson

October 25, 2026October 25, 2026History Out There

Ipswich’s Cancelled Convicts

July 8, 2026August 29, 2026History Out There

The Marvell Beneath Lang Park

July 5, 2026July 5, 2026History Out There

The Convict King of Ipswich

May 31, 2026May 31, 2026History Out There

The Lovegrove Curse

March 27, 2026October 24, 2026History Out There

The Convict Postman Who Delivered Freedom

March 20, 2026March 20, 2026History Out There

Scotchy Lawson and the Great Non‑Escape

March 15, 2026March 15, 2026History Out There

Dick Austin’s Great Ipswich Robbery

March 13, 2026March 13, 2026History Out There

Runaways of the Range

March 8, 2026March 8, 2026History Out There

The Groom-Ruxton Diamond Connection

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On the Darling Downs there once was a schoolteacher who 120 years ago was forced to ‘pack heat’. A policeman in the 19th century didn’t know that he made the biggest arrest of any policeman’s career. During a thunderstorm, walking under the 30 metre Rainbow Falls formed over 23 million years at Springbrook in Queensland's World Heritage-listed Gondwana Rainforests. In the 19th century in a small township in the undulating agricultural region of Queensland’s Darling Downs, there was popular doctor who proved to be an international criminal genius. Experiencing the World Heritage–listed Gondwana Rainforests in a thunderstorm is hard to beat. Springbrook in the Gold Coast Hinterland, 6 hours, 17km, rain, thunder, elevation, leeches, and you couldn’t trust a rock, root, or leaves throughout, especially in the countless tree scrambles, swollen creek crossings. It was slippery and difficult, and totally satisfying. One Queensland colonial town was awash with convicts who appear to have been forgotten today. Here's a story of Aliases of just one of them. Please go to my website to Read, Listen, Like, and Share his story, "Alias John Wilson". While you're at the website, please subscribe for free so that you continue to get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox without relying on Meta's algorithm. Researching a former cemetery led me to uncover the cursed colonial family of Queensland’s inspector of orphanages. Please go to my website to Read, Listen, Like, and Share the remarkable story, "The Horror Horrocks Curse". While you're at the website, please subscribe for free so that you continue to get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox without relying on Meta's algorithm. This week I joined Patrick Comben AM, author, historian, and former state minister for Education and Environment and Heritage, at the unveiling of a plaque marking the location of the Edward Street Baptist Church in Brisbane. The church was built in 1866 right beside the earlier original temperance hall of the Moreton Bay settlement. The hall was subsequently replaced by a new Temperance Hall, the Canberra Hotel, and now a city office tower. The work of the Moreton Bay Temperance Society of 1849 is continued today 177 years after its foundation as the Drug Awareness & Relief Foundation (Australia) and its subsidiary @drug.arm. Please find a way to help reduce the harms of alcohol and other drugs across society, now assisting people build better lives for approaching two centuries. This month 167 years ago, 18 convicts in one colonial town had their tickets-of-leave cancelled in one amazing story. Please go to my website HistoryOutThere to read, hear, like and share their full tale, "Ipswich's Cancelled Convicts". At the website subscribe for free so that you get more of these stories delivered straight to your inbox for free.

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My book “Dovercourt: Toowong’s Hidden Treasure and Its People”

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