Fiends & Felons
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Not all who rest here lived quiet lives.
Step into the shadows of South Brisbane Cemetery and uncover true stories of convicts, crooks, and curious criminals.
Fiends & Felons is a revealing daytime tour that lifts the lid on Brisbane’s gritty, lawless past — where hard luck, hard labour, and hard justice defined many lives. Where some found infamy, others found redemption…but all wound up here.
Drawn from convict records, prison archives, and little-known headlines, this fascinating walk traces real lives marked by crime, consequence, and the odd twist of fate — from petty theft to prison islands, and oyster bars to reform.
Among the stories you’ll hear:
🧾 A light-fingered till thief, transported for treachery, who found an unlikely future in education
🔐 The career convict who bounced between escape, arrest, and eventual burial in Brisbane
🗡 A fatal clash at St Helena Penal Establishment, and the young Warder who paid the ultimate price
🦪 From Van Diemen’s Land to seafood success — a convict couple’s oyster bar legacy
👔 An English officer caught cribbing clothes, shipped in shame to the colony he would never leave
Whether you’re a true crime enthusiast, a social history sleuth, or simply curious about Brisbane’s backstreet past, Fiends & Felons invites you to walk where rogues and reformers now lie, via the stories that justice once tried to bury.
Even the most notorious deserve to be remembered.
All of our tours are not-for-profit, with all money raised going to our cemetery history and maintenance projects.
Prices
- Single bookings: $10 per person.
Walking difficulty
- Moderate (Grade 3) – Please be aware, given the ageing nature of the cemetery, this tour involves walking [slowly] up hills predominantly over generally modified terrain [hardened earth, less than 1200mm wide], mostly clear of intrusions & obstacles. Please advise us of any relevant medical concerns prior to attending the tour.
Duration
- 1½ hours [tour times can vary, depending on levels of customer interaction during the tour].
Age level
- This tour is suitable for ages 6 years and up.
Private and Easy Access Tours
We can organise a Private Access tour just for your own group of friends. We also run Easy Access tours for groups with mobility issues. You can select any available tour type you want. Minimum cost is $225 for up to 15 people (extra people $15 per person).
We can organise a Private Access tour just for your own group of friends. We also run Easy Access tours for groups with mobility issues. You can select any available tour type you want. Minimum cost is $225 for up to 15 people (extra people $15 per person).
All of our tours are run by the Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery (Inc.), under license from the Brisbane City Council.
Please contact tours@fosbc.au with your queries.
The Fiends & Felons tour is a not-for-profit event, that respects historical accuracy and cemetery values.