Britain did not choose Moreton Bay.
The Moreton Bay penal colony was established 36 years after the first convicts arrived in Australia. The site was discovered by John Oxley in 1823 when he was sent north by Governor Thomas Brisbane in search of a potential new site for a convict settlement.
Britain initiated white settlement in Australia by establishing a penal colony as an overflow for their crowded prisons.
Botany Bay was never formally proclaimed as a penal settlement. Botany Bay was the site recommended by James Cook and Joseph Banks, but it was not the site settled as a penal colony.Sydney Cove (Port Jackson) was formally proclaimed a penal settlement with the raising of the British flag on 26 January 1788.
If the question refers to the original penal settlement in Moreton Bay, Queensland, it shut down because there was not a ready supply of fresh water in the Redcliffe area. The prison colony was not shut down entirely, but was moved to the banks of the Brisbane River, some 30 km away. If the question refers to St Helena Island in Moreton Bay, which was a prison and not a convict colony, the main factor which caused it to be shut down was cost. It was too expensive to keep ferrying supplies out to the island, then at least an hour's trip from Brisbane, so a new prison was built in Brisbane, at Boggo Road.
War of 1812 I think
Originally, there was just one colony - New South Wales. The second colony, in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) was created to offset French interest in Austalia, as was the Swan River colony in Western Australia in 1829. The new colony of the Moreton Bay District in what is now southern Queensland was created as another penal colony. South Australia and Port Phillip (now Victoria) were simply logical expansions of settlement, although South Australia was touted as a new, free colony to envourage British settlement.
The one who started the first penal settlement in Queensland's Moreton Bay was John Oxley. In September of 1824, John Oxley arrived at Redcliffe with a crew and 29 convicts on the ship Amity after sailing from Sydney. However, the Redcliffe colony was abandoned due to lack of fresh water just one year after Oxley's arrival, and relocated to the Brisbane River 30 km away.Captain Patrick Logan then became the leader of the Moreton Bay penal colony in Queensland.
The one who started the first penal settlement in Queensland's Moreton Bay was John Oxley. In September of 1824, John Oxley arrived at Redcliffe with a crew and 29 convicts on the ship Amity after sailing from Sydney. However, the Redcliffe colony was abandoned due to lack of fresh water just one year after Oxley's arrival, and relocated to the Brisbane River 30 km away.Captain Patrick Logan then became the leader of the Moreton Bay penal colony in Queensland.
The Moreton Bay penal colony, under the leadership of Captain Patrick Logan, was a particularly brutal colony, where very harsh punishments were doled out. Captain Logan himself was murdered, and while the local Aborigines were blamed, there is every chance that he was murdered by convicts, who hated him for his cruel mistreatment.
Australia
Britain initiated white settlement in Australia by establishing a penal colony as an overflow for their crowded prisons.
The first European settlement in Australia was a penal colony.
A penal settlement is a colony established by convicts or prisoners - people who have been convicted of a crime.
There were not six penal colonies in Australia. Only New South Wales, Moreton Bay (later Queensland), Van Diemen's Land and Port Phillip (briefly) were penal colonies. Perth, a free settlement, asked for convicts 15 years after it was settled, while South Australia remained convict-free right from the beginning.
The colony of the Moreton Bay District was founded in 1824 when explorer John Oxley arrived at Redcliffe with a crew and 29 convicts. The settlement was established at Humpybong, but abandoned less than a year later when the main settlement was moved 30km away, to the Brisbane River. Another convict settlement was established under the command of Captain Patrick Logan. On 10 September 1825, the settlement was given the name of Brisbane, but it was still part of the New South Wales territory.
The penal settlement was at Port Arthur, on the southeastern corner of the island.
Australia, or New South Wales as the eastern coast was then known, was originally a penal colony, meaning it was a colony for convicts from Great Britain. Australia was first colonised by the British in order to relieve the overly full British prisons. However, only relatively small parts of Australia were used as penal settlements. Indigenous Australians inhabited the rest of the continent as well. As well as Sydney (the first settlement in New South Wakes), convict colonies were begun in Victoria, Moreton Bay (Queensland), Hobart and Newcastle. The colony of South Australia was never a penal settlement. Swan River (Perth) began as a free settlement, but convicts were sent there later as free labour.
The original European settlement of Australia was as a penal colony, an outpost and colony of Great Britain. There were some free settlers as well.