Captain Patrick Logan (1791 – October 1830) was the commandant of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement from 1826 until his death in 1830 at the hands of Aboriginal Australians who objected to him entering their lands. As he had been hated by convicts, there were rumours that escaped convicts living in the bush had attacked him, but there is no evidence of this. Born in East Renton, Berwickshire, Scotland, he was the youngest son of a Scottish landowner and farmer, Abraham Logan and Janet Johnstown. He was baptised at Coldingham, Berwickshire on 15 November 1791. Logan had a distinguished military career. He was known as a strict commandant of the penal colony to the point of cruelty. Logan made significant explorations of what was to become known as South East Queensland. He was the first white person to visit the area which became Ipswich, Queensland and some consider him to be the founder of Queensland. Military career In 1810 he joined the 57th Foot Regiment and served in the Peninsular War. He took part in the battles of Salamanca with the retreat from Salamanca; Vittoria; Nivelle and Toulouse. Logan's regiment was sent to Canada in 1814 where he stayed for a year before being joining Wellington's Army of Occupation in Paris. He left the army during peacetime and returned to Ireland to take up farming. Deciding that life as a farmer was not for him, he rejoined the 57th Foot Regiment in 1819. In 1823 he married Letitia O'Beirne and they had two children, Robert Abraham Logan (1824 – ?) and Letitia Bingham Logan (1826 – ?). His regiment was ordered to New South Wales, leaving Cork on 5 January 1825. Logan arrived in Sydney, New South Wales, with his regiment on 22 April 1825 aboard the Hooghly. Most of his time in Sydney was spent guarding convicts. In November, Governor Thomas Brisbane appointed Logan as commandant of the convict settlement at Moreton Bay, Queensland. It was March 1826 by the time he reached the settlement, aboard the Amity ship. Penal settlement The settlement was quite primitive and Logan embarked on a building program, and on planting maize. During his time as commandant, the convict population there increased from 77 to over 1,000. He designed and oversaw the construction of a hospital, a jail and a windmill. He also built a surgeon's quarters, barracks and a number of houses in