Patrick Logan, British soldier, commandant of penal settlement and explorer, was born on 15 November 1791 at Coldingham, Berwickshire, Scotland. He joined the 57th Foot Regiment as an ensign in December 1810, was promoted to lieutenant in March 1813 and captain in 1823 while serving in Ireland. He married Letitia Anne O’Beirne on 5 September 1823 in Sligo, Ireland. In 1825 the 57th Regiment was ordered to Sydney, NSW, arriving on 22 April. Logan took up the role of commandant of the Moreton Bay convict settlement in March 1826 and immediately began an extensive building program and agricultural development.
He was the first to explore many parts of south-east Queensland and it was during his exploration of the headwaters of the Brisbane River, that he was thought to be murdered by Aborigines in October 1830. Captain Patrick Logan is buried in the Surry Hills Cemetery in Sydney, NSW.
The Diary, following Logan’s death, appears to have been written by Patrick Logan’s son Robert, who followed his father into the 57th Regiment.
