Port Arthur Tasmania. Ruins of the Anglican church used for the penal settlement until it was destroyed by fire.
Port Arthur 1830-1877.
What became the largest convict prison in VDL was started at Port Arthur in 1830 and named after the strict disciplinarian governor of the day, Sir George Arthur. 75,000 convicts served time in VDL before 1853 compromising roughly half of all convicts transported to Australia. Most came direct from England, but a few thousand came from other colonies or Ireland. At its peak in 1847, there were over 30,000 convicts in VDL. The majority were assigned to work for private colonists, some worked on government projects such as roads and bridges and public buildings. The worst criminals and those least likely to reform themselves were sent to convict prisons such as Port Arthur. Most of those assigned to farm work were from the petty criminal class of the industrial cities of Britain but they were not necessarily less skilled than free workers of those days. Port Arthur never had more than 1,200 prisoners there at any one time during its 47 year history. But it had a well deserved reputation for brutality and harshness. It was not an idle penal base; its inmates, if not in solitary confinement, worked felling timber, in foundries, the prison gardens, erecting buildings, and in the nearby coal mines- usually in chain gangs. Port Arthur was an industrial complex. Six forges operated here, bricks, barrels, coach wheels, and shoes were among the major products produced. The dock at Port Arthur was always busy with shipping arrivals and departures. It was not until the last years of the prison that the complex based on Pentonville in London was constructed (1848-52) where the cells were six feet by nine feet, dark and damp. The most infamous commandant, known for his brutality was Captain Charles O’Hara Booth who headed the prison from 1833 to 1844.
The main structures at Port Arthur include many that have not been demolished over the years: the Commandant’s House 1833; the round guard Tower 1835; the church 1836 (partially destroyed by fire in 1884); the Shipwright’s House 1834; the Clerk of Work’s House 1841; the Hospital 1842; the Commandant’s Office 1848; the Magistrates House 1847; the Medical Officer’s House 1847; the large four storey mill and granary was converted into the Penitentiary for those who were left at Port Arthur after 1853; the Model Prison 1852. In its heyday Port Arthur was much bigger than what you see today. After the end of transportation those prisoners convicted for life stayed on until the prison closed in 1877. Some were then transferred to Hobart or other prisons.
The Island of the Dead that we will cruise past is believed to contain about 1,100 graves. Only about 90 still have headstones. The civil workers were separated even in death from the convicts who were buried on the Island of the Dead. Marcus Clarke briefly visited Port Arthur in 1870 as it was winding down to get material for his fictional account of the life of a convict called For the Term of His Natural Life, which was first serialised in newspapers between 1870-72.
Port Arthur Tasmania. Ruins of the Anglican church used for the penal settlement until it was destroyed by fire.
Port Arthur 1830-1877.
What became the largest convict prison in VDL was started at Port Arthur in 1830 and named after the strict disciplinarian governor of the day, Sir George Arthur. 75,000 convicts served time in VDL before 1853 compromising roughly half of all convicts transported to Australia. Most came direct from England, but a few thousand came from other colonies or Ireland. At its peak in 1847, there were over 30,000 convicts in VDL. The majority were assigned to work for private colonists, some worked on government projects such as roads and bridges and public buildings. The worst criminals and those least likely to reform themselves were sent to convict prisons such as Port Arthur. Most of those assigned to farm work were from the petty criminal class of the industrial cities of Britain but they were not necessarily less skilled than free workers of those days. Port Arthur never had more than 1,200 prisoners there at any one time during its 47 year history. But it had a well deserved reputation for brutality and harshness. It was not an idle penal base; its inmates, if not in solitary confinement, worked felling timber, in foundries, the prison gardens, erecting buildings, and in the nearby coal mines- usually in chain gangs. Port Arthur was an industrial complex. Six forges operated here, bricks, barrels, coach wheels, and shoes were among the major products produced. The dock at Port Arthur was always busy with shipping arrivals and departures. It was not until the last years of the prison that the complex based on Pentonville in London was constructed (1848-52) where the cells were six feet by nine feet, dark and damp. The most infamous commandant, known for his brutality was Captain Charles O’Hara Booth who headed the prison from 1833 to 1844.
The main structures at Port Arthur include many that have not been demolished over the years: the Commandant’s House 1833; the round guard Tower 1835; the church 1836 (partially destroyed by fire in 1884); the Shipwright’s House 1834; the Clerk of Work’s House 1841; the Hospital 1842; the Commandant’s Office 1848; the Magistrates House 1847; the Medical Officer’s House 1847; the large four storey mill and granary was converted into the Penitentiary for those who were left at Port Arthur after 1853; the Model Prison 1852. In its heyday Port Arthur was much bigger than what you see today. After the end of transportation those prisoners convicted for life stayed on until the prison closed in 1877. Some were then transferred to Hobart or other prisons.
The Island of the Dead that we will cruise past is believed to contain about 1,100 graves. Only about 90 still have headstones. The civil workers were separated even in death from the convicts who were buried on the Island of the Dead. Marcus Clarke briefly visited Port Arthur in 1870 as it was winding down to get material for his fictional account of the life of a convict called For the Term of His Natural Life, which was first serialised in newspapers between 1870-72.