Day 11 – Tuesday, 7th October 2003
As
you read the following, click on the links to view images. Then click the
“Back” button
to return to the story.
Every person who comes to Tasmania must see
Port
Arthur. [Map] It was
convict settlement where convicts who re-offended or did not follow the
rules in other parts of the colonies, were sent. Here a man could either
accept the system, do as they are told, work hard and eventually be set
free. Or life could be very difficult indeed. Punishments included
floggings, being kept in irons, loss of privileges, longer sentences,
extreme hard labour, kept in solitary in the Separate Prison.
The
Separate
Prison was a facility where the most difficult prisoners were sent and
it was set up to replace floggings. Here a prisoner would never hear their
name uttered. A place of total silence, the guards communicated by hand
signals and every one walked in felt slippers. When a prisoner was taken
out of his
cell
for exercise, for the one hour a day, he had to wear a hood with slits for
the eyes and never see other prisoners. So you virtually didn’t exist,
even
in
the chapel you were segregated from the others, standing in your
own
cubicle. [Photo]
But Port Arthur was mainly a place for prisoners to reform and if you
behaved yourself you were given more privileges and you could learn new
skills. The library in fact held 13000 books. The more trust one built the
higher up one went in this society, and eventually freed.
Religion played a big part in a convict’s rehabilitation so the church
was one of the first buildings erected, it burnt down in 1884. [Photo1,
Photo2,
Photo3,
Photo4,
Info]
The penitentiary originally was a flourmill but they soon discovered that
wheat couldn’t be successfully grown in this climate. The
cells
were very
small.
The Port Arthur site is one of great beauty. The ruins of the
penitentiary,
the
garrison, the
church and other ruins act to highlight the natural beauty of the
surrounding forest, and the harbour.
The
gardens are expertly maintained. [Photo1,
Photo2] It is
difficult to fully describe the scene but you can feel the history flowing
around you. [Photo1,
Photo2]
Port Arthur is also infamous for being the site of Australia’s worst
mass murder when on 28th April 1996 a deranged lone gunman
killed 35 people and wounded dozens of others. 20 were killed in the
Broad
Arrow Café, which now has been stripped of everything except the
walls. The remnants are part of a permanent memorial to all those affected
on that tragic day.
A
Pool of Reflection and extensive landscaping complete the memorial. [Photo1,
Photo2]
The
Commandants
house, started out as a four-room house and ended up with 22 rooms
over the life of the settlement, and has been extensively refurbished. [Photo1,
Photo2]
The Lunatic Asylum has been turned into a museum and café and several of
the original houses used by the free people are open for inspection.
The entry fee included a guided tour of the site with an excellent talk
given and a
ferry trip
around the
Isle Of The
Dead. While on the ferry we had the opportunity to tour the island, at
extra cost, with
a guide
who entertained us with stories about the people buried there. Only free
people or convicts, who had someone pay for one, had headstones and
generally in the middle of the island
on
the higher land. The other convicts were buried in mass graves in the
lower land, so even in death the segregation continued. [Photo1,
Photo2,
Photo3,
Photo4]