Port Arthur — The Haunting Testament to Penal Colonies in Australia

A lesson in Australia’s history would not be complete without the history of Port Arthur. It began in the 1880s as a penal colony. Then lieutenant governor of Van Diemen’s Land, George Arthur, established Port Arthur as a settlement for the most incorrigible, repeated offenders from Great Britain and Ireland.[i] The juvenile offenders, on the other hand, would end up in Point Puer, also within the settlement. The idea was that hard labor, psychological punishment, trading and religious education combined would reform even the worst of all convicts.


Port Arthur situates on the southwestern coast of Van Diemen’s Land. The penal colony inherited natural barriers that prevented the convicts from any kind of escape. The convicts then understood that the waters surrounding the three sides of the penitentiary was infested with sharks.


Visitors to the Port Arthur historic site would not miss the theme of the site’s history. We went through a very thoughtful exhibition of the life of the convicts there. The research was thorough, and focused on the life stories of the convicts. These stories allowed visitors a look into the human face of the otherwise haunting ruins that is Port Arthur today.


#portarthur #australia #australiahistory #penalcolony #history #tasmania


#历史古迹

Post by Helen Yu (Chestnut Journal) | Feb 4, 2025