The iconic view of the penitentiary originally built as a flour mill, across the water.

Port Arthur is a small town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula, in Tasmania, Australia. Port Arthur is one of Australia's most significant heritage areas and officially Tasmania's top tourist attraction. Known for its harsh conditions, dark history and stark beauty, it is located approximately 60 km south east of the state capital, Hobart. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 553 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 708 pixel, file size: 803 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Low quality photo of main building (was once a mill?) at Port Arthur. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 553 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 708 pixel, file size: 803 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Low quality photo of main building (was once a mill?) at Port Arthur. ... Location Map The Tasman Peninsula is located east of Hobart, at the south east corner of Tasmania, Australia. ... Slogan or Nickname: The Apple Isle; Holiday Isle Motto(s): Ubertas et Fidelitas (Fertility and Faithfulness) Other Australian states and territories Capital Hobart Government Constitutional monarchy Governor William Cox Premier Paul Lennon (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 5  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $16,114... ‹ The template below (Unit of length) is being considered for deletion. ... Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. ...

Location

Location of Port Arthur

Port Arthur is located approximately 60 km south east of the state capital, Hobart, on the Tasman Peninsula. The scenic drive from Hobart, via the Tasman Highway to Sorell and the Arthur Highway to Port Arthur, takes around 90 minutes and covers approximately 100 km. Transport from Hobart to the site is also available via ferry or sea plane. Locator map for Port Arthur, Tasmania - created by Chuq File links The following pages link to this file: Port Arthur, Tasmania Categories: GFDL images ... Locator map for Port Arthur, Tasmania - created by Chuq File links The following pages link to this file: Port Arthur, Tasmania Categories: GFDL images ... ‹ The template below (Unit of length) is being considered for deletion. ... Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. ... Location Map The Tasman Peninsula is located east of Hobart, at the south east corner of Tasmania, Australia. ... Tasman Highway, at Cambridge(Mt. ... Categories: Tasmanian towns | Stub ... The Arthur Highway (A9) is a Tasmanian highway which runs from Sorell in the near south to Port Arthur in the far south-east. ... The ferryboat Dongan Hills, filled with commuters, about to dock at a New York City pier, circa 1945. ... A DeHavilland Single Otter floatplane in Harbour Air livery H-4 Hercules flying boat A seaplane is an aircraft designed to take off and land (correctly, though less commonly, alight) upon water. ...

The population of Port Arthur is around 200, with the entire Tasman Peninsula area home to about 1600 people.

History

Australia's largest penal colony

Port Arthur Prison Colony site

Port Arthur was named after Van Diemen's Land lieutenant governor George Arthur. The settlement started as a timber station in 1830; it is best known for being a penal colony. From 1833, until 1850s, it was a destination for the hardest of convicted British and Irish criminals, those who were secondary offenders having re-offended after their arrival in Australia. Rebellious personalities from other convict stations were also sent here, a quite undesirable punishment. It contains one of the best examples of a working panopticon based on that at Pentonville prison in London, The Separate Prison (or sometines known as The Model Prison) was completed in 1853 and extended in 1855. The 80 cell prison was built in the shape of a cross with radial exercise yards around a central hall and chapel.^[1] It signalled a shift from physical punishment to psychological punishment. It was thought that the hard corporal punishment, such as whippings, used in other penal stations only served to harden criminals, and did nothing to turn them from their immoral ways. Under this system of punishment the "Silent System" was implemented in the building. Here prisoners were hooded and made to stay silent, this was supposed to allow time for the prisoner to reflect upon the actions which had brought him there. In many ways Port Arthur was the pin-up for many of the penal reform movement, despite shipping, housing and slave-labour use of convicts being as harsh, or worse, than others stations around the nation. Port Arthur Prison view from the main land File links The following pages link to this file: Australia Port Arthur Massacre Port Arthur, Tasmania Categories: Images with unknown source ... Port Arthur Prison view from the main land File links The following pages link to this file: Australia Port Arthur Massacre Port Arthur, Tasmania Categories: Images with unknown source ... 1663 map of Van Diemens Land, showing the parts discovered by Tasman, including Storm Bay, Maria Island and Schouten Island. ... Major General Sir George Arthur, 1st Baronet, (21 June 1784 – 19 September 1854) was Lieutenant Governor of British Honduras (1814–1822), Van Diemens Land (now Tasmania Australia) (1823–1837) and later Upper Canada (1838–1841). ... Timber in storage for later processing at a sawmill Timber is a term used to describe wood, either standing or that has been processed for use—from the time trees are felled, to its end product as a material suitable for industrial use—as structural material for construction or wood... Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution 1830 (MDCCCXXX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... A penis colony is a colony used to detain prisoners and generally use them for penal labor in an economically underdeveloped part of the states (usually colonial) territories, and on a far larger scale than a prison farm. ... Year 1833 (MDCCCXXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... // Production of steel revolutionized by invention of the Bessemer process Benjamin Silliman fractionates petroleum by distillation for the first time First transatlantic telegraph cable laid First safety elevator installed by Elisha Otis Railroads begin to supplant canals in the United States as a primary means of transporting goods. ... for other uses please see Crime (disambiguation) A crime is an act that violates a political or moral law. ... Panopticon blueprint by Jeremy Bentham, 1791 The Panopticon is a type of prison building designed by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the late eighteenth century. ... HMP Pentonville Pentonville Prison in 1842 HM Prison Pentonville is a prison built in 1842 in North London. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Corporal punishment is forced pain intended to change a persons behaviour or to punish them. ... Life in prison Prison reform is the steady improvement of conditions inside prisons, aiming at a more effective penal system. ...

Inside the separate prison, Port Arthur, Tasmania

In addition Port Arthur had some of the newest and strictest security measures of the Australian penal system. Port Arthur was secured naturally by shark-infested waters on three sides and the 30m wide isthmus of Eaglehawk Neck that connected it to the mainland was crossed by fences and guarded by prison guards and dogs. Contact between visiting seamen and prisoners was barred. Ships had to check in their sails and oars upon landing to prevent any unnotified leavings. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 158 KB) Port Arthur, Modell Prison DE:Beschreibung Ort:Port Arthur, Tasmanien, Australien Fotograf: Jörn Brauns Datum: 02. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 158 KB) Port Arthur, Modell Prison DE:Beschreibung Ort:Port Arthur, Tasmanien, Australien Fotograf: Jörn Brauns Datum: 02. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... For other uses, see Shark (disambiguation). ... The Isthmus of Panama connects North and South America. ... Eaglehawk Neck from Martin Cashs Lookout Tesselated Pavement Pirates Bay & Doo Town Eaglehawk Neck is a narrow isthmus connecting the Tasman Peninsula from mainland Tasmania. ... Siberian Husky. ... Three types of mariners are seen here in the wheelhouse: a master, an able seaman, and a harbour pilot. ...

A postcard depicting a convict team ploughing a farm at Port Arthur. Dated 1926.

Port Arthur was sold as an inescapable prison, much like the later Alcatraz Island in the United States. Some prisoners were not discouraged by this, and tried to escape. Martin Cash successfully escaped along with two others. One of the most infamous incidents, simply for its bizarreness, was the escape attempt of one William "Billy" Hunt. Hunt disguised himself using a kangaroo hide and tried to flee across the Neck. For the half-starved guards on duty, the disguise was so convincing that they tried to shoot him to supplement their meagre rations. When he noticed them sighting him up, Hunt threw off his disguise and surrendered. Image File history File links A11602. ... Image File history File links A11602. ... Alcatraz Island (sometimes informally referred to as simply Alcatraz or by its pop-culture name, The Rock) is a small island located in the middle of San Francisco Bay in California, United States. ... Martin Cash Martin Cash (c. ... This article is about the animal. ... Balian of Ibelin surrendering the city of Jerusalem to Saladin, from Les Passages faits Outremer par les Français contre les Turcs et autres Sarrasins et Maures outremarins, ca. ...

Port Arthur was also the destination for juvenile convicts, receiving many boys, some as young as nine arrested for stealing toys. The boys were separated from the main convict population and kept on Point Puer, the British Empire's first boys' prison. Like the adults, the boys were used in hard labour such as stone cutting and construction. One of the buildings constructed was one of Australia's first non-denominational churches, built in a gothic style. Attendance of the weekly Sunday service was compulsory for the prison population, critics of the new system noted that this and other measures seemed to have negligible impact on reformation. The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... For the architectural structure, see Church (building). ... Interior of Cologne Cathedral Gothic architecture is a style of architecture, particularly associated with cathedrals and other churches, which flourished in Europe during the high and late medieval period. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ...

Despite its badge as a pioneer in the new nicer age of imprisonment, Port Arthur was still as harsh and brutal as other penal settlements. Some critics might even suggest that its use of psychological punishment, compounded with no hope of escape, made it one of the worst. Some tales suggest that prisoners committed murder (an offence punishable by death) just to escape the desolation of life at the camp. The Island of the Dead was the destination for all who died inside the prison camps. Of the 1646 graves recorded to exist there, only 180, those of prison staff and military personnel, are marked. The prison closed in 1877. 1877 (MDCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Today Port Arthur is home to many reputed cases of haunting and ghosts - particularly of convict origin. These include cases of cells with ghostly screams and empty rocking chairs that move. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the paranormal. ... Scream can refer to several topics: Look up scream in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Lady on a rocking chair by Victor Borisov-Musatov, 1897 A rocking chair or rocker is a chair with two curved bands of wood (also know as rockers) attached to the bottom of the legs (one on the left two legs and one on the right two legs). ...

From hellhole to haven: tourism development

Convict-built church at Port Arthur

After the closure of the penal colony the site was renamed to "Carnavon". During the 1880s the land in and around the site was sold off to the public and a community was established. Devastating fires tore through the area in 1895 and 1897 gutting the old prison buildings, leading to the establishment of the new town, with post office and other facilities. Church built by convicts at Port Arthur. ... Church built by convicts at Port Arthur. ... // Development and commercial production of electric lighting Development and commercial production of gasoline-powered automobile by Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach First commercial production and sales of phonographs and phonograph recordings. ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Small-town post office and town hall in Lockhart, Alabama A post office is a facility (in most countries, a government one) where the public can purchase postage stamps for mailing correspondence or merchandise, and also drop off or pick up packages or other special-delivery items. ...

Tourism started up almost as soon as the last convicts had left, supplying the new residents with a source of income, part of its undoubtedly due to its unsavoury past, and the ghost stories that accompany it. In 1927 tourism had grown to the point where the area's name was reverted back to Port Arthur. 1916 saw the establishment of the Scenery Preservation Board (SPB) which took the management of Port Arthur out of the hands of the locals. By the 1970s the National Parks and Wildlife Service began managing the site. “Tourist” redirects here. ... Income, generally defined, is the money that is received as a result of the normal business activities of an individual or a business. ... Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ...

Port Arthur as a busy port in the 1870s

Port Arthur, Tasmania

In 1979 funding was received to preserve the site as a tourist destination, due to its historical significance. The "working" elements of the Port Arthur community such as the post office and municipal offices were moved to nearby Nubeena. Several magnificent sandstone structures, built by convicts working under hard labour conditions, were cleaned of ivy overgrowth and restored to a condition similar to their appearance in the 19th century. Buildings include the "Model Prison", the Round Tower, the church, and the remnants of the main penitentiary. The buildings are surrounded by lush green parkland. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 124 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 124 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1022x532, 172 KB) [edit] Summary Main buildings of Port Arthur, from the bay Copied from de:Bild:Port Arthur Seeseite. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1022x532, 172 KB) [edit] Summary Main buildings of Port Arthur, from the bay Copied from de:Bild:Port Arthur Seeseite. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... “Tourist” redirects here. ... Red sandstone interior of Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona, worn smooth due to erosion by flash flooding over millions of years Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-size mineral or rock grains. ... Species Hedera algeriensis – Algerian Ivy Hedera azorica – Azores Ivy Hedera canariensis – Canaries Ivy Hedera caucasigena Hedera colchica – Caucasian Ivy Hedera cypria Hedera helix – Common Ivy Hedera hibernica – Irish Ivy Hedera maderensis – Madeiran Ivy Hedera maroccana Hedera nepalensis – Himalayan Ivy Hedera pastuchowii – Pastuchovs Ivy Hedera rhombea – Japanese Ivy Hedera sinensis... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... parkland may refer to: Park Parkland, Florida Parkland, Wisconsin Parkland, Washington This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

The mass graves on The Island of the Dead also attract visitors. The air about the small bush-covered island being described as possessing "melancholic" and "tranquil" qualities by visitors.

Tourists can either survey the site for themselves, or participate in guided tours, including late night "ghost tours". There is also a museum, containing written records, tools, clothing and other curiosities from convict times.

Since 1987 the site has been managed by the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority, funded by the Tasmanian Government. Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... The form of the Government of Tasmania is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then. ...

1996 Port Arthur Massacre

Main article: Port Arthur massacre (Australia)

On April 28, 1996, Martin Bryant went on a killing spree at Port Arthur, murdering 35 people and wounding 37 more before being captured by Special Operatives Police. This led to a national ban on semi-automatic shotguns and rifles. It also forged a relationship between the town and Dunblane, a Scottish town which suffered a similar incident earlier that year. The current version of this article or section is written in an informal style and with a personally invested tone. ... is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Martin John Bryant (born 7 May 1967) murdered 35 people and injured 37 others in the Port Arthur massacre, a killing spree in Tasmania in 1996. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Gun politics. ... A semi-automatic firearm automatically loads a round into the chamber after the weapon is fired, but still requires a trigger pull for each round that is fired. ... Dunblane (Gaelic: Dùn Bhlàthain) is a small town north of Stirling in the Stirling council area in Scotland. ... This article is about the country. ... The Dunblane massacre was a multiple murder-suicide which occurred at Dunblane Primary School in the Scottish town of Dunblane on 13 March 1996. ...

References

Image File history File links Question_book. ...

Further reading

• Barrington R (n.d.) Convicts and Bushrangers, View Productions, Sydney
• Smith R (1987) The Birth of a Nation: Australia's Historic Heritage — from Discovery to Nationhood, Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, ISBN 0-670-90018-4
• Official Port Arthur website
• The Interactive Tour of Tasmania website
• "The English Passengers" by Matthew Kneale"

See also

• For the Term of his Natural Life by Marcus Clarke, a novel about a Port Arthur convict.
• Convicts on the West Coast of Tasmania
• Convictism in Australia

Coordinates: 43°09′S, 147°51′E Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... For the Term of his Natural Life, a novel by Marcus Clarke, is the best known novelisation of life as a convict in early Australian history. ... The West Coast of Tasmania has a significant convict heritage. ... A studio photograph of Tasmanian convict Bill Thompson, showing the convict uniform and the use of leg irons. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...