Winter 2019 - TAS. 2 Port Arthur

TAS. 2   Port Arthur

Scenery Outside Hobart

The landscape in Tasmania seemed ‘wilder’, less cultivated than what we were used to seeing in NZ. That was my first impression after driving for a bit outside of the city of Hobart. 

More Roadside Scenery

We had picked Port Arthur as our first destination for Tasmania.

Port Arthur Prison

From my knowledge of Australia I learned that the first Europeans who came En Masse to this part of the world were British convicts and that Port Arthur was a good example of how the convict's life was in the 18^th and 19^th Centuries. I always thought that the British just let the convicted people, after a 6 month voyage to Australia ‘roam'  around in the new land. Fending for themselves, so to speak, but that was not the case, or let me say it was different. When the prisoners arrived in Australia they were housed in ‘colonies’. 

2 Prison Cells - Very Small

Oh-Oh. What's He Doing In There?

I would call them labor camps, but a nicer name is a colony. These camp locations were a source of 'free' labor, because for the time that the convicts were ‘incarcerated’, their work was not paid. Debtors put in prison had to work off their debt while being incarcerated. Some convicts, having offended the public with a crime, however menial, were sentenced to ‘unpaid labor’. Unpaid labor (=slavery?) in most cases was for a certain time period, but in reality could be a life sentence. 

The Layout of 2 Rows of Prison Cells

The wording, the concept, the penalties were so refined, so a part of the British way of thinking, so much in their daily lives, that it actually became the basis of their economy. Not only that, it became the basis for land management and in many cases the reason for conflict between the Aboriginals and the 'invading' British.  

4 Floors of Cells

The almighty British Empire was a ruthless government. After the founding years of American Independence (1776) some new ways of gaining a better foothold and income worldwide had to come from someplace. India and also Australia played a very large part in the income stream for the British Empire.

Why do I start a visit to Tasmania with how Convicts were treated? Well, it shines a totally different light on Australian,British and American history.    

Top Floor of the Prison Had a Chapel

And as you know already, I like history. It explains 'today' to me. I can see and try to understand how we still act in certain ways, government-wise but also our individual present day way of thinking.

The Aboriginals never really had a chance during their colonization. The British system was way too brutal, way too conniving, way too self-serving to consider the point of view of a hunter, gatherer. We as individuals still think differently from most Aboriginals even today. Yet they lived a fruitful life for thousands of years before we, the European came to destroy it all.

Entrance to the Prison. See (L) Side of Top Prison Picture

But I digress. Let’s go back to Port Arthur; to the remains of the prison buildings.

This penal colony in Port Arthur was one of many the British established but Port Arthur was set up for the hardest of convicted criminals; for second offenders, mainly. The area where the correctional facilities were built started off as a timber camp in 1830 or so. It was the Government’s idea to make this a “Separate Prison Typology”, a model prison according to the ideas of Jeremy Bentham’s ideas of social reform and the then popular belief that a Panopticon building could help.   

The Panopticon - No Windows to the Outside in the Cells

It was a terrible way to treat humans, but those were the most progressive ways in the years around 1850.

The main prison lasted until 1855 when it was shuttered. But nearby were other buildings that housed Juveniles as young as 9 years old. In another section were buildings for “mentally deprived” patients. The total facility closed in 1877.

A Prisoner's Only View

It was a hell-hole in many ways, a hard place to visit.

Total silence was a must. Prisoners wore felt slippers and were hooded so as not to see others. The idea was that any contact with others would give the prisoners less time to 'reflect' on their own behavior. And depriving them of basic things like light and sound would help them turn more inward. Food was given out aplenty if you were a model prisoner, but you only received bread and water if you were in any way ‘mutinous’.

Patients, Known Then as 'Lunatics' Housed in the Wings - Meals in the Centre. Now Used as  a  Cafeteria and Town Hall

 
Even during their working hours no talking was the rule. Their cells were extremely Spartan-looking. Life for the prisoners must have been terrible.

Entrance to the "Punishment" Cells Which Were Kept in Total Darkness

There was no escape; some people called it the Australian Alcatraz, since nobody escaped from it. 

Some folks tried to run away, of course, but it was impossible to leave this facility. Some men even committed other crimes so that they were taken someplace else, were transferred to other facilities. Port Arthur as a prison was the most terrible.

What a Contrast Walking Outside the Prison

When we visited, it was a glorious, sunny day. We walked among the Prison’s personnel housing. Nice, small, neat places with a lovely front and back yard. Both full of flowers and fruit trees. We passed the Stone Church, saw a kind of 'main' street to the small village and it was very quaint. The whole of it was spread out and gave a feeling of spaciousness and order. The town in a way was lovely but the history of the prison showed us it was otherwise.

Remnants of a Stone Church Outside the Prison - Built By Convicts

Port Arthur is not very populous; only about 250 people live there today. Their main income is the UNESCO protected penal colony opened for tourism. It looks today as a very peaceful place, but…. in 1996 the dark side of Port Arthur reared up its head once again.

Stone Church and Gardens

Please read the report below that shows you the insanity that still lives hidden among this small population. You can form your own opinion on the Gun Control issue that is so active today in the U.S.  But I am convinced this would not have been this tragic had it played itself out anyplace in Texas. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Arthur_massacre_(Australia)

Garden Outside the Prison

Port Arthur is a place only tourists will visit. There is no longer a prison facility here. UNESCO gave the old prison building its seal of approval and that makes it a popular place to come to, but… it’s not a 'happy' place, this Port Arthur.

I felt a bit morbid being there.