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Hall and Cell Corridors, Penitentiary, Port Arthur, Tasmania by Anson Brothers –

Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Port Arthur

Port Arthur is a town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula, in Tasmania, Australia. It is located approximately 97 kilometers (60 mi) southeast of the state capital, Hobart.

The site forms part of the Australian Convict Sites, a World Heritage property consisting of 11 remnant penal sites originally built within the British Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries on fertile Australian coastal strips. Collectively, these sites, including Port Arthur, are described by UNESCO as the best surviving examples of large-scale convict transportation and the colonial expansion of European powers through the presence and labor of convicts.

Here are 10 outstanding facts about Port Arthur.

1. Port Arthur is one of Australia’s most visited historical sites

They receive over 250,000 visitors each year. Since 1987, the site has been managed by the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority, with conservation works funded by the Tasmanian government and the admission fees paid by visitors. Volunteer groups have been working at the building sites of Point Puer to help researchers gain a better understanding of the history of the boys’ prison.

The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO inscribed the Port Arthur Historic Site and the Coal Mines Historic Site onto the World Heritage Register on 31 July 2010, as part of the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage property

2. In 1996, Port Arthur was the scene of the Port Arthur Massacre

Ruins of the Government Cottage at Port Arthur Historic Site by Jane6592 –

The Port Arthur massacre of 28 to 29 April 1996 was a mass shooting in which 35 people were killed and 23 others were wounded in Port Arthur, Tasmania. The murderer, Martin Bryant, pleaded guilty and was given 35 life sentences without the possibility of parole. Fundamental changes in gun control laws within Australia followed the incident. The case is the worst massacre in modern Australia committed by a single person.

3. Port Arthur was named after George Arthur

Sir George Arthur, 1st Baronet was Lieutenant Governor of British Honduras from 1814 to 1822 and of Van Diemen’s Land present-day Tasmania from 1823 to 1836. The campaign against Aboriginal Tasmanians, known as the Black War, occurred during this term of office. He later served as Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1838 to 1841, and Governor of Bombay from 1842 to 1846. The settlement started as a timber station in 1830, but it is best known for being a penal colony.

4. Port Arthur was the destination for those deemed the most hardened of convicted British criminals

Ruins of Port Arthur, Tasmania by Stephen Barnett –

From 1833 until 1853, Port Arthur was the destination for those deemed the most hardened of convicted British criminals, those who were secondary offenders having reoffended after their arrival in Australia. 

Rebellious personalities from other convict stations were also sent there. In addition, Port Arthur had some of the strictest security measures in the British penal system. 

5. The convicts in Port Arthur built their own prison walls

First beginning life as a punishment-orientated timber station in the 1830s the timber grown in the surrounding forests of Port Arthur was not only the largest outsource for the penal colony, assisting it to become profitable and self-sufficient, but also built the foundation buildings on the site. 

It wasn’t until 1848 when more than 2000 detainees, soldiers, officers, and their families called the settlement home that the first stone was laid. Brick by brick the prisoners built the prison, which still makes up the foundations of the central attraction of the historic site that stands today.

6. Port Arthur exercised the Separate Prison System

HMCS Port Arthur during her commissioning by Ken Macpherson –

The Separate Prison System also signaled a shift from physical punishment to psychological punishment. The hard corporal punishment, such as whippings, used in other penal stations was thought to only serve to harden criminals and did nothing to turn them from their immoral ways.

 For example, food was used to reward well-behaved prisoners and as punishment for troublemakers. As a reward, a prisoner could receive larger amounts of food or even luxury items such as tea, sugar, and tobacco. As punishment, the prisoners would receive the bare minimum of bread and water. 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.

7. Port Arthur was also the destination for juvenile convicts

Port Arthur received many boys, some as young as nine. The boys were separated from the main convict population and kept on Point Puer, the British Empire’s second boys’ prison. Like the adults, the boys were used in hard labor such as stone cutting and construction. One of the buildings constructed was one of Australia’s first nondenominational 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 a negligible impact on reformation.

8. The residents of Port Arthur participated in recreational activities such as smoking and hunting

Port Arthur Historic Church In Tasmania by Chandrakant Sahu –

The archaeology found in Port Arthur shows that people living there participated in the mundane, material necessities of life. Not only did the people living there help prepare food, but they also participated in recreational activities such as smoking and hunting.

Archaeological excavation of the Port Arthur workshops complex is overseen by the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority (PAHSMA). These workshops, situated on the original waterfront since 1830, housed the trades-focused activities undertaken at the penal station including shoemakers, blacksmiths, tailors, turners, and wheelwrights. A journal of the ongoing excavation and conservation work at Port Arthur is documented online by Dr. Richard Tuffin.

9. Today, Port Arthur is known as one of the most haunted places in Australia

The often-harsh living conditions, punishing manual labor, and limited medical services meant that many of the colonies that once called Port Arthur home tragically died at the site. 

Today, it’s known as one of the most haunted places in Australia, explore the iconic site on a ghost tour. One of the most frequently spotted ghosts is the ‘Blue Lady’. Believed to be the wife of an accountant, she is often seen wandering the halls wearing a long blue dress looking for her child. These legends of Port Arthur are sure to make your spine tingle.

 10. 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 George Hunt. Hunt disguised himself using a kangaroo hide and tried to flee across the Neck, but the half-starved guards on duty tried to shoot him to supplement their meager rations. When he noticed them sighting him up, Hunt threw off his disguise and surrendered, receiving 150 lashes.

Despite its reputation as a pioneering institution for the new, enlightened view of imprisonment, Port Arthur was still in reality 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 just to escape the desolation of life at the camp.