Introduction
This report describes what prisons were like in the 19th century in Australia: in particular, Port Arthur in Tasmania. Prisons were built based on 19th century theorists Bentham and Beccaria, using concepts of isolation, silence and hard labour as punishment. Punishments such as hangings, floggings, denunciation and transportation were all part of the classical theorist way of thinking in the 19th century, before punishment of the body changed to punishment of the mind. This report will explain the background and theory behind Port Arthur’s prison structures and operations.
Colonisation and Background
During the years of 1770 to 1840, the English transported prisoners to start colonisation from Britain, to America and Australia as an alternative punishment for …show more content…
This relieved prison congestion, and assisted in maintaining law and order in Britain (Strange 1996). Port Arthur was founded in 1828 by British Captain J Welsh and surveyor R. Roberts, who were on the search for an ideal location to establish a secondary penal settlement (Hamilton 2013). The new penal settlement was later established in 1830 in Port Arthur (Hamilton 2013). Port Arthur, located on the Tasman Peninsula, was chosen for the supply of natural resources such as timber, minerals and water, where it started off as a small timber station (D’Gluyas et al. 2015). In 1849, Port Arthur’s separate prison opened; the new prison was multicultural and housed offenders for a wide variety of crimes such as theft, murder and rape (Lennox 1994). However, offenders that were severely violent or mental were sent to Norfolk Island (Lennox 1994). Port Arthur prison also had a separate
This report describes what prisons were like in the 19th century in Australia: in particular, Port Arthur in Tasmania. Prisons were built based on 19th century theorists Bentham and Beccaria, using concepts of isolation, silence and hard labour as punishment. Punishments such as hangings, floggings, denunciation and transportation were all part of the classical theorist way of thinking in the 19th century, before punishment of the body changed to punishment of the mind. This report will explain the background and theory behind Port Arthur’s prison structures and operations.
Colonisation and Background
During the years of 1770 to 1840, the English transported prisoners to start colonisation from Britain, to America and Australia as an alternative punishment for …show more content…
This relieved prison congestion, and assisted in maintaining law and order in Britain (Strange 1996). Port Arthur was founded in 1828 by British Captain J Welsh and surveyor R. Roberts, who were on the search for an ideal location to establish a secondary penal settlement (Hamilton 2013). The new penal settlement was later established in 1830 in Port Arthur (Hamilton 2013). Port Arthur, located on the Tasman Peninsula, was chosen for the supply of natural resources such as timber, minerals and water, where it started off as a small timber station (D’Gluyas et al. 2015). In 1849, Port Arthur’s separate prison opened; the new prison was multicultural and housed offenders for a wide variety of crimes such as theft, murder and rape (Lennox 1994). However, offenders that were severely violent or mental were sent to Norfolk Island (Lennox 1994). Port Arthur prison also had a separate