Port Arthur, settlement in Tasmania, Australia. Port Arthur is a popular tourist resort on the Tasman Peninsula south-east of Hobart, and is based around a huge restored penal settlement that was established in 1830 and in service until 1877. It was named after Sir George Arthur, the lieutenant-governor of the colony, who selected the virtually escape-proof site for the main Tasmanian prison, surrounded by shark-infested seas with well-guarded entrances to the peninsula. The colony housed around 2,000 prisoners at a time, most of whom had re-offended since arriving in Australia, and the regime was extremely hard. Port Arthur was a centre of industry, utilizing convict labour to mine coal, fell timber, build ships, or make shoes and clothes, according to the severity of their crimes. The settlement was lauded as a model prison (with a neighbouring model boys' reformatory), until transportation of convicts to the colony ended in 1853. After its closure Port Arthur was renamed Carnarvon but was mostly destroyed by bushfires and became derelict.
It was restored by the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1979 in what was Australia's largest restoration programme and is part of Australia's National Estate and a popular tourist destination. Notable features include the Penitentiary (Australia's largest building when it was built in 1842, originally as a granary), the guard towers, church (1836), and model prison, all built by the inmates. On April 28, 1996, 35 people were shot dead and 21 more injured in a series of random killings by an Australian named Martin Bryant. The tragedy led to stricter gun controls in Australia.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Port Arthur settlement Information info
|
