Exploring Australia's Infamous Port Arthur Prison | Vlog |
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- Опубліковано 17 чер 2024
- Join us as we delve into Australia's history and explore the infamous Port Arthur Prison. Once home to some of the country's most notorious criminals, this UNESCO World Heritage site offers a haunting yet fascinating glimpse into the past. From eerie tales to stunning architecture, come along on our journey through time.
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Visiting Port Arthur is not just educational, it truly is an experience.
So glad you went, and got to see Port Arthur.
My GGG Grandfather was supposed to be sent there, for arson and insurance fraud, but because he was a brickie, he was sent as 1 of the first settlers to The Swan River settlement in Perth, his name is on both The Round House jail Fremantle, and Barrack Street Arch, amongst other buildings. Which is how my father's family got here - soooooooo very grateful for that 😊
My GG Grandfather was sentenced to transportation in York ... and like most of us we are glad he was as we get to be Australians.
Glad you saw Port Arthur. It's a very sobering experience to be among the convict-era ruins. I went there in the 2000s, not knowing that I had family history there. My 3 x great-grandfather was transported there from England in 1837. Within a year, he made it to Sydney and married a fellow convict who'd been there since 1833. They had 4 kids. Did their bit to populate the fledgling colony!
Did you see the memorial to the people killed at Port Arthur in 1996? There were 35 killed and 23 injured. I remember that shocking day. Helicopters flying overhead back-and-forth from PA to the hospital. Total shock. Changed the gun laws in Australia.
I now find it very hard to visit. The origins were awful, but the recent tragic events... can't get past.
An absolutely stunningly beautiful area where the souls of all those, past and more recent, still are in the air.
PS it happened just 2 weeks after the Dunblane massacre in Scotland 😢😢
They couldn't have missed it. And I for one appreciate the fact they didn't mention it, because that arsehole would have wanted it.
I didn't. After such a long time learning about Australia, I knew about port Arthur massacre but not actually explored it. I will have to do that
Im so glad you went to port Arthur! Thats where my family came from on my father's side. The irish were treated the same as aboriginals then. But My family survived with early behaviour bonds after 10-15 yrs and settled in NSW! Except 1 who hung after 18yrs imprisonment.
Transportation of prisoners to Australia was slavery by another name. The British didn't quit slavery until transportation ended.
Another great video, very interesting guys. Well done thank you.
Thank you
Ther is a small island off shore called the Isle of the Dead where they buried convicts. I was told on the tour that it is hard to stand anywhere there without standing on a grave. Buried at the ends of the Earth.
Yea there was a ferry but water looked a bit choppy
"FOR THE TERM OF HIS NATURAL LIFE" was a book (publication 1870-72) on a convict sentenced to Van Diemons Life. It describes the convict system.
Author Marcus Clarke.
MY Great,Great, Grandfather was transported to Port Arthur, Van Diemon's Land (Tasmania) in 1820 from Simonstown Royal (RN) navalport, Capetown, Cape Colony (south Africa).
The crime was theft of a watch while drunk.
The crime happened at Makhanda (Grahamstown) Eastern Cape.
And two movies! 👍
i have read it, a mighty tough read....
I was able to tour it in 1999. It looks like it is now a better tourist experiance, understandably.
I've read that it wasn't the worst penal colony, being surpassed by a couple, including Port Macquarie, on the western side of Tasmania.
But it's the most visited and well known one.
The second prison was built later....it was the first modern prison built in Australia where the institution attempted to rehabilitate them. Sarah Island in Macquarie Harbour on the west coast pre-dates Port Arthur.
Its a ‘must visit’ for all tourists! Im from Dublin but choose to emigrate to Tasmania in 1999 ( i wasn’t transported 😁) Port Arthur is one of the ‘ must sees’ when family and friends visit. Each visit is never the same experience. Always stay in the motel on site, ghost tour is fun … or not😂 too. Oh and isle of the dead and the tour is good too, i also recommend the boat plane scenic trip of the wild coastline! You will see last coastline and lighthouse before you reach Antartica! Amazing views!
Port Arthur was intact until the late 1800's when it was damaged by a bush fire leading to its current condition. Some of those transported were slow learners as all but the most serious could pay their way back to the UK on completion of their sentence yet some committed further crimes after getting back to the UK and were transported again.
Port Arthur was for the better behaved prisoners the trouble makers were sent to Macquarie Harbour on the west coast of Tasmania and later Maria Island.
The Macquarie Harbour penal colony was really tough, in 1823 alone there were 9100 lashes handed out to the prisoners.
yes i have been there incredible place to visit
Fantastic vid guys. I have not been to Port Arthur, and this made me feel like I had. Really informative 🙂. The quality of your videos and the editing etc just continues to impress.
That bit with Rob in the dark punishment room was kind of eerie but yeah I bet it did seem like more than 2 mins.
Sounds like a really immersive experience, where many of the prisoners stories are told, they're not just numbers.
Great To See Prison With Your Explanation Man Superb !
It's changed a bit since I visited Port Arthur in 1990 when I was 12. I do have a couple of convicts in my family tree. I only know the story of one because my Four Times Great Grandmother was Charlotte Thorpe. She was John Oxley's girlfriend and mother of two of his daughters, including my Three Times Great Grandmother Francis Oxley Waugh. John Oxley was a British Explorer originally from Yorkshire. Who discovered Brisbane and was one of the first white people to set foot in the Blue Mountains. Back to Grandma Charlotte's story. She was a housemaid who stole half a dozen items of clothing from her employers and was transported. Grandpa John sailed out under Captain Lachlan Macquarie, who went on to be Governor of New South Wales. Grandpa John was put in charge of Grandma Charlotte, but by the time they arrived in Australia, she was pregnant with my distant Great Aunty. I'm starting another comment.
great video! was very interesting! I'm 6th generation Aussie but haven't been to port Arthur ✨
The Port Arthur ghost tour was great. It was about ten years ago when I went, but our tour guide at the time was amazing. He was an older man, wearing a cloak and carrying a lantern, creeping around in the dark, and he went out of his way to scare the shit out of us 😆 We loved it!
Hey Rob and Charlie, that was a really great episode of As We Are. Thank you for putting this vlog together about our (my) history. So informative and illustrative. I'm wondering though, was there a reason besides the weather that you didn't include the awful, dreadful happenings that co-incidentally took place at Australia's worst prison? Port Arthur was the place where the worst convicts were sent, and yet Australia's worst mass murderer killed indiscriminatingly at that very place. It was such a huge event in Australia's history that it did help Australia change its gun laws. I hate to think of how poorly the original prisoners were treated there, but I find it easier to imagine the poor people's horror and sheer terror being shot, hunted and killed during Bryant's short rampage. Possibly due to the nearness of the history I suppose. Thankfully Port Arthur was not built when my ancestor first arrived in Australia. He was an English highwayman and sent to Australia on the very first convict ships (the 'Charlotte') - there were no buildings back then, only trees and funnel web spiders in Sydney at the time. He eventually was pardoned and allowed to marry which started the road of history to where I am today. Fascinating stuff to think about when you (I) have time. It's been a pleasure to meet you and Charlie and to take you guys around my wonderful country. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have. Thanks again for this. GB.
Hiya Garth, To be honest while we were there is wasnt in our minds and also, there was nothing there that we saw to remind us of the massacre. But even then, I dont think it would have suited the video which was soley on the prison. I cant believe I have been looking at Aus for nearly 3 years and not done a video on the port arthur massacre. Maybe that should change.
@@CharlieandRob Yes Rob, you're probably right, it wouldn't have suited the video in the context of what you were trying to do. I, as an archaeologist, fully understand what they are trying to do at Port Arthur with the remnants at the site - where they are trying to communicate to the public the horrific and dreadful nature of the time and tides that convicts faced under British rule. Many will argue that the British were barbaric of course, but the reality was, at that time, many other nationalities were far more brutal in their treatment of prisoners and convicts: for example the Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch were far more brutal in their treatment of criminals. If you wish to research evidence of this and do a short blog regarding this fact, you need look no further than the story of the dutches Batavia and its voyage to Australia. There is a wonderful book written by a lady who has detailed the complete history of the Batavia's journey and following demise here in Australia. It is a not so wonderful part of our history but details the dutches treatment of criminals accordingly. I guess to that the historical minders for Port Arthur did not wish to give the massacre and the perpetrator a platform or any recognition and elevated notoriety within society - which is why I don't mention his name here. Which is probably a good thing overall for the victims and their families who still live today. Perhaps you could do some archival research on the massacre and added it as a postscript to this series that you were doing for your trip to Australia. It is good that it had an amazing effect on Australia's population, as with 24 million people it's much easier to enforce a gun restriction and pass gun laws to that effect than it would be on, say a population of 330 million people, as found in the US. Thankfully we now have a very safe society accordingly, which you have been able to enjoy. I'm so glad that you covered this part of Tasmanian history so well.
When you read out your card, it reminded me of an assignment I had to do in the 4th grade. I stole a loaf of bread & was sentenced to LIFE imprisonment in Australia...I was rather hard on myself....😅 Not a great life...the English judiciary system was really hard on criminals, but as you said, it was to build a new colony & some did really well for themselves. Great video ☺
Some of the things people were sent down under for is just mad
@@CharlieandRob There were only two penalties in UK law on the 1700s and early 1800s: Hanging or transportation. Theft of anything valued at 40 shillings or more was punishable by hanging. Obviously even the British could not hang so many people - just didn't have time I suppose - so the police and magistrates often reduced the charge. It is surprising how many people were transported for stealing goods worth 39 shillings. Some of the people who were transported for seemingly trivial offences were serial offenders and more hardened criminals than the offence for which they were transported might suggest.
Keep up the good work cairns north Queensland
The ghosts of Coal River (Newcastle) may argue the title of worst penal outpost.
Particularly the limeburners ☠️
Brilliantly put together vid R and C, the narration , the scary chilling music 👌. I was waiting for dark room bit, how absolutely horrendous 😳😢, as were the masks and silence those adult guys had to wear, let alone the little kids having to suffer that😢. It was all about de humanising, breaking a human beings soul for control sake. I reckon the cold, windy and rainy day gave it that extra forbidding feel.
Yea it was strangely enjoyable to film. I hope my video shows it justice
@@CharlieandRob yep it did 👍😊
Great video
The first regulation of the colony of NSW written by Governor Arthur Phillip was: "There can be no slavery in a free land and consequently no slaves". This is pretty remarkable considering that he was governing a prison colony and could have set himself up as a tyrant. Obviously he always envisaged that the colony would be something more. In the early days of NSW the prisoners' fate was very different from slavery. They were not the property of the state and once their sentence was complete, they were given grants of land which they could farm or sell to start their own business. Many on the first fleet had already served a large part of their sentences in Britain, and with the time taken for the journey were free soon after arriving in Sydney. Some became very wealthy. Slaves were the property of their masters for the whole of their lives, but a convict who was mistreated by the master he was assigned to could ask to be reassigned if he was ill treated. Children born to convicts were born as free citizens, unlike the children of slaves. Convicts could have their wives and children brought out from Britain at the government's expense, as the early governors like Phillip wanted to encourage family life in the colony. Women who came as free settlers to join a convict husband could start a business and have her husband assigned to work for her. Convicts could not be flogged without the order of a magistrate, not on the whim of a master. For the first couple of decades there was no prison in Sydney. The sea and the mountains and the isolation of the colony acted as a natural deterrent to escape. Of course, people who played up would be sentenced to the chain gang or sent to Norfolk Island, but the draconion prison system in place at Port Arthur came into being because a bunch of reformers in Britain, egged on by the corrupt John Macarthur, decided that convicts had it too good. They believed being separated from their families for life was not sufficient punishment, and that the prisoners should be "rehabilitated" using the methods you describe. Ironically, the people who campaigned for this "prison reform" were the same who had campaigned to abolish slavery. With time on their hands after Britain abolished slavery, the reformers turned their attention to transportation and prisons like Port Arthur were the result.
Just on a side note. I knew the surname Kerslake rang a bell, my ex husband’s family (Landers) had Kerslake and from memory a Gehrig marriage. A Gehrig or a Kerslake married a Landers. The Gehrig family have a winery in Rutherglen, I gave the Landers family history to my children. Tasmania rings a bell too in Landers history. Sorry lol, Your fault Rob for picking the Kerslake name out of the draw😂. Now I have to find out more about Lindsay Kerslake lol
My GG grandfather was there just because he was an English soldier who missed returning to barracks by curfew. It was really hard penalties back then. London was overcrowded due to the industrial revolution so mostly poor Londoners were convicted.
G'day robbo when you were in the dark cell I seen a ghost behind you LOL
Haha
really good
It's funny seeing you visiting places I myself saw just a 1 month ago. Keep up the good work!
I had a very spooky experience there.
Please tell of it.
I went to Port Arthur in 1977
hi rob last time i went to tassie this wasnt here last time i wAS THERE WAS THE 70S WELLTHERVE MADE A LOT OF CHANGERS SINCE THEN IM BLOW AWAY HOW THIGS HAVE PROGRESSED ALL WE HAD YOUS THE PRISON AND WALKING A ROUND THE JAIL AND TRYING THE SOLETARY CONFINEMENT ONLY BUT IT WAS AN EYE OPENING TO HOW THAY LIVED DAVID
Wow, it has certainly changed since I was there 51 years ago on my honeymoon. There are a lot more people there for a look now than there were back then, there were only 4 or five people having a look around the day we were there.
I’ve been to port Arthur and the ghost tour at night
Charlie and Rob Did you also get a chance to Explore the MONA? Or was it closed on your visit here? The MONA has Interactive talking headphone pods called the big O as you walk around that you can use. I thought 💭 maybe PortArthur
also had interactive headsets too. Beautiful scenery and Enjoyed watching this video thank you both. ❤
This one was fantastic... absolutely brilliant 👍
at 11:27 there is a whisper/voice as Rob is talking, no idea what was said though
Haha I think it's Charlie microphone still connected
Amazing tour
Thank you 😊
HI ROB IMAGINE ALL THE SPIRITS THAT ARE STILL THER CANT FIND THER WAY TO HEAVEN DAVID
Erm... I wont respond with what I want to say ;)
Those Pomes they sent here were really bad . I'm just shocked they didn't lock you two up
Haha nah I'm the most innocent person you could meet
@@CharlieandRob Not so sure about that. Some would say that anyone who prefers cider over a good Aussie beer is a criminal!🤣🤣🤣
Unfortunately, he couldn't marry her. He had to rely on his former captain for a living, and who would have hit the ceiling if Grandpa John had tried it. But by all accounts, Grandpa John was a loving father to all of his children. For the cricket fans, yes, Grandma Francis is one of The Waugh Brothers' ancestors as well. Amongst his party that tried to cross the Blue Mountains was my Four Times Great Grandparents Isabella and William Johnston. They were amongst the first paying passengers to Australia, originally from Scotland. Of course, the only ships available were Convict ones. So they saw how they were being treated. They wound up with a good reputation with escaped convicts as people who would help them. Their grandson married John Oxley's granddaughter.
Grandpa John seems to have been a good person, and he was quite handsome, I can understand why the ladies loved him.
gday great video just wondering did u here of this guy Martin Bryant when u where there
I don't think so
google his name please @@CharlieandRob
My great-great grandfather was transported in 1845 for handling stolen goods.Not to Australia but to Bermuda where the accommodation was the hulks of old ships. He succumbed to typhoid within a few months. He had been a respected shopkeeper and deeply religious but the deaths of three of his children from disease seemed to shake his faith, The diary of his religious thoughts and life ended with soon after one of those deaths. He was caught buying coppers (used to heat water for baths and washing) from the thieves and got 14 years. My great grandfather was his last born and was six when his father dies. He lived with his oldest brother , who had become a successful businessman in a different town where the name was not tainted. It was my grandfather who moved to Australia (via NZ) as a married family man around 1912.
got some good ghost story what happened to me officer's quarters when i was at Port Arthur
Thanks for the tour. I grew up in Port Arthur. Are you guys still in Tasmania and if so do you plan to do a meet and greet.? Cheers Rob
They were here 3 weeks ago and did a meet and greet that Rob reminded us about it a few times. It was great meeting them 👍🤗
Yea as Leanda said below 👇
I will be there in 2 weeks , thanks for the Vlog good work
I recommend you do a guided tour. The info they give you is way more than you can learn on your own.
Oh enjoy
Funny thing is, I heard the guides and there was information I knew that they didn't talk about
alright so no guide and just inform yourself what a new concept :P
@@CharlieandRob
They still have the cards. It’s a good interactive idea. I still have mine from 2007 somewhere. Been there twice. Once before and once after.
Playing catch up on your vlogs. Was there late September, the bit that got me which I hadn't even thought was a thing, some "convicts" were only kids as young as 8. Made me so angry..
That's what i was going to say at the end, would my family exist today if that didn't happen then, most of the people here may never have existed 😊🙂💞✌️⭐️.
@ approx 6.47 u notice the image (a kitchen?) becomes a little blurred - a tad unusual for u guys -I’d been admiring how well u were filming when … believe it or not - this is a tell tale sign of ghosties.
Seen and matched this up on well known programmes with successful teams a number of times before. Anyways - just FY I only.
It was simply because it was looking through glass
Yees 😅😃🎉..
Really great vlog. I’ve been a bit fearful of going there. Very interesting, thank you.
It's a very good experience
Term of his natural life is an iconic tv series….do yourself a favour and track it down you will luv it…
Did you get out to see Maria Island??
We didnt
Woow this has changed a lot since i visited there in 89,, man that makes me feel old 😂😂😂lol
You should look up the Port Arthur massacre to see more about the modern day history of that place.
HI ROB SORRY BUT I KEEP THINKING ABOUT HOW THEY PUT UP WITH LIVING HERE AFTER BEING IN ENGLAND ALL THEWR LIVE IT MUST HAQVE BENN FRIGHTING FOR THEM DAVID
England back then we're terrible. But so was France, Russia.spain. when does it end?
The Kangaroo skin at the beginning was an escape attempt by a prisoner. He disguised himself as a Kangaroo and tried to hop away.
*SPOILERS* A guard thought it looked suspicious and he was caught. Can't remember if he was shot or arrested though.
When I saw this I thought of "Black Adder" . Baldrick with "I have a cunning plan my Lord". Funny as.
These poor prisoners weren't notorious; they were the despised victims of the British aristocracy who saw, and still see, the working class of their own country as class enemies, as less than human.
Sarah Island was the most barbaric prison in Australia....when it closed the prisoners were sent to Port Arthur.
😢😢😢😢😢This was where 🇦🇺🇦🇺Australia,s worst mass shooting 😢😢😢took place.😢😢😢35 Dead ☠️ 25 Injured.😢😢😢😢Our gun laws changed after this!🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Yep I know but I didn't want to mix the two subjects up in the video
1996 the place that changed australia forever
More videos from there? I did the spooky(?) night tour.
No just this one
😢😢😢This was the place where 🇦🇺🇦🇺Australia,s worst mass shooting too place.😢😢😢😢Imagine being a tourist 😢wondering around and 😢getting picked 😢off by a gunman!😢😢😢35 dead 24 wounded 😢😢Our gun laws were 👍changed after this.😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
Im curious if i had any reletives that were transported here or was a prison guard. Im actually researching my family tree. But its incredibly hard since i found out my families last name was altered by my great grandfather 100 years ago
Its also the site of Australia's worst massacre.
It was indeed but I didn't want to do the two topics in one
@CharlieandRob that's fair. Just thought I'd mention it. Loving your videos mate. May turn you two into Aussies yet
Your British mind kicked in immediately when you "judged" your given characters with those cards...'your SCUM' was the comment.
It was a joke as I'm a Southampton fan and Portsmouth are our rivals actually 😉
Port Arthur is a testament to how CRUEL THE BRITISH WERE.
I don’t think it was just the British.
Yea but a lot of nations were cruel
OI........ I was born in Portsmouth (Now Living in Hobart).
What was your crime? ;)
Haha
Well as I'm a Winchester boy and Southampton fan... Portsmouth are filth 🤣
@@CharlieandRob AHA that explains it. The history between Portsmouth and Southampton was that Dock workers went on strike, so the management replaced the workers with ones from Southampton Docks.
Southampton is a COMMERCIAL port, Portsmouth being Military, So there is also economic rivalry.
I remember houses and Pompey Shop used to board up windows and doors when Southampton played at Fratton Park, along with an INCREASED Police presence.
@@ChannelReuploads9451 Last time Saints played at fratton park, the pompey fans destroyed their own city. That says it all haha
6:25 Anyone notice that George Cortenay is a time traveller?
When I did my "Family Tree" I discovered that my GGGrandmother murdered her boyfriend in London. She was due to be hanged. But there was such an outcry in London that you "can't hang a female". So she was sent to Port Arthur Prison for life.
Well at least she deserved to be sent away unlike most others 🤣
@@CharlieandRob She eventually behaved herself and she was released from prison but stayed in Tasmania and got married.
It's difficult to trace your family tree here in Australia as we never kept our Census papers. In the UK you can find all your family by reading the Census papers. I've got family in Bournemouth and Lincolnshire.
Kinda hilarious and messed up that i feel incredibly honoured that we had the worst prison and a datk past during the convict settlement era in Van Diemen's land aka Tasmania. 😅😂
The place that changed our gun laws virtually overnight in 1996.
Within a month of the Dunblane Massacre that changed UK's gun laws too.
Thankfully we don't treat people like that anymore
Well... Some still do
most were sent there because of small petty theft of bread and food
Theft of a handkerchief by a child would get them hanged. Barbaric society by any standard, really.
On first glance, your thumbnail looks like your bottom half has sunk into the concrete
Haha
Seemed like more than 2 minutes watching
The weird part for me, is it's more your history than ours, and the more recent legacy we left is more tragic 😔🥲💔🕊.
A 100% British prison, that happens to be in australia. Anything before 1901 was British.