Find me here:
  The Paranormal Guide
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Atlas
  • Glossary

Port Arthur Penal Settlement

12/6/2014

Comments

 
Picture
Port Arthur, once a convict settlement, is now a tourist attraction and one of Australia's most haunted locations.

Incorporating a prison, asylum, hospital and cemetery amongst others, it has stories filled with pain and despair, along with the hauntings that go with them.

Hell on Earth

PicturePort Arthur in 1888.
Port Arthur started as a timber cutting camp to take advantage of the large quantities of timber that made up the forests along the Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania. In 1833 it began its life as a penal colony. Port Arthur took in criminals deported from the United Kingdom and Ireland, a large number of the convicts were put to work making the many buildings you can see on the site today.

The site was chosen for the penal colony due to it's natural security. The mass of land where Port Arthur is located is almost entirely surrounded by sea. Only a thin strip of land known as Eaglehawk Neck joins the Tasman Peninsula to the main landmass of Tasmania. Eagle Hawk neck was fenced and heavily guarded meaning a convict attempting escape would do better to try the shark infested seas.

Starting from the mid 1850's prisoners were sent to Port Arthur from other prisons around Australia if they committed further crimes while they were doing time. A number of prisoners either from despair, the harsh conditions (prisoners labelled Port Arthur 'Hell on Earth') or ill treatment began to show signs of being insane. Soon an insane asylum was built on site to accommodate prisoners deemed too much of a lunatic to stay with the general population.

Other facilities in the penal colony included a boys prison where children as young as nine years of age would be put to labour for crimes committed. It was not uncommon for a boy to begin at the Point Puer Boys Prison to be moved to the main penal colony after their seventeenth birthday to finish their time. The labour was no more easy on for the children than it was for the adult prisoners.

A hospital was also built on site through 1841-42 and underwent many revisions and constructions over the years. The hospital would have treated all sorts of maladies including many that were fatal. It was not uncommon for sickness to strike the prison population but more prevalent were injuries sustained through the cutting of timber, the construction of buildings or worst of all from attacks from another inmate. Many a prisoner or free person died within the walls of the hospital and it is said to be one of the more haunted buildings at Port Arthur with the sound of children being heard playing amongst the burnt out ruins.


PictureIsle of the Dead.
Regardless of how you died in the colony your body had only one place to go; the 'Isle of the Dead'. The Isle (also 'Island of the Dead') is a small island in the harbour just off of Point Puer measuring not even 200 metres square. Nearly two thousand bodies of prisoners, lunatics, soldiers, free people, prison staff and their families are buried there. The island is bare except for a simple jetty and in the past a grave diggers cottage and a small shelter for mourners were also on site.

It is the isle of the dead where we find one of the earliest ghost stories of Port Arthur. 'Dead Man's Isle' as it was known in the 1830's was described as an oasis and a fitting place for someone to take part in their endless slumber.

The first mention of a spirit comes from an experience that took place on the evening of 5th Sep 1834. A team of gravediggers consisting a Corporal and three privates had chosen to dig a grave for a man due to be executed the following day. They had opted to dig during the night but soon wished that they had not. It was during the digging that they witnessed the figure of a man standing at the edge of a cliff. No one attempted to approach the figure and soon they made their exit. The figure was witnessed by several others after this event.


PictureThe Parsonage.
One of the most haunted parts of Port Arthur is the Parsonage. Reverend George Eastman and his family took up the residence built for clergymen in the mid 1800's. It is said George Eastman was a very tall and terrifying man who very much preached in a 'fire and brimstone' fashion. Both the free people and prisoners who took service at the church were terrified of him. The church constructed by prison labour was non-denominational and all prisoners went to services every Sunday.

Reverend Eastman died in an upstairs bedroom of the parsonage in 1870 but unfortunately his coffin was hard to manoeuvrer through the building once he was placed within it. It was decided to lower him out of a window. However during the process of lowering him to the ground the rope snapped, the coffin fell and his body tumbled out and onto the ground. For years following the accident many acts of the 'supernatural' took place within the parsonage; the smell of rotting flesh, unearthly moans and strange lights have been witnessed. The haunting continues but has taken on a new form. Figures have turned up in photos taken inside the parsonage and women are said to be the target of much of the unexplained happenings.

Port Arthur closed as a penal colony in 1877. Although the area was renamed Carnavon and a small town was started tourism began almost as soon as the doors were closed. Preservation of the site began in the 1917 and in 1927 Carnavon was given back the name Port Arthur. Many people had heard the stories of the prison, the most feared in all the colonies and through either morbid curiosity or an interest in history Port Arthur has thrived as a much sought out tourist destination ever since.

With the many paranormal experiences that have taken place Port Arthur is also a sought out destination for many ghost hunters and people who want to experience the unknown. Apparitions both seen with the naked eye and recorded on film are not too uncommon as are the sounds of slamming doors, moaning and screaming prisoners and the almost constant eerie sensation of been watched by unseen eyes are some of the things a visitor can expect. If you take in one of the regular ghost tours you can hear of these experiences or for a more in depth encounter with the dead look into one of the group paranormal investigation activities.

The site is world heritage listed ensuring that, along with the work of the people who preserve the site, it will be there for future generations to enjoy and learn about the earliest years of Australian Penal Colony culture and history.

(This only just touches the absolute surface of the history and hauntings. Have a look further into it and you will find some absolutely fantastic stories online.)

Ashley Hall 2012
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

    The Paranormal Guide Articles

    Here you will find all of the articles written for The Paranormal Guide on all things paranormal, strange, dark, macabre, weird, strange and bizarre!

    All photos with the blog posts remain the property of their respectful owners. If one of your photos is featured here without attribution please leave a comment on the blog and full credit will be given.

    Categories

    All
    Bizarre Experiments
    Conspiracy
    Cryptozoology
    Cursed And Haunted Objects
    Curses Demons And Exorcisms
    Earth Mysteries
    Fakes Frauds And Hoaxes
    Ghosts And Hauntings
    Ghosts Ghouls And Demons
    Interesting And Inspiring People
    Investigations
    Miracles
    My Paranormal
    Paranormal Photos
    Paranormal Vocabulary
    Phobias And Philias
    Post Mortem Practices
    Psychics Predictions And Seers
    Questions And Discussions
    Reviews
    Spirituality And Miracles
    Spirituality And Miracles
    Strange And Macabre Places
    Strange And Tragic Deaths
    This Week In Dark History
    Tragedy
    True Crime And Punishment
    Ufos And Aliens
    Unsolved Mysteries
    Urban Legend Superstition And Folklore
    Weird Odd And Bizarre


    Ashley Hall -
    The Paranormal Guide

    Ashley Hall explores The Paranormal, True Crime, Strange Deaths, Dark History, The Weird, The Strange and The Bizarre! Fact or Fiction? You decide!

    Picture

    Contributors

    Picture
    Matty Sweeney
    Picture
    Peet Banks
    Picture
    Nic Hume

    Picture
    Check out The Paranormal Guide Podcast and join three paranormal investigators and researchers for honest and raw discussions on all things paranormal, strange, dark and macabre HERE!

    Archives

    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    Please note that dates are from when the article was originally made.
    The Paranormal Guide does have posts all the way up to the current date.


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.