Port Arthur’s post-probation labour gangs, 1856-1877: the aged and ailing remnants of the convict system or skilled and productive workers?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Of the 165,000 or so convicts transported from across the British Empire to Australia between 1788 and 1868, approximately 9,000 men entered the gates of the Port Arthur penal station in Van Diemen’s Land. Over its lifetime (1830–1877) Port Arthur was reputed to be one of Australia’s harshest places of incarceration. During its final years as a penal station (1856–1877), due to its aging and declining population, it earned a reputation for housing the old, decrepit, and useless dregs of the convict system. Despite the growing body of literature on Port Arthur’s convict workers, there has been little discussion on the management of labour gangs after 1856. This article examines a cohort of 198 variously aged and skilled Port Arthur convicts discovered in six labour gang ledgers and places them within the broad landscape of the settlement’s industrial activities. Through the examination of the Convict Department records, I will argue that despite its aging population Port Arthur was an efficient and productive place of industry. Moreover, I will show that many of these men were skilled and able-bodied workers and not just the aged and ailing remnants of the convict system.