Point Puer Boys’ Prison. by blinkings
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Description
On the island toward the right, between 1834 and 1849, three thousand boys were sentenced to the Point Puer Boys’ Prison at Port Arthur, Tasmania. The youngest was just nine years old. Located across the harbour from Port Arthur, Point Puer was the first juvenile prison in the British Empire. It was known and feared for its regime of stern discipline and harsh punishment. It predated Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight by four years. If we kept on sailing out through the heads and headed straight, you would eventually run into the Mertz Glacier, Antarctica! When especially terrified, it was common for the boys to abscond and spend rare 'play' time on the red ledge that surrounded part of the island. They received severe punishment for doing so, but for a moment they must have felt free.
See the same scene in 1880 below. It was shot from an adjacent island, whereas my photo was taken from a boat.
Comments (9)
I watched a terrific programme about this in the BBC series Coast Australia .
Oh really I must watch it!
Superb capture my friend. God bless.
Great picture and info mate, things certainly were a lot more harsh back then.
It is very good!
Plenty of interesting info Andrew. Never realised so much went on in Tasmania
Lovely place for a lousy prison.
impressive and sad!
the UK was known for harsh treatment of young people including the CC
this is a very beautiful capture. as a prison, it could be a death trap for many prisoners