Tag:port arthur
Harry Power (1820-1891) was one of Australia’s most infamous bushrangers. He played a significant role in shaping the legend of bushranging during the 19th century. Born as Henry Johnson in Waterford, Ireland, in 1819, Power would lead a life of crime that spanned several decades before his eventual capture at Powers Lookout. He left a lasting imprint on Australian folklore. His story is a fascinating tale of crime, escape, rebellion, and the harsh realities of life in the colonial frontier.
Early Life and Criminal Beginnings
Harry Power was born into poverty and hardship. In the early 19th century, Ireland was a place of extreme social inequality, and Power’s upbringing reflected this. He grew up in a working-class family, and his early life was marred by deprivation. At the peak of convict transportation from Britain to Australia, Powers was convicted of stealing seven pairs of shoes at age 21 in 1840. The system of transportation was brutal, designed to both punish and isolate criminals from society. This marked the beginning of his long and tumultuous career as a criminal.
Upon his arrival at Port Arthur Penal Settlement in Van Diemen’s Land (now known as Tasmania), Power was subjected to the brutal conditions typical of convict life. The harsh treatment and forced labour in the colony’s penal system hardened Power and fueled his determination to escape. By 1855, after serving his sentence and receiving a ticket of leave, Power began his life of crime in earnest. He engaged in various criminal activities, including horse theft, which would become one of his signature crimes.
The Rise of a Bushranger
Powers’ notoriety and reputation as a bushranger soared. In 1856, he was arrested for horse stealing and received a thirteen-year sentence at Victoria’s infamous Pentridge Prison. His involvement in the murders of Owen Owens and John Turner further solidified his reputation. However, he was ultimately found not guilty of the murders. After spending two and a half years in the hulks, he was moved to the Pentridge Stockade but escaped in 1862. Subsequently, he was apprehended again for horse stealing and sentenced to seven years on the roads at Beechworth on February 19, 1864.
Escape
Power again escaped from Pentridge on February 16 1869, and held up the mail coach at Porepunkah on May 7. On May 22nd, he bailed up another coach on Longwood-Mansfield Road. Power then embarked on a series of robberies and hold-ups that terrorised the rural communities of Victoria. His criminal activities included robbing mail coaches, raiding homesteads, and engaging in violent confrontations with the authorities. Power’s audacity and success in evading capture made him a folk hero to some and a feared outlaw to others.
Harry Power became a master of the bushranger’s craft. He used his knowledge of the land, honed as a stockman, to evade capture. His robberies were bold, and he developed a reputation as a cunning and elusive criminal. He primarily operated in the northeastern regions of Victoria, where he terrorised travellers and settlers. Power was known for his “gentlemanly” conduct during his robberies. Unlike some other bushrangers, he was said to refrain from unnecessary violence and was polite to his victims. This image of the “gentleman bushranger” contributed to his growing legend.
The Mentor to Ned Kelly
One of Harry Power’s most intriguing aspects is his connection to the Kelly family. In the late 1860s, a young Ned Kelly, who would later become Australia’s most notorious bushranger, fell under Power’s influence. According to popular accounts, Power took Ned under his wing, teaching him the skills needed to survive as a bushranger. This relationship between Power and Kelly is significant in Australian history. While verifying the full extent of their partnership is difficult, it is widely accepted that Power played a role in shaping Ned Kelly’s early criminal career.
Ned Kelly’s family was well known to Power. The Kellys were struggling Irish immigrants living in the harsh conditions of colonial Victoria. Like many of their class, they had frequent brushes with the law. The Kelly family’s resentment towards authority and their rebellious spirit aligned with Power’s own experiences. Under Power’s mentorship, the young Ned Kelly was exposed to the life of a bushranger, and Kelly learned to live off the land, plan robberies, and outwit the police.
While Power was nearing the end of his criminal career, he may have inadvertently set the stage for the Kelly Gang’s rise, which would eclipse Powers’ fame and capture the nation’s imagination. It would also spark fierce debates about justice, authority, and the nature of rebellion.
Capture and Imprisonment
In September 1869, the Victorian government offered a reward of £200 for Power’s arrest. This was soon increased to £500. As a result, he moved to New South Wales but later returned to Victoria. However, he evaded capture until June 5, 1870, when he was arrested by Superintendents Nicolson and Hare, along with Sergeant Montford and a black tracker.
The trio surprised Power in his hideout at Power’s Lookout, a rocky escarpment overlooking the Quinn property on the King River. James Quinn received a reward of £500 for his information and assistance. Power was sentenced to fifteen years of hard labour at Beechworth for three counts of bushranging and was again incarcerated at Pentridge.
In prison, Power became something of a celebrity. His life stories as a bushranger captivated fellow inmates and the public. Despite his criminal past, Power remained a charismatic figure who entertained with tales of his adventures. However, prison life took its toll on him. By the time he was released in 1885, he was an old man in poor health, a shadow of the fearsome bushranger he had once been.
After being released, Power first worked as a gamekeeper. Later, he became a caretaker on the Success, a ship that had previously served as a prison hulk. However, it had been transformed into a travelling waxworks display showcasing the torture and punishment inflicted on criminals. The ship eventually sank, but Harry survived and returned to the bush. In 1891, he drowned in the Murray River as an old man with only a few shillings to his name.
Visit Powers Lookout
Drive three kilometres on a gravel road from Mansfield-Whitfield Road to a parking area with picnic tables and restrooms. Two lookout points offer stunning views of the surrounding mountain and valley. The first lookout is close to the carpark and wheelchair accessible. To reach the second lookout, you’ll take a short 0.4-kilometre walk with a series of steel ladders which lead to a viewing platform at the northernmost point of the rocky outcrop. It’s easy to see why Power chose this spot as a hideout. The stunning panoramic view allowed him to see and evade mounted police and trackers from miles away.
There’s also a 20-minute return walk through the bush to a waterhole surrounded by beautiful rocky ledges. To get there, follow the path near the toilets in a westerly direction.
The Isle of the Dead is a small island located in the harbour of Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia. It was used as a cemetery for convicts and civilians during the late 19th and early 20th centuries when Port Arthur was a penal settlement. The island is now a popular tourist destination and historical site, featuring a number of graves and a ruined chapel. Visitors can take guided tours to learn more about the island’s history and the people buried there.
At just one hectare (2.5 acres), the Isle of the Dead is very small in size. Significantly, however, it is part of the Port Arthur Historical Settlement, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Isle has two distinctly separate burial areas based on class. Convicts, young inmates from Point Puer boys prison, paupers and lunatics were laid to rest in primarily unmarked graves at the lower southern end. The higher ground at the northern end was reserved for free men, the military and their families.
These graves, numbering around one hundred and eighty, are marked by headstones. Among them are one government official, seven soldiers, seven seamen, an officer’s wife and nine children. However, while those graves are marked, it wasn’t until the 1850s that some convict graves were given headstones. Before then, marking the convict graves with headstones was forbidden. As a result, it is estimated that less than 10% of graves on the Isle are marked with headstones or footstones.
The Cemetary
The first chaplain for the Port Arthur settlement was the Reverend John Allen Manton, who arrived in 1833. Manton selected the Isle as the colony’s cemetery, as it was close to but separate from the colony. Manton then renamed it Isle of the Dead.
‘This, it appeared to me, would be a secure and
Reverend John Allen Manton
undisturbed resting-place where the prisoners might lie together until the morning
of the resurrection’
Burials took place on the Isle of the Dead from September 1833 to 1877. Internees came from Point Puer boys’ prison, soldiers from Eaglehawk Neck, and convicts from the Coal Mines at Norfolk Bay. Following the closure of Point Puer boys’ prison in 1849 and the end of convict transportation to Tasmania in 1853, the military departed in 1863.
The cemetery, however, remained in use. Burials continued for the destitute, aged and infirm men, mainly convicts and ex-convicts. These men continued to reside in Port Arthur’s welfare institutions, such as the hospital, Paupers’ (invalid) Depot and Lunatic Asylum. When they had all closed by 1877, the cemetery was abandoned.
Burial Records
The exact number of people buried on Tasmania’s Isle of the Dead is unknown due to poor record keeping and the destruction of or incomplete burial records. However, from the documents that have survived, we know that most burials on the Isle of the Dead resulted from a death caused by disease.
Convicts arriving in the colony came in unsanitary and overcrowded conditions of the hulks and gaols and suffered nutritional deficiencies. In the colony’s early years, illnesses such as dysentery, enteritis and fever were the primary causes of death. The secondary reason was respiratory disease and epidemics that swept through the colony. A significant number of deaths also resulted from accidents, such as drowning, as all transport was by water. Children died from whooping cough and scarlet fever, and women often died during childbirth. Murder and suicide were also common.
Graves
Three Isle of the Dead graves recorded are:
Collins, Dennis. ( 1775 – 1833)
An English convict, disabled pauper and retired sailor. Collins had served in the British navy. Tragically, his leg was severely injured in a sea battle during Britain’s war with France. This led to him becoming an amputee. Unable to work, he was granted a pension from the government; this was subsequently taken away without explanation. Collins tried all available channels to have his pension restored but was denied. Finally, as a last-ditch attempt, he wrote to the King pleading his case, but this too was turned down without explanation.
Frustrated and angry, he attended Ascot races and threw a stone at the King, knocking his hat off. As a result, he was arrested and convicted of high treason and sentenced to be hung, drawn (disembowelled), and then beheaded and quartered (body cut into pieces). However, the sentence was commuted to transportation for life. He arrived at the colony on August 12, 1833, and died on November 30, 1833. The cause of death was listed as suicide due to the refusal of food. He had lasted just three months at Port Arthur.
Eastman, Reverend George. (? – April 25 1870).
Eastman was the Church of England chaplain for the penal colony from January 1855 to April 1870 and was known as “the Good Parson”. In April 1870, while unwell with a cold, he visited an ill convict at an outstation. Eastman himself then died two days later. He was interred in a raised sandstone vault on April 28 1870. The inscription on the tomb marked his age as 51. However, the Port Arthur burial register recorded his age as 50. Following his death, the local diocese ran an appeal to aid his wife and ten children
Savery, Henry. (1791–1842)
Savery was a businessman, forger, convict and Australia’s first novelist. He was arrested in Bristol, charged with forgery, and condemned to death in April 1825. However, the day before he was due to be hung, his sentence was commuted to transportation for life. Arriving in the colony, he worked as a clerk for the colonial treasurer. In 1828, deeply in debt, he attempted suicide by cutting his own throat but was saved by Dr William Crowther.
Back in prison for debt, he wrote his first book, a volume of Australian essays under the title of The Hermit of Van Dieman’s Land. The book was published under the pseudonym Simon Stukeley. He followed this with Quintus Servinton, the first Australian novel, in 1830. Unfortunately, he again fell into debt and was sent to Port Authur, where he died of a stroke in February 1842. Following his death, he was buried on the Isle of the Dead.
Gravediggers
Two gravediggers are known to have lived and worked on Tasmania’s Isle of the Dead. They were John Barron, an Irish convict, and Mark Jeffrey, an English convict. Barron lived and worked on the island for more than ten years until pardoned in 1874.
Jeffrey was known for his quick temper and violent rages and, by 1859, had nineteen convictions for assault and abusive language. In 1872 he received his second life sentence for manslaughter and accrued another twenty-four charges over the next four years. Finally, he was sent to the Isle of the Dead as a gravedigger to separate him from the other men. He remained a gravedigger on the isle until the penal colony closed in April 1877, when he was transferred to Hobart Town prison. He died in the Paupers Depot, Launceston, in 1903, aged 78.
While on the Isle, the two gravediggers lived in the gravedigger’s residence, a weatherboard hut with a wood-shingled roof and brick chimney. A second shelter was used for funeral parties; this was a latticework-sided shed located near the jetty.
Tourism
Surprisingly, tourism began within six months of Port Arthurs’s closure as a penal settlement in 1877. By 1880 a tourist centre was running organised tours. It gradually grew to include local people and arrivals from Melbourne and Sydney. By the 1890s, steamship companies ran tourist excursions in the summer. The ships departed from Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney as inland infrastructure was not fully developed. While Port Arthur experienced tourism growth, visits to the Isle of the Dead were minimal due to a lack of accessibility.
In 1887 Isle of the Dead and Point Puer were sold to Thomas White. The Tasmanian government required it in 1971 and, in 1916, listed the Isle of the Dead as a scenic reserve. They then cleared overgrowth and planted new trees.
Conservation
In 1971 the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) took over management of the Isle. The NPWS introduced conservation methods to minimise further erosion. For example, they removed exotic species and replaced them with native trees. Additionally, they also began to restore the monuments with concrete and mortar.
In the 1970s, tourism continued to increase, and a new jetty was built. A boat would take tourists from Mason Cove at Port Arthur to the Isle. However, tourists were allowed to wander unsupervised once on the Isle, and many removed relics as souvenirs.
Since the late 1980s, tourism is now on guided tours. This protects the relics and avoids erosion by keeping tourists on designated walkways. In 1995 the Isle of the Dead was included as part of the Port Arthur Historic site and placed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register. It was added to the Australian National Heritage list in 2005 and the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2010. Thus becoming the eleventh Australian convict site added to the list.
Conservation continues
In 2021 a 5-year, $1.3 million project was completed to improve access by replacing stairs with ramps. In addition, the project built above-ground walkways and viewing platforms, ensuring visitors no longer walk over unmarked gravesites. The walkways also work to preserve the moments by stopping the acceleration of erosion of the headstones by people touching them.
Pre-bookings for all tickets and tours are essential at Port Arthur Historic Site – Isle of the Dead tickets are purchased at additional cost.