Why did convicts go to Norfolk Island?
Why did convicts go to Norfolk Island?
The island was settled by the British in March 1788, just five weeks after the First Fleet arrived in Sydney. It was chosen for a settlement because Captain Cook had identified the towering Norfolk Island pines as being useful for ships masts and the local flax as good for sails.
Does Norfolk Island have a prison?
Norfolk Island was re-established as a convict settlement, reputed to be one of the harshest in all of the British Empire. Uprisings and escape attempts were common. An uprising in 1834 saw thirteen prisoners executed. Some of their headstones are in the cemetery at Kingston.
What was the worst penal colony?
French Guiana epitomized the worst features of penal colonies: harsh punishments and the underfeeding of prisoners assigned to hard labour were routine.
What was so bad about Norfolk Island?
For the Term of His Natural Life by Marcus Clarke describes Norfolk Island as a “Hell in Paradise.” An 1846 report by magistrate Robert Pringle Stuart exposed the horrors of torture and incessant flogging, the scarcity and poor quality of food, the inadequacy of housing and corruption of overseers.
Who was in charge of Norfolk Island Colony?
Cook named the island in honour of Mary Howard, Duchess of Norfolk. On instructions from Governor Arthur Phillip, Lt Philip Gidley King was sent to take possession of Norfolk Island just six weeks after the First Fleet had landed in Australia.
What was it like to be at Norfolk Island as a convict?
Convict life on Norfolk Island was severe and often brutal. Below is a snapshot of one convict, John Walsh, who spent ten years on Norfolk Island from 1834 to 1844. John Walsh was born in County Dublin in 1793 and convicted of cattle stealing in 1823.
Why is Norfolk Island called Norfolk?
The English navigator Captain James Cook discovered the uninhabited island in 1774 and, impressed by the abundance of local flax (Phormium tenax) and the potential of the indigenous pines to provide ships’ masts, named the island for the Duke of Norfolk.
Where is Papillon Devil’s Island?
Synopsis. The book is an account of a 14-year period in Papillon’s life (October 26, 1931 to October 18, 1945), beginning when he was wrongly convicted of murder in France and sentenced to a life of hard labor at the Bagne de Cayenne, the penal colony of Cayenne in French Guiana known as Devil’s Island.
Why is Norfolk Island called that?
What is the history of Norfolk Island penal colony?
A Brief History of Norfolk Island Penal Colony. Captain James Cook was the first European to set foot on Norfolk Island in October 1774, as part of his second voyage to the South Pacific. He named the island after Mary Howard, Duchess of Norfolk (c. 1712 – 1773).
What is the history of Norfolk Island like?
Norfolk Island’s early European history is entwined with the British penal system and the colonisation of Australia, so part of any visit to the island has to include the convict ruins, and the graveyard. There’s not much to show for the island’s first settlement in 1788. Here’s a short piece about those first colonists.
How many convicts were on Norfolk Island?
And so on 6 March 1788, colonization of Norfolk Island began with a party of 15 convicts and seven free men. During the first year of the settlement, more convicts and soldiers arrived from Australia. A letter from an Officer of Marines was published in a London newspaper: The island is fully wooded.
What was the treatment of prisoners on Norfolk Island?
Even so, treatment of prisoners was harsh. One of the more severe governors, Ralph Darling, commanded that, every man should be worked in irons that the example may deter others from the commission of crime to hold out [Norfolk Island] as a place of the extremest punishment short of death.
