Port Arthur Part II

Before we arrived, we were given a playing card with a picture of a character on it. When arriving at Port Arthur, one could go into a Gallery and find your character. Since the commandant of the prison kept impeccable records, all of the people really existed and their stories are Don's character was named John Jones and I was Alonzo Johnson.

Don's card is on the left; mine is on the right. Below is the information we have about both of them.

We learned that most of the convicts sent here were from England, and most of their crimes were for petty crimes. But for many, the longer they stayed, the worse they became. My guy, Alonzo, was a comedian, but apparently he couldn't stay out of trouble - the class clown type - and he ended up staying in the colony for life. Some of the others did redeem themselves and become upstanding citizens in the community, some tried to escape (one man actually killed a kangaroo and tried to escape in its hide . . . but the guard saw the roo and were going to shoot it for food, so the man threw off the disguise and went back in), and some managed to escape for some time, but unfortunately, many of them became repeat offenders. We also learned that nearly 75% of all Hobart residents have convicts in their heritage, which makes sense once one thinks about it. With their recordkeeping it is pretty easy to find out. Unfortunately several brush fires wiped out much of the site, but the sandstone buildings still stand, and those that were not in the fire have been nicely restored. We were quite impressed with the whole site and would recommend it to anyone who is in Hobart.