Isle of the Dead (Tasmania)

{{About|an island in Australia|3=Isle of the Dead (disambiguation)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

{{Use Australian English|date=July 2019}}

{{Infobox Australian place

| name = Isle of the Dead, Port Arthur

| state = Tas

| established = cemetery 1833{{Cite web|url=https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/I/Isle%20of%20the%20Dead.htm|title=Isle of the Dead}}

| abolished = cemetery 1877

| lga = Tasman Council

| region = Tasman Peninsula

| gazetted = 3 June 2005

| image = 2018-02-15 111355 Port Arthur Isle of the Dead anagoria.JPG

| caption = Isle of the Dead, Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia

| location1 = Hobart

| coordinates = {{Coord|43|08|57|S|147|52|03|E|type:landmark_region:AU|display=inline,title}}

| type = protected

| area = 0.1

| dist1 = 98

| dist2 = 20

| dir1 = SE

| dir2 = S

| location2 = Eaglehawk Neck

| url = https://portarthur.org.au/

| nearest_town_or_city = Highcroft

| iucn_category = V

| maxtemp = 14.7

| mintemp = 8.9

| rainfall = 796.6

| stategov = Lyons

| managing_authorities = Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority

| rainfall_footnotes = [http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/index.shtml Bureau of Meteorology]. Retrieved 2020-05-05.

| maxtemp_footnotes = | mintemp_footnotes =

| elevation =

| elevation_footnotes =

| timezone = Australian Eastern Standard Time

| utc = +10

| timezone-dst = Australian Eastern Standard Time

| utc-dst = +11

| city = Port Arthur, Tasmania

}}

{{Infobox designation list | embed =

| designation1 = WHS

| designation2 = ANHL

| designation3 = Tasmanian Heritage Register

| designation4 =

| designation5 =

| designation1_type = Cultural

| designation1_criteria = iv, v

| designation1_date = 2010

| designation1_number = 1306-008

| designation1_partof = Australian Convict Sites

| designation2_offname = Port Arthur Historic Site

| designation2_date = 3 June 2005

| designation2_type = Historic

| designation2_criteria = a,b,c,d,e,g,h|designation2_number=105718

| designation3_offname = Port Arthur Penal Settlement

| designation3_criteria = 6

| designation3_type = Historic cultural heritage

|designation3_date=1995}}

Isle of the Dead is an island, about {{convert|1|ha|acre|abbr=off}} in area, adjacent to Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia. It is historically significant since it retains an Aboriginal coastal shell midden, one of the first recorded sea-level benchmarks, and one of the few preserved Australian convict-period burial grounds.{{Cite web|title=Island Reveals Mysteries of the Dead|url=https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2004/08/19/1178596.htm|last=Catchpole|first=Heather|date=19 Aug 2004|website=ABC Science|language=en-AU|access-date=2020-04-10}}{{Cite book|last1=Godden Mackay Logan Pty Ltd|title=Port Arthur Historic Sites Management Plan 2008|last2=Middleton, G.|last3=Jackman, G|last4=Tuffin, R|last5=Clark, J|publisher=Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority|year=2009|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/105335}} The Isle of the Dead occupies part of the Port Arthur Historic Site,Godden et al., 2009, p. 3 is part of Australian Convict Sites and is listed as a World Heritage Property because it represents convictism in the era of British colonisation.{{Cite book|last=Morgan|first=K|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191823534.001.0001/acref-9780191823534|title=Port Arthur Dictionary Plus Social Sciences|date=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-182353-4|language=en-US|doi=10.1093/acref/9780191823534.001.0001}}{{Cite web|title=Decision: 34 COM 8B.16 Cultural Properties – Australian Convict Sites (Australia)|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/3995/|last=UNESCO|date=2010|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|language=en|access-date=2020-04-09}}

Before European settlement, Aboriginal people gathered food on the island. From 1833 the island was used as a cemetery for convicts and free people of the Port Arthur penal settlement.{{Cite journal|last1=Thorn|first1=A|last2=Piper|first2=A|date=1996|title=The isle of the Dead: an integrated approach to the management and natural protection of an archaeological site|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272226838|journal=Studies in Conservation|language=en|volume=41|issue=sup1|page=2|doi=10.1179/sic.1996.41.Supplement-1.188|issn=0039-3630|via=ResearchGate}}

The Isle of the Dead was the destination for all who died inside the prison camps. Of the 1,000 estimated graves recorded to exist there, only 180, those of prison staff and military personnel, were marked.{{Cite web|title=Isle of the Dead cemetery tour|url=https://portarthur.org.au/tour/isle-of-the-dead/|website=Port Arthur Historic Site|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-16}} The cemetery was closed following the demise of the Port Arthur settlement in 1877 and the island was sold as private land. It was reacquired and managed by the Tasmanian government from the early twentieth century.

Over the last century tourism has grown with improved services and infrastructure. Increased conservation initiatives have been undertaken to preserve the island and its relics, resulting in the island being declared a cultural heritage property and protected under Australian state and federal laws. It is also listed under UNESCO's world heritage sites.

Location

Isle of the Dead is an approximately 10,000 square metres (1 hectare) island within Carnarvon Bay at the northern tip of Point Puer on the Southern Tasman Peninsula in the Island State of Tasmania, Australia.{{Cite book|last1=Doyle|first1=H|url=https://portarthur.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/PAHSMA-Landscape-Management-Plan.pdf|title=Port Arthur Historic Site Landscape Management Plan Aug 2002|last2=Context Pty Ltd|last3=Urban Initiatives Pty Ltd|publisher=Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority|year=2002|location=Melbourne, Victoria.|page=7}} It is approximately {{convert|98|km|mi|abbr=off}} southeast of the state capital, Hobart. Driving from Hobart, via the Tasman Highway /A3, the Arthur Highway /A9 to Port Arthur Historic Site takes around 80 minutes. Isle of the Dead is approximately {{convert|700|m|mi|abbr=off}} from Point Puer. It is 1.2 km (3/4 of a mile) from Mason Cove.{{Cite web|title=Isle of the Dead|url=https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-43.149167&mlon=147.8675&zoom=15#map=15/-43.1492/147.8675|last=Open Street Map|date=1 April 2020|website=Isle of the Dead|language=en|access-date=2020-04-09}} It is only accessible by boat and Port Arthur Historic Site offers guided ferry tours to the island.Doyle et al 2002, p. 7Godden et al, 2009. p. 2

Aboriginal shell midden

Original inhabitants of this area were the Pydairrerme people, a band of the Oyster Bay tribe.Doyle et al., 2002, p. 22Godden et al, 2009, p. 19 Prior to the 1830s, local Aboriginals used the island to gather shellfish and camp.{{Cite book|last1=Tropman|first1=L|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1382371370/view|title=Isle of the Dead, Port Arthur: a study of the island and recommendation for conservation of the headstones and the island. Port Arthur Conservation Project.|last2=Gibbons|first2=G. S|publisher=Lester Tropman and Associates, National Parks and Wildlife Service|year=1984|location=Hobart, Tasmania|page=3|language=en|oclc=876315028|id=nla.obj-1382371370|access-date=2020-04-07|via=TROVE National Library of Australia.}} Isle of the Dead retains a large midden.Thorn & Piper, 1996, p. 4 The midden contains shells and the remains of campfires (charcoal and ash), evidence of past aboriginal people visiting the isle to gather shellfish and molluscs such as abalone and mussels. It is located under an overhanging cliff and rock platform, which was used for shelter.{{Cite book|last=Lord|first=R|title=The Isle of the Dead, Port Arthur: inscriptions from the cemetery of the Port Arthur penal establishment 1830–1877|publisher=Richard Lord and Partners|others=Bowler, J. C. S.|year=1990|isbn=0-9597473-0-3|edition=3rd|location=Taroona, Tas.|page=17|oclc=27624866}} This midden is defined as an aboriginal relic and is protected under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1975.{{Cite web|title=Aboriginal Shell Middens|url=https://www.aboriginalheritage.tas.gov.au/cultural-heritage/aboriginal-shell-middens |date=2020|website=Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania|access-date=2020-04-09}}

Naming the Isle

File:Admiralty Chart No 1083 Burnett Harbour and Port Arthur, Published 1830.jpg File:Admiralty Chart No 1475 Tasmania - South Coast. Port Arthur, Published 1893.jpg

With the arrival of settler colonialism, the isle was called Opossum Island in 1827. It was named after Captain John Welsh's sloop Opossum while seeking shelter nearby when surveying the harbours on the Tasman Peninsula.Lord, 1990, p. 1{{Cite news|date=23 September 1911|title=Tasmanian Nomenclature. The Place Names of the Island, a Record of Origins and Dates.|page=11|work=The Hobart Mercury|issue=XI|location=Hobart Tasmania|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10115196|access-date=2020-04-09|via=TROVE National Library of Australia.}}{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |title=Welsh, John (?–1832)|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/welsh-john-2780 |access-date=2020-05-15}}

Reverend John Allen Manton, an English Wesleyan missionary, arrived in February 1833 as first chaplain for the Port Arthur settlement.{{Cite web|title=The Isle of the Dead or the burial-place at Port Arthur, Van-Diemen's Land|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-83567059|last=Manton|first=J|year=1845|website=TROVE National Library of Australia.|series=Missionary Series No. 652|publisher=John Mason|location=London UK|page=4|language=en|access-date=2020-04-09}}{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |last=Pretyman|first=E. R.|title=Manton, John Allen (1807–1864) |url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/manton-john-allen-2430/text3231 |access-date=2020-04-09}} He wrote in a religious pamphlet that he selected this isle for a cemetery, as it was close to the colony, "a secure and undisturbed resting-place" and renamed "Isle of the Dead" for its purpose as a burial place.Manton, 1844, p. 4 The isle was recorded as "Dead Island" in a hydrographic survey undertaken from the surveying ship HMS Dart in 1893 and published as Admiralty chart 1475.{{Cite map |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-231313799|title=Tasmania - South Coast. Port Arthur |publisher=The Admiralty |year=1897|location=London, United Kingdom|id=nla.obj-231313799|via=TROVE National Library of Australia.}} The Island was also known as "Isle des Morts" and "Dead Men's Isle".{{Sfn|Burn|1905}}{{Sfn|Weidenhofer|1990|p=117}}

Cemetery for penal colony

=Penal settlement usage=

The isle was used as a cemetery for the penal settlement of Port Arthur from September 1833 to 1877.Thorn & Piper, 1996, p. 2{{Cite web|title=The Isle of the Dead|url=https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/I/Isle%20of%20the%20Dead.htm|last=Ross|first=L.|date=2006|website=The Companion to Tasmanian History|publisher=Centre for Historical Tasmanian Studies, University of Tasmania|access-date=2020-04-10}} This included the Point Puer boys' prison, which operated from January 1834 until 1849.{{Cite web|title=Point Puer|url=https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/P/Point%20Puer.htm|last=Hargraves|first=N.|date=2006|website=Companion to Tasmanian History|publisher=Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, University of Tasmania|access-date=2020-04-17}} There were also a small number of burials from the military posting at Eaglehawk Neck and from the Coal Mines (Coal Mines Historic Site), which operated from 1833 to 1848.{{Cite thesis|last=Ross|first=L|url=https://eprints.utas.edu.au/16257/|title=Death and Burial at Port Arthur, 1830–1877|work=Honours thesis|publisher=University of Tasmania|year=1995|location=Hobart, Tasmania|pages=31–33|type=honours}} The colony experienced population decline following the closure of Point Puer boys' prison in 1849,Hargraves, 2006 the end of convict transportation to Tasmania in 1853,{{Cite web|title=Convicts|url=https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/C/Convicts.htm|last=Maxwell-Stewart|first=H.|date=2006|website=The Companion to Tasmanian History|publisher=Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, University of Tasmania|access-date=2020-04-12}} and the departure of the military in 1863.Doyle et al., 2002, p. 29 The cemetery continued to be used for destitute, aged and infirm men, mainly convicts and ex convicts, residing in Port Arthur's welfare institutions, the hospital, Paupers' (invalid) Depot (established in 1864) and Lunatic Asylum (established in 1867) until they were closed in 1877.Godden et al, 2009, p. 46Ross. 1995, p. 22

=Burial designation=

The cemetery was divided into designated sections. Convicts were buried on the lower, southern end of the island. No headstones or markings were placed on convict graves, as they were not allowed.{{Cite web |last=Franklin|first=J|date=1838|title=Diaries of Jane, Lady Franklin, Van Diemen's Land 1838 and Victoria, Australia 1843-1844 |url=https://eprints.utas.edu.au/3396/1/rs_16_2%281%29.pdf|page=14|website=University of Tasmania}}{{unreliable source?|reason=Personal diaries are primary sources;|date=October 2023}}Manton, 1845, p.10 Alfred Mawle, a tour guide for Port Arthur from about 1899 to 1939,{{Cite news|date=5 September 1940|title=Mr. Alfred Mawle|page=5|work=The Hobart Mercury|location=Hobart Tasmania|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25823110|access-date=2020-04-10|via=TROVE National Library of Australia.}}{{Cite thesis |degree=PhD

|last=Young |first=Frederick David |date=July 1995 |url=https://eprints.utas.edu.au/21810/1/whole_YoungFrederickDavid1995_thesis.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181102194153/https://eprints.utas.edu.au/21810/1/whole_YoungFrederickDavid1995_thesis.pdf |archive-date=2018-11-02 |title=Profiting from the past: The relationship between history and the tourist industry in Tasmania 1856–1972 |publisher=University of Tasmania |page=190}} described that convict graves were marked with small metal numbers, which went missing in the 1920s.{{Sfn|Weidenhofer|1990|p=118}}

Free people were located on the northern western corner of the island and their graves were generally marked with footstones, headstones and tombstones cut by convict stonemasons. Approximately eighty-one headstones and five footstones, dated from 1831 to 1877, were identified and inscriptions recorded in the late 1970s. Of these, four belonged to former convicts who were free at the time of their deaths and nine were erected as memorials to convicts after the closure of the penal colony.Lord, 1990, pp. ix–x It is estimated that less than 10% of all the burials on the Isle of Dead were formally marked.{{Cite journal|last1=Links|first1=F|last2=Roach|first2=M|last3=Jackman|first3=G|journal=ASEG Extended Abstracts|date=2004|title=Using Geophysics to locate burials and other cultural features, Isle of the Dead, Port Arthur, Tasmania|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1071/ASEG2004ab089?needAccess=true|language=en|volume=2004|issue=1|page=1|doi=10.1071/ASEG2004ab089|s2cid=130398806|issn=2202-0586|via=University of Tasmania Open Access Depository}}File:Gravestones Isle of Dead Tasmania Port Arthur.JPG

=Number of burials=

Approximately 1,000 people have been buried on the Isle of the Dead.Links et al., 2004, p. 1Ross, 1995, pp. 31–33Ross, 2006. The actual number of people buried on the island is unknown because of the destruction of many official records, incomplete burial records and lack of records for free people located at Port Arthur and the outstations.{{Sfn|Burn|1905|p=9}}{{Cite journal|last=Goc|first=N|date=2002|title=From Convict Prison to the Gothic Ruins of Tourist Attraction|url=https://eprints.utas.edu.au/8591/3/Convict_prison.Gothic_ruins..pdf|journal=Historic Environment|volume=16|issue=3|page=25|via=eprints.utas.edu.au}} Estimates of the number buried is based on geophysical studies, remaining burial and death records and the limited size of the convict burial section on the isle.Ross.1995, pp. 36–37

Historical estimates have been variable. The Hobart Town Courier published 43 burials on the isle in 1836.{{Cite news|date=1836-04-08|title=Friday Morning, April 8|page=2|work=Hobart Town Courier (Tas. : 1827–1839)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4177049|access-date=2020-04-10|via=TROVE National Library Australia}} The Tasmanian reported 1,500 graves in 1872.{{Cite news|date=1872-03-16|title=Port Arthur Dead Island|page=6|work=The Tasmanian Newspaper|location=Launceston, Tasmania|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/201349281|access-date=2020-04-09|via=TROVE National Library of Australia}} 1,500 graves were recorded again on an "Isle of the Dead" tourist postcard in 1909.{{Cite web|title=Isle of the Dead, Port Arthur.|url=http://collectionsearch.nma.gov.au/object/210917?solrsort=random%20asc&f%5B0%5D=obj_place_name%3AIsle%20of%20the%20Dead%2C%20Port%20Arthur%2C%20Tasman%20Peninsula%2C%20Tasmania%2C%20Australia|date=1909|website=National Museum of Australia|publisher=Joseph Lebovic Gallery Collection no 1|type=Photographic Postcard Series|location=Sydney Australia}} In 1907 an Australian Town and Country Journal article about convict burials across the Tasman Peninsula cited 1,700 convict burials on the isle.{{Cite news|last=Bowen|first=F|date=1907-06-19|title=The Isle of the Dead, Tasmania. Where the Convicts Sleep.|page=25|work=Australian Town and Country Journal|location=Sydney, NSW|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71593432|access-date=2020-04-10|via=TROVE National Library of Australia.}}

=Burial records=

The Wesleyan mission conducted all the religious duties,{{Sfn|Burn|1905|p=23}} including the burial services on the Isle of the Dead and recorded them in a burial register from 1833 to 1843.Ross, 1995, p. 17 The register shows that in the cemetery's first decade, 90% of burials were convicts and 90% were younger than 40 years old of which 39 were children from Point Puer boys' reformatory prison.Ross, 1995, p. 15 Over 50% of the convicts buried were labourers with the remaining mostly shoemakers, carpenters and sawyers for the timber industry. Free people buried on the island were 1 government official, 7 soldiers, 7 seamen, an officer's wife and 9 children.Ross, 1995, p. 16

The Wesleyan burial register indicates that four women were buried on the island.Ross, 1995, p. 20 In addition to this number, an elderly aboriginal woman may also have been buried on the isle in 1833. In a diary entry by Lady Jane Franklin, she describes the elder dying while journeying on the government brig, Tamar, on its way to Hobart, and her burial undertaken during the boat's layover at Port Arthur.{{Sfn|Weidenhofer|1990|p=117}} Catholic and Church of England ministers replaced the Wesleyan missionary in 1843. The only remaining burial record from 1843 to the closure of the cemetery are the Church of England's register kept from 1850 to 1864.

=Causes of death=

From the existing records most burials on the Isle of the Dead were a result of death caused by disease. Convicts arrived to the colony from the unsanitary and overcrowded conditions of the hulks and gaols and experienced nutritional deficiency.Bateson, 1969, as cited in Ross, 1995, p. 42 In the early years illness such as dysentery, enteritis and fever were the main causes of death followed by respiratory disease and epidemics spreading through the colony. There were also a significant number of deaths from accidents, murder and suicide.Ross, 1995, pp. 38–58

=Gravediggers=

File:MarkJeffreyConvict.jpg (1825–1894). Convict gravedigger for Isle of the Dead, who wrote a published autobiography about his life, including his time as a prisoner in Port Arthur.]]There are two known gravediggers who lived and worked on the Isle of the Dead during its time as a penal colony. The first was John Barron, an Irish convict who lived and worked on the island for more than 10 years until pardoned in 1874.Lord, 1990, p. 10{{Cite book|last=Trollope|first=A|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015010728460&view=1up&seq=13|title=Australia and New Zealand.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-1-107-33813-5|location=Cambridge University|pages=150–151|doi=10.1017/CBO9781107338135|via=Babel.Hathitrust.org}} The second was Mark Jeffrey, an English convict who volunteered for the job as gravedigger and lived on the isle from Mondays to Saturdays and returned to the Port Arthur settlement to attend Sunday church services. He was the gravedigger until the penal colony's closure in April 1877, then transferred to Hobart Town prison.{{Cite book|last1=Jeffrey|first1=M|url=http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/183230|title=A Burglar's Life, or, The Stirring Adventures of the Great English Burglar Mark Jeffrey: A thrilling history of the dark days of convictism in Australia. Tales of the Early Days.|last2=Burke|first2=J|publisher=J. Walch & Sons.|year=1900|location=Hobart, Tasmania|pages=4, 116, 118|via=State Library Victoria digital library}}{{Cite web|title=The Digital Panopticon|url=https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/Jeffrey,_Mark,_1825-1903|last=Mark Jeffrey b. 1825|first=Life Archive ID obpdef1-1358-18490611|date=2020|website=Digital Panopticon|publisher=University of Oxford, Sheffield, Sussex, Tasmania}}Ross, 1995, p. 66{{Sfn|Weidenhofer|1990|p=118}}

=Structures=

The Isle of the Dead had two shelters that were constructed during its period as a penal cemetery: the gravedigger's residence which was a weatherboard hut with a wood shingled roof and brick chimney; and a shelter for funeral parties which was a latticework-sided shed located near the jetty.Lord, 1990, pp. 9, 11, 87Tropman & Gibbons, 1984, p. 6;

Sea level benchmark

File:Cut Mark in Scarborough, NO10 Royal Avenue.jpg carved into rock. Located in Scarborough, United Kingdom.|alt=|thumb|219x219px]]In 1841 Captain James Clark Ross, on his Southern Antarctic expedition, undertook scientific excursions on the Tasman Peninsula. Accompanied by Lieutenant-Governor John Franklin, he visited Port Arthur. One reason for this visit was to establish a permanent sea level benchmark based on tidal observations initiated by Franklin and continued by Thomas James Lempriere, Deputy Assistant Commissary General of Port Arthur.{{Cite journal|last1=Pugh|first1=D|last2=Hunter|first2=J|last3=Coleman|first3=R|last4=Watson|first4=C|date=2002|title=A comparison of historical and recent sea level measurements at Port Arthur, Tasmania|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255597658|journal=International Hydrographic Review|series=3|volume=3|pages=2, 6|via=ResearchGate}}{{Sfn|Ross|1847|pp=22–24}}

Lempriere had taken on the duties of recording meteorological and tidal observations following the drowning of the Surveyor for the Royal Navy, Lieutenant Thomas Burnett in May 1837.Pugh et al., 2002, p. 3 He recorded observations with a thermometer, water barometer, rain and tide gauge from 1 July 1837 to 30 June 1841.Lord, 1990, p. 18 These charts were then sent to the Royal Society through the Colonial Office.Pugh et al., 2002, p. 8

Captain Ross describes in his book, A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions during the Years 1839–43, that the Isle of the Dead was chosen for the placement of the benchmark as it was near to the tide register. The benchmark was then struck following Franklin giving Lempriere the workers he needed to have the mark cut deeply in the rock where Lempriere's "tidal observations indicated as the mean level of the ocean".{{Sfn|Ross|1847|pp=22–24}}

The benchmark was carved into a north facing vertical rock on the Isle of the Dead on 1 July 1841.{{Cite journal|last1=Hunter|first1=J|last2=Coleman|first2=R|last3=Pugh|first3=D|date=2003|title=The Sea Level at Port Arthur, Tasmania, from 1841 to the Present|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228535042|journal=Geophysical Research Letters|volume=30|issue=7|page=54|doi=10.1029/2002GL016813|bibcode=2003GeoRL..30.1401H|s2cid=55384210|via=ResearchGate|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last=Shortt|first=J C|date=1889|title=Notes on the Possible Oscillation of Levels of Land and Sea in Tasmania During Recent Years|url=https://eprints.utas.edu.au/15749/|journal=Royal Society of Tasmania Papers.|location=Hobart, Tasmania|page=19|via=University of Tasmania Open Access Depository}} The standard British ordnance survey benchmark of a broad arrow was used with the horizontal line measuring 50 cm across.{{Cite web|title=Testing the Waters. A Report on Sea Levels. JSCOT Submission-Section 3.|url=https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Completed_Inquiries/jsct/kyoto/sub44c|last=Daly|first=J.L.|date=2000-08-19|website=www.aph.gov.au|publisher=Parliament of Australia, Joint Standing Committee on Treaties|location=Canberra, ACT, Australia|language=en-AU|access-date=2020-04-17}} A small stone tablet was also installed above the benchmark recording the date the benchmark was struck and the measurements used to determine its position.Shortt, 1889, p. 19 The tablet remained until the early 20th century when it was reported missing.Lord, 1990, p. 19{{Cite news|date=1909-05-19|title=Dead Island, the Work of Improvement|page=3|work=The Hobart Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860–1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9982485|access-date=2020-04-15|via=TROVE National Library of Australia.}}

The Isle of the Dead benchmark, including the related surviving records up until 1848, were placed on the Australian National Heritage List in June 2005 for having "exceptional historical and scientific significance in the international field of climate research".{{Cite news|last=Department of Environment & Heritage|date=2005-06-03|title=Environment Protection and Diversity Act 1999, Inclusion of Places in the National Heritage List|page=7|work=Commonwealth of Australia Special Gazette|publisher=Commonwealth of Australia|issue=s 94|url=https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/ba18eab5-1a30-4f5d-af0d-d3f555f56b83/files/105778.pdf|access-date=2020-04-09}}

The benchmark is believed to be one of the oldest sea level benchmarks installed in the world.{{Cite web|title=Sea-level Rise. Understanding the Past – Improving Projections for the future.|url=http://www.cmar.csiro.au/sealevel/sl_hist_few_hundred.html|last=Legressy|first=B|date=2017-08-29|website=www.cmar.csiro.au|publisher=CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere.|access-date=2020-04-13}} It is one of the first and few remaining early sea level measurements in existence in the Southern Hemisphere.{{Cite news|last=Haran|first=B|date=2003-02-15|title=Isle of the Dead gives up clues|language=en-GB|work=BBC News Online, World Edition, Science & Nature|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2761677.stm|access-date=2020-05-15}} It is also estimated to be the first benchmark made to measure "relative land-sea vertical movements at an ocean site". The Isle of the Dead sea level benchmark together with Lempriere's records and those taken since that time, cover the longest time span of any sea level observations in the Southern Hemisphere.Hunter et al., 2003, pp. 1–4

Early accounts

File:Marcus Clarke Sydney Writers Walk plaque.jpg plaque commemorating Marcus Clarke's novel For the Term of His Natural Life. Embedded in footpath near Overseas Passenger Terminal, Circular Quay, Sydney, Australia.|alt=]]Port Arthur and the surrounding areas and waterways were closed to the public during its time as a penal colony.{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=J.K|url=https://www.academia.edu/34948867|title=Historical Archaeology of Tourism at Port Arthur, Tasmania, 1885–1960.|journal=Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University |publisher=Unpublished PhD.Thesis|year=2016|location=Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada|page=25|access-date=2020-04-09|via=academia.edu}} Visits were expensive and could be made with government approval.{{Cite journal|last=Davidson|first=J|date=1995|title=Port Arthur: A tourist history|journal=Australian Historical Studies|volume=26|issue=105|page=653|doi=10.1080/10314619508595988}}Young, 1985, p. 38

David Burn, a Scottish settler and author, was granted permission to visit by the Colonial Secretary. He arrived by government vessel and was taken on a tour conducted by the commandant of the colony, Charles O'Hara Booth in January 1842.{{Sfn|Burn|1905|pp=13–14}}Young, 1985, p. 30 His account of his visit titled An Excursion to Port Arthur in 1842 was published in 1853 and describes the isle "picturesquely sorrowful… soothing in its melancholy". Burn recounts the stories of a number of people buried on the isle including the first buried convict, Dennis Collins and his meeting in the hospital with author and convict, Henry Savery who was later buried on Isle of the Dead.{{Sfn|Burn|1905|pp=33–34}}Jones, 2016, p. 65Goc, 2002, p. 24

Marcus Clarke, journalist and author, visited Port Arthur colony in 1870.Young 1985, p. 35 Approaching by boat he "beheld barring… passage to the prison the low grey hummocks of the Isle of the Dead".{{Cite news|last=Clarke|first=M|date=1873-07-12|title=Port Arthur No.II|page=1|work=The Argus|location=Melbourne Victoria|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5867137|via=TROVE National Library of Australia.}} His book titled For the Term of His Natural Life was published in 1872 and reflects his research on convictism from this trip and includes the Isle of the Dead as one of its locations.{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |last=Elliott|first=Brian|title=Clarke, Marcus Andrew (1846–1881) |url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/clarke-marcus-andrew-3225 |access-date=2020-05-15}} This book was made into a number of films and Port Arthur was used as a filming location in 1908 and 1926.{{Cite web|title=For the Term of his Natural Life in Film.|url=https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/F/For%20the%20term%20of%20his%20natural%20life%20on%20film.htm|last=Roe|first=M|date=2006|website=The Companion to Tasmanian History|publisher=Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies|location=Hobart. Tasmania|access-date=2020-04-09}}

Anthony Trollope, an English author, visited the Isle of the Dead in 1872. His book titled Australia and New Zealand published in 1873, describes the isle and his meeting with convict gravedigger John Barren.{{Sfn|Weidenhofer|1990|p=118}}

Mark Jeffrey, an English convict, was an Isle of the Dead gravedigger. Following release from prison on a ticket of leave and due to ill health and poverty he was transferred to the Invalid Depot in Launceston, Tasmania. From here, Jeffrey, being illiterate, narrated his life story including his time at Port Arthur colony, which was published in a book in 1893 and 1900, titled A Burglar's Life; or the Stirring Adventures of the Great English Burglar, Mark Jeffrey: A thrilling history of the dark days of convictism in Australia.{{Sfn|Weidenhofer|1990|p=118}} File:Anthony Trollope Sydney Writers Walk plaque.jpg plaque commemorating Anthony Trollope's book Australia and New Zealand. Embedded in footpath near Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Circular Quay, Sydney, Australia|alt=]]

Conservation and tourism

=Early tourism=

Tourism began within six months of Port Arthur's closure as a penal settlement in 1877.Jones, 2016, p. iii By 1880 Port Arthur had a tourist centre running organised tours.{{Cite web|title=History of the Tasman Peninsula|url=https://www.tasman.tas.gov.au/tourism/local-history/|last=Tasman Council|date=2020|website=Tasman Council|publisher=Service Tasmania|location=Nubeena, Tasmania|language=en-AU|access-date=2020-04-14}} It grew gradually from local people to arrivals from Melbourne and Sydney.Jones, 2016, p. 35Young, 1985, pp. 17, 45 By the 1890s tourist excursions were being regularly run in summer by steamship companies departing from Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney as land infrastructure was not fully developed.Young, 1985, pp. 47, 81 Despite tourism growth to Port Arthur, visits to Isle of the Dead were reduced as it was offshore and required the hiring of a boat.Jones, 2016, p. 319

Material remains of historical tourism is evident by a watercolour of Isle of the Dead by Ebenezer Wake Cook, commissioned by the Duke of Edinburgh during his visit to Tasmania in January 1868.{{Cite web|title=Island of the Dead, Port Arthur|url=https://stors.tas.gov.au/144584927|last=Cook|first=E.W|date=c. 1868|website=Libraries Tasmania's Online Collection|publisher=Archive and Heritage Office|location=Tasmania|type=Painting, watercolour|access-date=2020-04-20}} It is also seen in photographic postcards, from 1905 by photographers such as John Watt Beattie,Jones, 2016, pp. 116, 118{{Cite web|title=Among the Tombs, Dead Island, Port Arthur|url=http://collectionsearch.nma.gov.au/object/32098/print|last=Beattie|first=J. W|date=n.d.|website=Collection Explorer, National Museum of Australia|series=Joseph Lebovic Gallery Collection No.1|publisher=National Museum of Australia|location=Hobart, Tasmania|language=en|type=Photographic Postcard|access-date=2020-04-13}} and postcards printed from 1905 to 1921 by J. Walch and Son. McVitty and W.J. Little.Jones, 2016, pp. 118, 126 The first image recorded of Isle of the Dead was by Catherine Augusta Mitchell who pencilled a sketch of her children's burial place around 1845.Lord, 1990, p. 77

In 1887 Isle of the Dead together with Point Puer were sold as private land to Thomas White as Lot 7378 until acquired by the Tasmanian government in 1915.Tropman & Gibbons, 1984, p. 6 It is unknown what the isle was used for during this time. Point Puer, part of the same allotment, was used for farming purposes until the 1960s.Doyle et al., 2008, p. 29

=Erosion and vandalism=

Damage has occurred to the island from erosion. In 1879 a large part of the isle collapsed on the eastern side leaving graves exposed at the cliff edge.Doyle et al., 2002, p. 32Lord, 1990, p. 2 Government grants to restore gravestones and remove overgrowth in 1892 and the removal of almost all vegetation in 1933 exposed the isle to weather causing severe erosion to the island and cemetery.{{Sfn|Weidenhofer|1990|p=119}}Doyle et al., 2002, pp. 7, 33Thorn & Piper, 1996, p. 5Tropman & Gibbons,1984, pp. 6–7 From 1938 a memorial garden was established using native and exotic plants and headstones were repaired with cement.Lord, 1990, pp. 2–3

Destruction also occurred from recurring vandalism to the cemetery's monuments.{{Cite news|date=1910-01-07|title=Dead Island.|page=8|work=The Hobart Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 – 1954)|location=Hobart, Tasmania|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10049864|access-date=2020-04-14|via=TROVE National Library of Australia.}}{{Cite news|date=1913-11-18|title=Vandalism at Dead Island.|page=4|work=The Hobart Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860–1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10307371|access-date=2020-04-14|via=TROVE National Library of Australia.}} Tourists arrived by steamship on cheap day tickets and removed relics as souvenirs.Young, 1985, pp. 7, 238, 293   This was able to continue, as there was a general lack of funds and protective measures in place, until the 1970s.Young, 1985, p. 7

=Conservation and tourism development=

In 1916 the Tasmanian government established the Scenery Preservation Board, which acquired Isle of the Dead and listed it as a Scenic Reserve.Doyle et al., 2002, p. 7Tropman & Gibbons,1984, p. 8 With a rapid increase in tourism following World War II, this board established the Port Arthur Scenic Reserves Board, which developed a scenic attraction by clearing overgrowth and planting trees.Goc, 2002, p. 25 The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) took over the management of the isle in 1971 and introduced conservation methods to minimise further erosion by removing exotic species and planting native trees to act as wind breaks to protect the headstones. They also restored monuments with concrete and mortar.

From the 1970s tourism was promoted through "Isle of Dead Tours" facilitated by a new jetty and boat trip on the O'Hara Booth departing from Port Arthur's Mason Cove. These tours were not guided and attempts to limit tourist movements were made by pathways and chains around headstones.

The Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority (PAHSMA) has managed the Isle of the Dead from 1987. PAHSMA receives government funding and generates further revenue through tourism.Godden et al., p. 87 This revenue has funded conservation and heritage activities such as: maritime research uncovering artefacts of convict boat transport, old jetty and moorings on the Isle of the Dead's coastline;Godden et al., p. 32 monitoring headstone deterioration and restorations;Thorn & Piper, 1996, p. 8{{Cite web|title=Conservation Projects and Programs|url=https://portarthur.org.au/heritage-management/conservation-projects-programs/|last=PAHSMA|date=2020|website=Portarthur.org.au|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-15}} and, geophysical investigations of the layout and physical characteristics of the burial ground.

Conservation schemes have focused on minimising the impact of tourism on the cemetery by construction of barriers and walkways.Thorn & Piper, 1996, p. 7 Limiting access by offering only guided tours and alternative activities such as boat only trips and night-time tours of Point Arthur.Thorn & Piper, 1996, p. 6 At the same time, funding projects have increased tourist accessibility through building new jetties at Mason Cove and Isle of the Dead and improving walkways and viewing platforms.

PAHSMA, under its conservation aims, succeeded in having Isle of the Dead, as part of the Port Arthur Historic Site, inscribed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register in 1995 and Australian National Heritage List in 2005 for its historic and cultural significance, giving it protection under the Environment and Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999.Doyle et al, 2002, p. 65 PAHSMA also succeeded in having the site listed with UNESCO as a World Heritage Property on 31 July 2010 making it one of 11 Australian Convict Sites representing convictism and its development in the punishment of crime.{{Cite book|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191823534.001.0001/acref-9780191823534|title=Dictionary Plus Social Sciences|date=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-182353-4|language=en-US|doi=10.1093/acref/9780191823534.001.0001}}

File:Port Arthur, Tasmania - panoramio.jpg

Graves

File:Henry Savery memorial stone, Isle of the Dead, Tasmania.jpg (1791–1842) Memorial Stone, Isle of the Dead|upright]]

  • Collins, Dennis. (? – 1833) Convict buried in 1833 aged 58. He was an English disabled pauper and retired sailor, transported for life for throwing a stone at the King. His cause of death was suicide by refusing food.{{Sfn|Burn|1905|p=33}}Lord. 1990, pp. 5–6
  • Eastman, Reverend George. (? – 25 April 1870). He was the Church of England chaplain for the Port Arthur penal colony from January 1855 to April 1870. He was known as the "good parson" and in April 1870, although unwell with a cold, visited an ill convict in an outstation. He died two days later and was interred in a raised sandstone vault on 28 April 1870.  The inscription on the vault marks his age as 51 years old and the Port Arthur burial register records his age as 50 years old. Following his death the local diocese ran an appeal for his wife and 10 children.Lord, 1990. pp. 42–43{{Cite news|date=1870-05-02|title=The Late Rev. George Eastman|page=3|work=The Hobart Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860–1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8863889|access-date=2020-04-18|via=TROVE National Library of Australia}}{{Cite web|title=Rev George Eastman|url=https://portarthur.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/People-of-the-Port-Arthur-Convict-ra1.pdf|last=PAHSMA|date=2017|website=portarthur.org.au|page=7}}
  • Savery, Henry. (1791–1842). A convict and Australia's first novelist with The Hermit of Van Dieman's Land, published under a pseudonym in 1829 and Quintus Servinton published in 1831. He was buried on Isle of the Dead in 1842.{{Cite web|title=Henry Savery, Quintus Servinton|url=https://www.utas.edu.au/library/exhibitions/quintus/index.html|last=University of Tasmania|date=1999|website=www.utas.edu.au|publisher=Online Library Exhibition|access-date=2020-04-28}}{{Cite web|title=Henry Savery|url=https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/S/Savery.htm|last=Roe|first=M|date=2006|website=The Companion to Tasmanian History|publisher=Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies|location=Hobart, Tasmania|access-date=2020-04-28}}{{Sfn|Burn|1905|pp=26-27}}{{Cite news|last=Hendy-Fooley|first=G|date=1933-09-12|title=Barron Field|page=6|work=Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842–1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17006400|access-date=2020-05-10}} A memorial plaque was placed over his grave in 1978 and in 1992 the Fellowship of Australian Writers replaced the plaque with a memorial stone marking the 150th anniversary of Savery's death. The stone's inscription describes his book, crimes of forgery, imprisonment and death.{{Cite journal|last=Xerri|first=D|date=2018|title=Dark and literary: A tour to the Isle of the Dead|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329520739|journal=Journal of Language and Cultural Education|publisher=University of Malta|volume=6|issue=2|page=126|via=ResearchGate|doi=10.2478/jolace-2018-0020|doi-access=free}}

See also

References

{{reflist}}

Bibliography

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  • Pugh, D. Hunter, J. Coleman, R. Watson, C. (2002). A Comparison of Historical and Recent Sea Level Measurements at Port Arthur, Tasmania. International Hydrographic Review. 3(3), 13. Retrieved 2020-04-11 [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255597658_A_comparison_of_historical_and_recent_sea_level_measurements_at_Port_Arthur_Tasmania https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255597658_A_comparison_of_historical_and_recent_sea_level_measurements_at_Port_Arthur_Tasmania]
  • Roe, M. (2006). For the Term of his Natural Life in Film. The Companion to Tasmanian History. Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies. Hobart. Tas. Retrieved 2020-04-09 [https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/F/For%20the%20term%20of%20his%20natural%20life%20on%20film.htm https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/F/For%20the%20term%20of%20his%20natural%20life%20on%20film.htm]
  • Roe, M. (2006). Henry Savery. The Companion to Tasmanian History. Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies. Hobart. Tas. Retrieved 2020-04-09 [https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/S/Savery.htm https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/S/Savery.htm]
  • {{Cite book |last=Ross|first=J. C. |year=1847 |title=A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions, During the Years 1839–43|location=London |volume=2 |pages=22–32 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/936174|publisher=John Murray}}
  • Ross, L. (2006). Isle of the Dead. Companion to Tasmanian History. (1st ed.) Centre for Historical Tasmanian Studies. Hobart, Tasmania: University of Tasmania. (Vol.1). Retrieved 2020-04-09 [https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/I/Isle%20of%20the%20Dead.htm https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/I/Isle%20of%20the%20Dead.htm]
  • Ross, L. (1995). Death and Burial at Port Arthur, 1830–1877 (Honours thesis). University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania. University of Tasmania Open Access Depository. Retrieved 2020-04-09 [https://eprints.utas.edu.au/16257/ https://eprints.utas.edu.au/16257/]
  • Shortt, J. C. (1889). Notes on the Possible Oscillation of Levels of Land and Sea in Tasmania During Recent Years. Royal Society of Tasmania Papers, Hobart, Tasmania. 18–20. University of Tasmania Open Access Depository. Retrieved 2020-04-09 [https://eprints.utas.edu.au/15749/ https://eprints.utas.edu.au/15749/]
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  • Xerri, D. (2018). Dark and Literary: a Tour to the Isle of the Dead. Journal of Language and Cultural Education (6)2, 126–143. University of Malta, Malta. {{doi|10.2478/jolace-2018-0020}} Retrieved 2020-05-05 [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329520739_Dark_and_literary_A_tour_to_the_Isle_of_the_Dead https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329520739_Dark_and_literary_A_tour_to_the_Isle_of_the_Dead]

Further reading

=Convictism=

  • Clarke, M. (1874) [https://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=For_the_Term_of_His_Natural_Life&oldid=7400523 For the Term of His Natural Life]
  • Howard, R. (2011). A Forger's Tale: The Extraordinary Story of Henry Savery, Australia's First Novelist, Melbourne, Australia: Arcade Publications. {{ISBN|978-0-9871714-8-1}}
  • Savery, H. (1830). [https://www.utas.edu.au/library/exhibitions/quintus/documents/quintus_bookman.pdf Quintus Servinton]
  • Savery, H. (1829).[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-115925908/view?partId=nla.obj-115958970#page/n23/mode/1up The Hermit in Van Diemen's Land]

=Sea level benchmark=

  • Ellis, W. F. (1967). [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020092b.htm Lempriere, Thomas James (1796–1852), public official, author and artist]
  • Parker, A. (2015). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276082797_The_Isle_of_The_Dead_Benchmark_the_Sydney_Fort_Denison_Tide_Gauge_and_the_Ipcc_Ar5_Chapter_13_Sea_Levels_Revisited The Isle of the Dead Benchmark, the Sydney Fort Denison Tide Gauge and the IPCC AR5]

= Cemetery =

  • {{Find a Grave cemetery}}
  • [https://eheritage.libraries.tas.gov.au/ Isle of the Dead gravestone inscriptions]
  • [https://portarthur.org.au/tour/isle-of-the-dead/ Port Arthur Historic Site, Isle of the Dead Tour]

= Early images =

  • [http://www.utas.edu.au/library/exhibitions/quintus/index.html Henry Savery, Australia's first novelist. University of Tasmania, Library Exhibition]
  • [https://stors.tas.gov.au/AUTAS0016125425538 Postcards of Isle of the Dead from 1870–1920]
  • [https://stors.tas.gov.au/144584927 Watercolour of Isle of the Dead] (c. 1868) painted by Ebenezer Wake Cook

{{Islands of Tasmania}}

{{World Heritage Sites In Australia}}

{{Convicts in Australia}}{{Authority control}}

Category:1833 establishments in Australia

Category:Australian Aboriginal cultural history

Category:Australian Convict Sites

Category:Australian penal colonies

Category:Burial monuments and structures in Australia

Category:Cemeteries in Tasmania

Category:Nature conservation

Category:Convictism in Tasmania

Category:Historic sites in Tasmania

Category:Islands of Tasmania

Category:Sea level

Category:Tasman Peninsula

Category:Tasmanian Heritage Register

Category:Tasmanian literature

Category:World Heritage Sites in Australia