Port Arthur is one of Australia's greatest destinations. There are a lot of ghost stories about Port Arthur, that is.. if you believe in ghost and spirits. Every building, every feature of Port Arthur Historic Site has a story to tell.

Many hundreds have died in Port Arthur because of bad conditions, slave labour and other reasons.

Researched Facts:

• Port Arthur was a very harsh prison on the island of Tasmania in Australia.
• From 1833 - 1850s, Port Arthur was a destination for the hardest of convicted British and Irish criminals, those who were secondary offenders having re-offended after their arrival in Australia.
• It contains one of the best examples of a "Separate Prison" system based on that at Pentonville prison in London, The Separate Prison (or sometimes known as The Model Prison). It signalled a shift from physical punishment to psychological punishment. Under this system of punishment the "Silent System" was implemented in the building. Here prisoners were hooded and made to stay silent, this was supposed to allow time for the prisoner to reflect upon the actions which had brought him there.
• Ironically, Port Arthur was the pin-up for many of the penal reform movement, despite shipping, housing and slave-labour use of convicts being as harsh, or worse, than others stations around the nation.
• Port Arthur was also the destination for juvenile convicts, receiving many boys, some as young as nine arrested for stealing toys. The boys were separated from the main convict population and kept on Point Puer, the British Empire's first boys' prison. Like the adults, the boys were used in hard labour such as stone cutting and construction.

Inescapable Prison

Port Arthur had some of the newest and strictest security measures of the Australian penal system. Port Arthur was secured naturally by shark-infested waters on three sides and the 30m wide isthmus of Eaglehawk Neck that connected it to the mainland was crossed by fences and guarded by prison guards and dogs.

Port Arthur was an inescapable prison, much like the later Alcatraz Island in the United States. Some prisoners were not discouraged by this, and tried to escape. One of the most infamous incidents, simply for its bizarreness, was the escape attempt of one George "Billy" Hunt. Hunt disguised himself using a kangaroo hide and tried to flee across the Neck, but the half-starved guards on duty tried to shoot him to supplement their meager rations. When he noticed them sighting him up, Hunt threw off his disguise and surrendered, receiving 150 lashes.

To die there did not mean escape as the dead were buried on an island not far away called "Isle of the Dead". There are about 1769 convicts buried there as well as 180 free persons who passed away whilst employed at Port Arthur.

Ghost Stories

Even though the prison no longer exists today, for the past few decades, many people had claimed to have some "ghost/spirits sightings" in Port Arthur. This is why there are ghost tours during night-time, where the tour-guides bring groups of people through the remains of the prison, and relay the history and "sighting" stories by people.

A church in Tasmania.

St. George's church during night-time.

I went for the ghost tour too.. it was fun and exciting! I was scared because everything looked so spooky, and the spooky feeling was reinforced by the ghost stories related to the place.

Also part of the ghost tour - sometimes we'd stop at different places, gather and listen to the stories the tour-guide had in store for us.

Part of the prison.

This room that you see here belonged to a surgeon. I think at this part, she told us that human bodies were chopped up/dissected here on this stone table, and the gaps in between the stones was to allow blood to seep through.

This room is in the basement, and because of all the blood - it smells and they had to think of a solution. I think it was said that ashes were brought in to "absorb/soak up" the blood. The tour-guide gives us a very bad scare by stomping her feet and doing alot of hand gestures while telling the story and when she reaches the climax of the story... she made some of us scream.

Poor young boy... what a minor crime he did to be sent away like that. He probably had to steal a coat because he was cold. Instead of helping this poor little kid, they had to "educate" him by giving him such a heavy sentence. :(

This guy received a life sentence for pick-pocketing. :(

"While he was at Point Puer, Benjamin Stanton was taught how to make shoes. When he was old enough he was sent to work in Hobart. From there he tried to escape in a ship called the Abeona. He was caught and sent back to Port Arthur to work in the chain gang for a year."

"Peter Brannon threw a stone at his overseer. He was punished by being locked up in a small dark room for a whole week. He tried to cheer himself up by singing a song. But this was against orders. He was made to sit in the dark for two more days."

Port Arthur during the day.

Remainders of the place.

Me amongst the other tourists in Port Arthur.

A great historical site.

Housing and buildings in Tasmania.

A nice, peaceful little jetty.

I do not 100% believe in ghosts, but someone told me, "Never say never!" It does not matter whether you believe in ghosts or not, but these sites could still be very fun and entertaining to read:

Port Arthur Ghosts (Stories of ghost/spirits sightings in Port Arthur)

 

Paranormal Australia (Stories of ghost/spirit sightings all over Australia, including Port Arthur)

Castle of Spirits (Stories of ghost/spirit sightings all over Australia, including Port Arthur)

This and This that happened in Port Arthur can be quite spooky too.

For the next part of my Australia blog, I will show pictures from other parts of Sydney, including the Blue Mountains and the Bondi Beach! :)