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Convicts were transported from Great Britain to Australia in the 1800's as a way of getting rid of "undesirables" from England. Many of the convicts
were convicted of petty crimes and they ended up in Tasmania, on the mainland of Australia and also on Norfolk Island. Port Arthur Historic Site, located on the Tasman Peninsula, one and a half hours
from Hobart, began life as a small timber station in the 1830's and then became Australia's most significant convict site. Today it is a mixture of intact buildings and ruins. The site
was created with convict labor and the impressive architecture, gardens and chilling prison facilities make for a full day tour from Hobart. Here you will see how the convicts, soliders,
officials and their wives and families lived and died more than 150 years ago. A trip to Port Arthur is an eerie walk back into Australian history.
The 1853 cessation of transportation resulted in fewer transportees arriving at Port Arthur. However, it was one of the few
secondary punishment stations operating in the colonies that still received prisoners that were already in the system and was the most famous penal site in Australia.
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