Convict-Era Port Arthur cover art

Convict-Era Port Arthur

Misery of the Deepest Dye

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Convict-Era Port Arthur

By: David W. Cameron
Narrated by: Ant Neate
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About this listen

Detailing the development of the prison and its outlying stations, including its dreaded coal mines and providing an account of the changing views to convict rehabilitation, Convict-Era Port Arthur focuses in on a number of individuals, telling the story through their eyes. Charles O'Hara Booth, a significant commandant of Port Arthur; Mark Jeffrey, a convict who became the grave digger on the Island of the Dead and William Thompson, who arrived just as the new probation system started and who was forced to work in the treacherous coal mines.

Convict-Era Port Arthur will for the first time provide a comprehensive history of Port Arthur, its horrors and its changing role over a 50-year period. In gripping detail, using the experiences and words of the convicts, soldiers and administrators who spent time there, David W. Cameron brings to life these deeply miserable days.

©2021 David W. Cameron (P)2021 Penguin Random House Australia Australia, New Zealand & Oceania Oceania Social Sciences
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Decided to listen to this as I had a visit to the Port Arthur pending. Thoroughly researched, which did create elements of repetition. Very interesting, however.

Interesting

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Great informative book, well narrated. A must read for any interested colonial history especially Tasmania.

Interesting history that shouldn’t be forgotten

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I’ve been fascinated with the convict system since I was a child, growing up through the Australian bicentennial and the discovery of an ancestor who was at Port Arthur and other parole stations for 12 years. This book is close to the heart and by the end you are mentally drained by the misery it depicts but have a better understanding of the Australian psyche of survival and success. Truly amazing!

Heart wrenching

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written in such a way that it was difficult at times actually seeing yourself they're watching the horror thank you to the narrator and all that other for doing this history of Australia's past justice

truly eye-opening

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It was interesting learning the history of Tasmania’s colonial past, so brutal in those days, excellently narrated

Interesting brutal history

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the reader has a habit of pausing this at time makes the flow of the story a bit disjointed. that said this is a great read very much worth the time and effort.

A great worthwhile read

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Solid content, referenced and informative. Good (if dry) performance. Covers a great deal in what feels like a short time, so certain periods tend to fly past, while others (where a particular source wrote of the settlement at length) is much more considered. My sense is that this tends towards the academic approach, with windows into experience through a focus on particular sources, rather than personal journeys. That was what I was after, so a great read!

Detailed and thoughtful

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This book would have absolutely benefitted from some accompanying material - maps, illustrations, statistics and timelines. The information was thorough and followed a chronological order, however it may have been more beneficially ordered by site (Port Arthur, the Coal Mines, Point Puer, etc) as the jumping around was hard to follow what point each site was at. My favourite parts of the book were the excerpts from correspondence and journals.
I enjoyed the voice of the narrator, but the performance was let down by mispronunciations, deep inhales at the start of most paragraphs, and strange breaks that I can only assume were page ends.
I'm going to Port Arthur next month and hope the book will make more sense on a repeat read afterwards.

Well Researched, Average Narration.

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