Wednesday 19 June, 2013
Five generations and a farm ~ an insight into 'Cascades' at Koonya
presented by Don Clark
Don has lived on the property at Cascades for many years. He will give an insight not only into the property as a convict station, and later as an orchard and farm from 1842 to the present, but also a brief history of five generations of the Clark family who have lived and worked there, including links to early life on the Tasman Peninsula.
Born at the old Koonya hospital, and educated at Koonya State School and as a boarder at Friends School, Don worked on the orchard with his father which employed up to 20 during the fruit season, until taking over at age 25. Involved in community activities such as football, badminton, golf, the Koonya fire brigade, Taranna boat club, Koonya Hall Committee, Rotary, 9 years as a Tasman Councillor including Deputy Mayor and a J.P., he has also built a boat, circumnavigated Tasmania, and sailed to Queensland, living on the boat for 5 months. With the help of family and skilled persons, the remaining buildings of the Cascades Probation Station have been restored and turned into a Bed and Breakfast, a museum, and a reception centre.
ALL WELCOME
Wednesday 19 June, 2013, 5.30pm at the Junior Medical Officer’s Conference Room, Port Arthur Historic Site
For more information call 6251 2324
Port Arthur Talk leaflet - Don Clark
Thursday 29 August, 2013
'The Unfortunates': Prostitutes transported to Van Diemens Land
presented by Chris Leppard
Since historians first began to mine the records of the 160,000 men, women and children who were transported to the Australian colonies, the mention of prostitution has titillated researchers and the general public. Highly visible and public, unlike the pickpocket, smuggler, extortionist or forger, each of whom strove to be invisible, the prostitute relied on her visibility to earn a living. Unlike her secretive companions the prostitute’s activity was not illegal, yet her visibility made her a convenient scapegoat for many of the fears and failings of contemporary society.
In the 1970s the female convict was reinvented as a hardworking family maker and the label of ‘prostitute’ was reserved for a few marginalized, debauched incorrigibles. That attempt to exonerate the reputation of the majority, firmly positioned the prostitute as an outcast.
The label of ‘prostitute’ on the convict records has been accepted as a sign of immorality or ‘badness’. Women were questioned about prostitution, as their replies were recorded but historians have failed to ask, ‘Why was the question posed, and why was their affirmation recorded?’ From their arrest in Britain until their freedom in Van Diemen's Land the label remained fixed on some women’s records. To what use was that information put, and how significant was it in determining outcomes for the women?
Chris Leppard recently completed her PhD at the University of Tasmania. She was involved in the 2007 archaeological dig at the Ross Female Factory and has worked as a guide at Port Arthur. She is currently employed as a history researcher at the University of Tasmania.ALL WELCOME
Thursday 29 August, 2013, 5.30pm at the Junior Medical Officer’s Conference Room, Port Arthur Historic Site
For more information call 6251 2324
Port Arthur Talk leaflet - Chris Leppard
Wednesday 18 September, 2013
Roses from the heart: a tribute to convict women
presented by Dr Christina Henri
Tasmanian artist Christina Henri is using art as a meaningful tool to tell the stories of our past and bring focus to heritage sites, especially the Cascades Female Factory Historic Site. This presentation tells us the how, why and where about Roses from the Heart – the first memorial to ALL women sentenced to transportation as convicts to Australia 1788-1853.
Beginning as a memorial art installation based on the colonial bonnet which pays tribute to the contribution paid to colonial society by convict women, it has grown to become a collection of over 23,000 bonnets made by descendants and interested individuals alike. Christina will share stories of her visits to Ireland with Roses from the Heart in 2010, 2012 and 2013.
Christina Henri completed her PhD in visual and performing arts through the University of Tasmania in 2011. She has been Honorary Artist-in-Residence at the Cascades Female Factory Historic Site since 2003, and has been involved in numerous art installations and exhibitions in recent years that involve acknowledgement of convict women. This year she was inscribed on the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women.
ALL WELCOME
Wednesday 18 September, 2013, 5.30pm at the Junior Medical Officer’s Conference Room, Port Arthur Historic Site
For more information call 6251 2324
Port Arthur Talk leaflet - Christina Henri
Wednesday 23 October, 2013
Convict backgrounds: New developments in economic and social history research
presented by Prof. Pam Sharpe
This presentation will review new research findings for the economic and social history of Britain circa 1800-1850, and look at how this impacts on our understanding of convict lives prior to their transportation.
Pam Sharpe trained at the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, University of Cambridge, then was a post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Essex before becoming Lecturer in Social and Economic History at the University of Bristol. She was Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia and has held the position of Professor of History in the School of Humanities at the University of Tasmania since 2006.
ALL WELCOME
Wednesday 23 October, 2013, 5.30pm at the Junior Medical Officer’s Conference Room, Port Arthur Historic Site
For more information call 6251 2324
Port Arthur Talk leaflet - Pam Sharpe
Wednesday 27 November, 2013
Prisoners or servants: A history of the legal status of Britain's transported convicts
presented by Alan Brooks
More details soon.