Penal settlements were places of incarceration and punishment for convicts who committed serious offences after reaching New South Wales. Overview Penal colonies provided the: 'most severe "secondary" punishment (short of execution) to be inflicted on convicts'.
Full Answer
What was the purpose of penal settlements?
Some Penal settlements were places of incarceration and punishment for convicts who committed serious offences after reaching New South Wales. 'most severe "secondary" punishment (short of execution) to be inflicted on convicts'. ( Australian Encyclopaedia, 4 th ed., vol. 3, p.49).
What is a penal colony?
A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory.
What was the purpose of the Australian penal colony?
Inscribed stone honouring an Irish prisoner in the Australian penal colony of Botany Bay. A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory.
Was Newcastle the colony’s first convict settlement specifically for secondary punishment?
There is therefore little doubt that up to 1822, Newcastle was the Colony’s first and only convict settlement specifically established and run as a place of secondary punishment.
What is a secondary settlement in Australia?
Convicts who committed serious offenses were sent to secondary penal settlements such as Moreton Bay, Norfolk Island, Macquarie Harbour, or Port Arthur. At these remote stations living conditions were harsher and punishments more severe.
What was the purpose of a penal colony?
penal colony, distant or overseas settlement established for punishing criminals by forced labour and isolation from society.
Why is it called a penal colony?
The term 'penal colony' historically refers to a place used to exile prisoners and use them for labour in a remote location such as an island or a territory overseas. These were mainly developed by English and French empires.
What is a penal colony example?
A penal colony is a settlement used to hold prisoners and use them for working in part of the state's (usually colonial) territories. This is much bigger than a prison farm. A famous penal colony was Devil's Island in French Guiana.
What is another word for penal colony?
What is another word for penal colony?concentration campgulagpenitentiaryprisonstockadegaolUKjailUSlockupslammerdeath camp58 more rows
What are the 7 penal colonies?
The Bureau shall carry out its functions through its divisions and its seven (7) Penal institutions namely—New Bilibid Prisons, Correctional Institution for Women, Iwahig, Davao, San Ramon and Sablayan Prisons and Penal Farms and the Leyte Regional Prisons.
Does Russia still have penal colonies?
The corrective colony is the most common, with 705 institutions (excluding 7 corrective colonies for convicts imprisoned for life) in 2019 across the administrative divisions of Russia. There were also 8 prisons, 23 juvenile facilities, and 211 pre-trial facilities in 2019.
Is Alcatraz a penal colony?
Although it operated for only three decades, The Rock remains fixed in the American psyche as the ultimate penal colony—thanks in part to Hollywood films such as the Clint Eastwood classic Escape from Alcatraz.
What do you mean by penal?
Definition of penal 1 : of, relating to, or involving punishment, penalties, or punitive institutions. 2 : liable to punishment a penal offense. 3 : used as a place of confinement and punishment a penal colony.
Which state began as a penal colony?
The British Empire used North America as a penal colony through a system of indentured service; North America's province of Georgia was originally established for such purposes.
When was the first penal colony?
Seeking to pre-empt the French colonial empire from expanding into the region, Britain chose Australia as the site of a penal colony, and in 1787, the First Fleet of eleven convict ships set sail for Botany Bay, arriving on 20 January 1788 to found Sydney, New South Wales, the first European settlement on the continent ...
What is a penal colony in Russia?
A corrective colony (Russian: исправительная колония (ИК), romanized: ispravitelnaya koloniya) is the most common type of prison in Russia and some post-Soviet states. Such colonies combine penal detention with compulsory work.
Was America originally a penal colony?
The British Empire used North America as a penal colony through a system of indentured service; North America's province of Georgia was originally established for such purposes. British convicts would be transported by private sector merchants and auctioned off to plantation owners upon arrival in the colonies.
When was the first penal colony?
Seeking to pre-empt the French colonial empire from expanding into the region, Britain chose Australia as the site of a penal colony, and in 1787, the First Fleet of eleven convict ships set sail for Botany Bay, arriving on 20 January 1788 to found Sydney, New South Wales, the first European settlement on the continent ...
When did Britain use Australia as a penal settlement?
Since immediate stopgap measures proved themselves ineffective, in 1785 Britain decided to use parts of what is now known as Australia as penal settlements. So-called First Fleet soon transported first ~800 convicts and ~250 marines to Sydney Cove.
What were the penal colonies in the late 18th century?
Australian penal colonies in late 18th century included Norfolk Island and New South Wales , and in early 19th century also Van Diemen's Land ( Tasmania) and Moreton Bay ( Queensland ). Advocates of Irish Home Rule or trade unionism (the Tolpuddle Martyrs) sometimes received sentences of deportation to the Australian colonies.
What were the penal colonies in India?
In British India, the colonial government established various penal colonies. Two of the largest ones were on the Andaman Islands and Hijli. In the early days of settlement, Singapore Island was the recipient of Indian convicts, who were tasked with clearing the jungles for settlement and early public works.
What was the penal colony in the Andaman Islands?
Penal colony in the Andaman Islands (c. 1890s) With the passage of the Transportation Act 1717 , the British government initiated the penal transportation of indentured servants to Britain's colonies in the Americas.
Why was Con Dao Island used as a penal colony?
The Ottoman Empire used Fezzan as a penal colony, because it was the most remote province from then the capital city, Istanbul.
Which island was used as a penal colony during the New Order era?
Buru Island in Indonesia was used as penal colony during the New Order era to hold political prisoners. Apartheid South Africa used Robben Island as penal colony for anti apartheid activists. The Netherlands had a penal colony from the late 19th century.
Which empire used Xinjiang as a penal colony?
The Qing Empire of 1644–1912 used Xinjiang Province in north-west China as a penal colony. Imperial Russia used Siberia and Russian Far East for penal colonies ( Katorga) for criminals and dissidents. Though geographically contiguous with heartland Russia, Siberia provided both remoteness and a harsh climate.
When was the first convict settlement on Norfolk Island?
The main question is the nature and intent of the Island’s first settlement, 1788-1814. According to Nobbs’ detailed history of Norfolk Island, The first convict settlement was not originally seen as a place of secondary punishment and did not essentially function as one. (2)
Who banished the most troublesome convicts to the escape-proof island?
At first glance this would seem to end the argument, but there is a grey area. Nobbs also notes that by 1789 Governor Phillip may have been banishing the most troublesome convicts to the escape-proof Island, presumably on an unofficial basis rather than through sentence to secondary transportation by the courts.
Was Newcastle the only settlement in the colony?
Today many believe Newcastle was the Colony’s only settlement during that period specifically established and maintained for the secondary punishment of convicts. However, a Newcastle tour guide recently remarked that Norfolk Island also undertook that role during this period, and suggested it was incorrect to claim the role solely for Newcastle.
Was Newcastle a place of secondary punishment?
At the same time it is appropriate to acknowledge Norfolk Island’s apparently minor and possibly unofficial role as a place of seconda ry punishment during its first settlement.
What is penal colony?
Penal colony, distant or overseas settlement established for punishing criminals by forced labour and isolation from society. Although a score of nations in Europe and Latin America transported their criminals to widely scattered penal colonies, such colonies were developed mostly by the English, French, and Russians.
Where did England send criminals?
England shipped criminals to America until the American Revolution and to Australia into the middle of the 19th century. France established penal colonies in Africa, New Caledonia, and French Guiana (of which those in the latter, including Devil’s Island, were still operating during World War II).
What is the most common form of punishment?
Physical Punishments and their Effects. By far the commonest form of punishment was flogging and its in- cidence rose to incredible proportions at certain periods, particularly in New South Wales and in the secondary penal settlements.
What punishments did Lady Penrhyn get?
Those irrepressible, irreclaimable, virulent viragoes, the ladies in the. Lady Penrhyn, were sometimes punished with thumbscrews. Later, chains, leg-irons and spiked neck collars, introduced in 1791 for "flagrant offenders", all of varying weights, were commonplace and might be worn for almost indefinite periods.
What percentage of people bled freely in the Campbelltown trial?
Although the series was small, Campbelltown seems to have been the safest place to be flogged; only five per cent bled freely, but in most cases the back "assumed a deep purple colour . . . and there was a breach of the surface over the greater part . . . which might be termed 'raw', but no blood flowed." The magistrate conced- ed that the punishments were less severe than at Sydney, possibly because "that peculiar art in the flourish of the scourge", employed there and in the army, and adding greatly to the pain, had not been acquired at Campbelltown. Backs neither lacerated nor bleeding were described as "livid", while at the other extreme Slade noted that in one case "the skin was decidedly flayed off" after fifteen lashes, although the convict received the prescribed twenty-five without complaint. There is only passing reference to the treatment of these lesions. After twenty-five to fifty lashes, the assigned convict was expected to walk home to work on the same or following day. In some secondary establishments, the flagellated were allegedly set to work carrying lime or chained to the bar of an open pepper-grinding mill, but evidence for this kind of refined torture is not conclusive. Saline, Goulard's lotion (containing lead) and, at Moreton Bay, banana leaves are recorded-as dressings. After the harsher punishments, especially in the secondary penal establishments where the convicts must often have been malnourished, emaciated and vitamin- - deficient, admissions to hospital were frequent (ninety-seven per cent of those flogged at Port Arthur in 1840), complications must often have developed, and both immediate and delayed deaths are occa- sionally recorded. There are accounts of a convict at Port Macquarie giving the scourger his day's ration to carry him to hospital, and of convicts carrying their mates to Sydney Hospital from the triangle around the corner. Occasionally in the convict literature the sugges- tion is made that repeated severe floggings impaired the sensation of pain, but I am unsure that this would be so unless after very severe and extensive trauma. Of one man, who received 2000 lashes in three years, at Norfolk Island in the time of Foveaux it was said that his back was quite bare of flesh, and "his collar bones were exposed look- ing like two ivory polished horns". Two men, who had had 800 lashes, had backs devoid of flesh, and one was a mass of sores; the doctor decided more flogging would be injurious. The endurance of pain was surely largely psychological in the "old hands", who were not ex- pected to wince; the incidence of crying out in one series from a
What was the difference between Surgeon Balmain and Baughan?
difference of opinion. Baughan, understandably frightened, was loth to take any action, but Surgeon Balmain, in his capacity as a magistrate, urged him to take out a warrant against the intruders. This action prompted Captain John Macarthur, an argumentative and unlovable character, and his brother officers to abuse Balmain for interfering in Corps affairs. The incredible upshot of this was the noble challenge of all those gallant officers to Balmain to "give him satisfaction" in succession! Governor Hunter ultimately intervened, got an apology from Macarthur and his colleagues and pardoned all concerned, an act the Duke of Portland considered to have been weak — and rightly so, although with no support from his military establishment it is not easy to see what Hunter could have done. Bal- main was also dissatisfied, referring in 1798 to "the feeble efforts" of Hunter to restore "that system and method" which had characterised Phillip's governance. Phillip had ensured that no such florid insubor- dination could take place, possibly thus providing an example of punishment as a deterrent, but more likely it was simply the deterrent effect of firm leadership. Incidentally, it was during Hunter's gover- norship that two unusual forms of secondary punishment were employed; a man guilty of manslaughter was sentenced "to be burned on the hand and imprisoned for 12 months", while three perjurers were sentenced to stand in the pillory, "to which, as an additional punishment, their ears were to be nailed". As a further indication of the decline in morality and penal discipline after Philip, one may note that in 1800 and again in 1802 Governor King was obliged to issue a general order prohibiting officers and others from summarily horsewhipping their convict servants for "real or supposed offences". He also set the punishment for a convict striking a free man at two hundred lashes, and for a free man striking a convict at two pounds and a bond to keep the peace — an inevitable change of emphasis by comparison with Philip. Although in some respects Phillip's attitude towards secondary punishment may seem ambivalent, the measure of his success lies in the survival of the settlement in the face of extreme adversity and isolation, the installation of a will to live in the First Fleet convicts (nearly ninety per cent were alive after six years in his care) and, with some reservations concerning more recent arrivals in the Third Fleet, the relatively good behaviour of most of the convicts. Phillip would have agreed with another distinguished penal governor, George Ar- thur, that the prevention of crime amongst convicts was better achieved by "affording them no opportunities for indulgence" than by inflicting harsh punishments: "I do not imagine that any severity, .. . that any system of punishment whatever, will deter men from crime
What would happen if justice took its course inexorably?
In future, justice would take its course inexorably and crimes, such as the theft of provisions, would inevitably be punished with death. This was at variance with his view on capital punishment before the Fleet set sail: "Death", he wrote, "I should think would never be necessary.".
Was mortality lower during the first settlement of Sydney?
The truth is that the mortality was never lower than during the protracted periods of semi-starvation in the first settlement at Sydney. Mortality was confined to selected groups and selected periods and it was not due to starvation, nor to any single, specific disease.
Did corporal punishment prevent crime?
cient evidence, not only expert opinion but also statistical and biographical data, to indicate that corporal punishment did not pre- vent crime in Australian penal establishments, whatever its alleged prophylactic value in a "normal" community. As far as I know, nobody in Australia objected to flogging on the same simple grounds as Sir Charles Napier, in his essay on military law (1837): it was tor- ture "of a very unequal infliction". The most cogent evidence to in- dicate its uselessness is provided by the introduction of other methods of punishment, which certainly were torture. This related particularly to secondary penal establishments, where corrupting power was in the hands of one man remote from higher authority. Very often, these punishments were associated with flogging carried to an ex- treme, doubtless stemming from administrative frustration, but possibly contributed to by the military backgrounds of most of the commandants of secondary penal establishments. To them, flogging was a routine and accepted punishment for quite minor disciplinary breaches and they probably failed to understand the different social environments of the convict and the soldier. Alexander Maconochie, the penal reformer and former naval officer is, I believe, the only con- temporary authority to have drawn attention to this difference: "It is very remarkable how much more Prisoners are injured by flog- ging than Sailors and Soldiers. So many circumstances attending the latter sustain their self-respect, that the Evil is thus partially neutralized. Sailors also bear no Grudge against the Boatswain's mate who flogs them, even less than the Soldiers against their Drummer; the necessity of Discipline is more familiarly brought home to their Understandings, and their Instinct is thus to support it. But a Scourger amongst Prisoners is the vilest of the vile . . . the Instinct (and there is often much Reason in Instincts) is among,the whole Body against the present System of Discipline in every Form, and this one especially." It is significant that Maconochie used the term "injured" to com- prehend the psychological consequences of flogging. Maconochie may well have had in mind the oft-quoted remark of an incorrigible offender who observed to Judge Therry "When I landed here I had the heart of a man in me, but you have plucked it out and planted the heart of a brute in its stead." Therry knew the lash made men more recalcitrant; of the bushrangers in his experience there was not one "who had not been over and over again flogged before he took to the bush". As another convict put it, victims of multiple floggings "entire- ly forget themselves as men, and . . . indulge in everything that is odious and execrable". To do Governor Macquarie justice, he
Cockatoo Island Penal Establishment
- In 1839 owing to orders to discontinue transportation from New South Wales to Norfolk Island, and Lieutenant Governor Franklin's refusal to receive the transportees in Van Diemen's Land, Governor Gipps formed an establishment on Cockatoo Island for the reception of prisoners rem…
Fort Wellington (Raffles Bay) Settlement
- The settlement was established 18 June 1827 in what is now the Northern Territory and was abandoned in August 1829. It suffered the usual problems of the early northern settlements such as difficulties in supplying provisions, 'unhealthy' climate and disappointing trading opportunities with the Malays. (HRAVol 14, pp410-411).
King George's Sound Settlement
- The settlement was established 30 December 1826. It was transferred to the Swan River when James Stirling, as Lieutenant Governor, founded the colony of Western Australia in June 1829.
Newcastle Penal Settlement
- In 1801 Governor King established, at Coal River, a small settlement of soldiers and convicts to mine coal. It was abandoned in 1802, but in March 1804 Newcastle was opened as a place of punishment for 34 Irish convicts who had taken part in the Castle Hill rebellionand was placed under the command of Lieutenant Menzies. (HRA vol. 4, p.597). Newcastle became the principa…
Overview
A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to a correctional facility located in a remote location, it is more commonly used to refer to communities of prisoners overseen by wardens or governors h…
British Empire
With the passage of the Transportation Act 1717, the British government initiated the penal transportation of indentured servants to Britain's colonies in the Americas. British merchants would be in charge of transporting the convicts across the Atlantic, where in the colonies their indentures would be auctioned off to planters. Many of the indentured servants were sentenced to seven year …
France
France sent criminals to tropical penal colonies including Louisiana in the early 18th century. Devil's Island in French Guiana, 1852–1939, received forgers and other criminals. New Caledonia and its Isle of Pines in Melanesia (in the South Sea) received transported dissidents like the Communards, Kabyles rebels as well as convicted criminals between the 1860s and 1897.
The Americas
• Brazil had a prison on the island of Fernando de Noronha from 1938 to 1945.
• Gorgona Island in Colombia housed a state high-security prison from the 1950s. Convicts were dissuaded from escaping by the venomous snakes in the interior of the island and by the sharks patrolling the 30 km to the mainland. The penal colony closed in 1984 and the last prisoners were transferred to the mainland. …
Elsewhere
• Following Alexander the Great's conquering of modern day Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was used as a penal colony. Today, 18% of the population of Peshwar has Greek genetic markers.
• The Qing Empire of 1636–1912 used general-ruled provinces Jilin (Ningguta) in north-east China and Xinjiang in north-west China as penal colonies.
See also
• Alcatraz
• History of Australia
• History of Canada