Major Thomas Ryan (c.1790–??) soldier and penal administrator, was acting commandant of the second convict settlement at Norfolk Island, from July 1839 until the arrival of Alexander Maconochie in March 1840.
Although he regarded the convicts as having been sent to the island for punishment, he tried to give them hope of release at some future time. Rations were increased, meals inspected, and well behaved and willing convicts were allowed to maintain gardens.
The history of Norfolk Island dates back to the fourteenth or fifteenth century when it was settled by Polynesian seafarers.
Penal transportation was the relocation of convicted criminals, or other persons regarded as undesirable, to a distant place, often a colony, for a specified term; later, specifically established penal colonies became their destination. While the prisoners may have been released once the sentences were served, they generally did not have the resources to return home.
Port Arthur is a town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula, in Tasmania, Australia. It is located approximately 97 kilometres (60 mi) southeast of the state capital, Hobart.
Alexander Maconochie was a Scottish naval officer, geographer and penal reformer.
John Giles Price, was a colonial administrator in Australia. He served as the Civil Commandant of the convict settlement at Norfolk Island from August 1846 to January 1853, and later as Inspector-General of penal establishments in Victoria, during which he was "stoned to death" by angry and disgruntled prisoners.
Lieutenant Colonel James Thomas Morisset, penal administrator, was commandant of the second convict settlement at Norfolk Island, from 29 June 1829 to 1834.
Major Richard Turton was an officer of the 40th Regiment stationed at Sydney. He was selected to lead the first party of convicts in the re-establishment of the second convict settlement at Norfolk Island. The island had been abandoned since the first convict settlement was finally removed in 1814. The new settlement was intended to be the most severe settlement, where the worst convicts would be sent, without hope of escape and offering, in Governor Darling's view, "the extremest punishment short of death". With 34 soldiers, 57 convicts, and 12 soldiers' wives and children, he landed on 6 June 1825. Most of the convicts were tradesmen to clear the regrowth and prepare buildings. A treadmill was planned, but never sent.
Major Vance Young Donaldson, soldier and penal administrator, was born in Tyrone and entered the army at the age of thirteen, serving in the 57th Regiment under Wellington.
Colonel Thomas Edward Wright, soldier and penal administrator, of the 39th Regiment was the third commandant of the second convict settlement at Norfolk Island, from August 1827 to 1828.
Captain Joseph Wakefield, soldier and penal administrator, of the 39th Regiment was the acting commandant of the second convict settlement at Norfolk Island, from November 1828 to 29 June 1829.
Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Anderson, soldier and penal administrator, of the 50th Regiment, was commandant of the second convict settlement at Norfolk Island, from March 1834 to February 1839. Anderson was also a politician, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1852 to 1856.
Major Joseph Childs (1787–1870) was a British Royal Marines officer and penal administrator; he was commandant of the second convict settlement at Norfolk Island, from 7 February 1844 to August 1846.
Captain Rupert Deering, soldier and penal administrator of the 99th Regiment, was Commandant of the second convict settlement at Norfolk Island. His tenure lasted from the departure of John Price in January 1853 to September of the same year.
Captain H. Day, soldier and penal administrator, was commandant of the second convict settlement at Norfolk Island, during its last days from September 1853 to May 1855.
Thomas Samuel Stewart was the Commissariat Storekeeper at Norfolk Island when it was finally abandoned as a convict settlement. He remained on the island with five of the best behaved convicts to act as caretakers until the new settlers from Pitcairn's Island arrived on 8 June 1856.
Between 1788 and 1868 the British penal system transported about 162,000 convicts from Great Britain and Ireland to various penal colonies in Australia.
Kingston and Arthurs Vale Historic Area (KAVHA) is an old settlement on the Kingston coastal plains, southern side of Norfolk Island, consisting of a large group of buildings from the British Empire's convict era (1788–1855), now considered to be of such cultural significance to Australia and to the World that the area has been formally inscribed onto both the Australian National Heritage List and UNESCO's World Heritage list as amongst:
" .. the best surviving examples of large-scale convict transportation and the colonial expansion of European powers through the presence and labour of convicts."
The Frederick escape was an 1834 incident in which the brig Frederick was hijacked by ten Australian convicts and used to abscond to Chile, where they lived freely for two years. Four of the convicts were later recaptured and returned to Australia, where they escaped the death sentence for piracy through a legal technicality.
The Cooking Pot Uprising or Cooking Pot Riot was an uprising of convicts led by William Westwood in the penal colony of Norfolk Island, Australia. It occurred on 1 July 1846 in response to the confiscation of convicts' cooking vessels under the orders of the Commandant of the penal settlement, Major Joseph Childs.
Port Macquarie Government House Site is a heritage-listed archaeological site at 2 Clarence Street, Port Macquarie, Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1824 to 1826 by convict labour. The property is owned by Port Macquarie-Hastings Council. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 3 August 2001.