The Royal Engineers in Colonial Tasmania

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The Royal Engineers in Colonial Tasmania: Peter MacFie, Institution of Engineers, Second National Conference of Engineering Heritage, Melbourne, 1985

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6p + index

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The Royal Engineers implemented changing British and colonial responses to the housing, treatment and punishment of convicts. Conflicts arose over this policy, the Royal Engineers considering many decisions wasteful. The housing of the military and the erection of defence fortifications were also under their jurisdiction. Many examples of these survive in Tasmania.
The Royal Engineers and Ordnance served in Tasmania from 1835 to the early 1870s. The extent of the involvement of the Royal Engineers in colonial construction has been overlooked until recently. This has been due to lack of understanding of the workings of British colonial administration. The removal of military records following the withdrawal of regiments in the 1860s to 1870s, the restructuring of government departments in the post-Imperial period (coupled with a haste to forget) has also obscured the function of colonial-era departments. Jim Kerr’s ‘Design for Convicts’ is the first detailed study of the Royal Engineers’ involvement in construction in the Australian penal colonies[1].
The arrival of the Royal Engineers in Van Diemen’s Land followed difficulties experienced with the Civil Engineering Department, headed by John Lee Archer, and followed a recommendation by New South Wales Governor Bourke. The previous insistence on private contractors had resulted in building delays and costs such as those experienced with the 1833 Launceston Female “House of Correction”[2].
The Royal Engineers assumed responsibility for convict and military buildings, fortifications and hospitals. From Archer’s Civil Engineering Department, were inherited the Hobart and Launceston Male Prisoners Barracks and Female Factories (Port Arthur and other penal stations), Military Barracks at Hobart (Anglesea Barracks); extant) and Launceston, plus those at New Norfolk and other inland settlements. Responsibility for hospitals also included provision for the invalid and insane.

End of extract

Footnotes from extract

[1] Kerr, J.S. (Design for Convicts, Sydney, 1984)
[2] ibid, P.94.

Index

Akers, Charles……………………………………………… 18

Akers, Henrietta (Mrs Charles)………………….. 18

Alexandra Battery……………………………………….. 19

Anglesea Barracks…………………………. 2, 7, 15, 20

Archer, John Lee………………………………….. 1, 3, 15

Barney, George………………………………………………. 3

Barrack Branch……………………………………………… 7

Battery Point………………………………………………….. 9

Booth, Charles O’Hara………………. 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Bourke, Sir Richard……………………………………….. 1

Boyd, James……………………………………… 13, 17, 18

Campbell Town…………………………………………….. 4

Carte, William……………………………………………. 6, 8

Cenotaph……………………………………………………….. 9

Chesney, Capt. Francis Rawdon…………………. 3

Chesney, Francis Rawdon…………………………. 19

Civil Engineering Department…………………….. 1

Clarke, Alexander……………………………………… 8, 9

Clarke, Lt Andrew………………………………………. 16

Clerk of Works…………………………………………. 3, 16

Coal Mines…………………………………………………. 4, 9

coal mining………………………………………………. 9, 16

Colebrook Probation Station………………………. 11

colonial administration………………………………… 1

Colonial Secretary…………………………………………. 5

Commissariat Department…………………………… 2

Commissariat Officer……………………………………. 8

Comptroller General for Convicts….. 13, 14, 17

conflict of interest………………………………………… 20

conflicts…………………………… 2, 3, 4, 14, 16, 18, 19

Convict Department………………………. 2, 3, 12, 13

convict discipline……………………………………. 8, 17

convict marine…………………………………………. 2, 14

convicts……………….. 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15

Deloraine……………………………………………………… 11

Deloraine Probation Station………………………. 11

Delves-Broughton, Col. William………………….. 3

Delves-Broughton, William……………………….. 19

Denison, Sir William…………………. 10, 15, 16, 17

Derwent River……………………………… 9, 14, 16, 19

Design for Convicts…………………………………………. 1

Despard, Col. Henry…………………………………… 18

Despard, Henrietta See Akers, Henrietta (Mrs Charles)

docks…………………………………………………………….. 16

Domain, Hobart…………………………………………… 15

Douglas, Robert……………………………… 3, 5, 15, 16

Dunrobin……………………………………………………… 16

Eaglehawk Neck……………………………………………. 4

Eardley-Wilmot, Sir John Eardley See Wilmot, Sir John Eardley

economics…………………………………. 2, 4, 12, 15, 19

education……………………………………………………… 16

Eureka Outbreak…………………………………………. 18

female factories……………………………………………… 2

Female Prison Hulk…………………………………….. 14

ferries……………………………………………………………. 16

Fingal Probation Station…………………………….. 11

Fitzroy Place………………………………………………… 12

Foreman of Works…………………………………………. 6

Fort Arthur………………………. See Queens Battery

fortifications…………………………….. 1, 9, 13, 19, 20

Franklin Square…………………………………………… 10

Franklin, Sir John…………… 4, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14

FranklinWharf…………………………………………….. 15

Geelong………………………………………………………… 12

George Town…………………………………………………. 4

gold discoveries…………………………………………… 18

Government House, Hobart……………………….. 10

granary…………………………………………………….. 8, 17

Grey, Early…………………………………………………… 15

guard houses…………………………………………………. 2

gunpowder magazines…………………………… 2, 15

Hadden, WC……………………………………………. 3, 13

Hamilton……………………………………………………… 18

Hamilton, RG………………………………. 3, 11, 13, 18

Hampton, CG………………………………………………. 13

Hampton, JS…………………………………….. 13, 14, 17

Hawkins, John…………………………………………….. 17

Hobart…………………………………………………………….. 1

Hobart Penitentiary…………………………………….. 18

Hobart Prisoners Barracks…………………………. 17

Hobart Rivulet…………………………………………….. 15

Hobart Town………………………………….. 3, 9, 14, 15

Hobart Town Prisoners Barracks………………. 12

homosexuality……………………………………….. 12, 17

Horne, Benjamin…………………………………………. 14

hospitals…………………………….. 1, 2, 10, 11, 12, 20

House of Correction……………………………………. 12

Howe, Robert…………………………………………… 3, 16

Huon River………………………………………………….. 12

Impression Bay Probation Station See Premaydena

insane accommodation………………………………… 2

Inspector General of Fortifications……………. 18

invalid accomodation…………………………………… 2

Jebb, Sir Joshua………………………………… 12, 14, 17

Jerusalem Probation Station…… See Colebrook

Kangaroo Bluff Battery……………………………. 9, 19

Kangaroo Point……………………………………………… 9

Kay, W Porden…………………………………………….. 13

Kelsall, Roger………… 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14

Kerr, Jim………………………………………………… 1, 2, 11

Kerr, Joan……………………………………………………… 18

Koonya…………………………………………………………. 11

La Trobe, Charles………………………………………….. 2

Launceston…………………… 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 13, 14

Launceston Female House of Correction……. 1

Legislative Council……………………………………… 17

Lochner, AM………………………………………………… 18

lunatic asylum…………………………………………….. 14

Macquarie Point………………………………………… 7, 9

Maria Island………………………………………………… 12

Maria Island Prisoners Barracks……………….. 17

Marlborough Probation Station…………………. 11

May, John M………………………………………………… 18

Mersey Probation Station…………………………… 11

Midland Highway………………………………………. 16

military barracks……………………………. 2, 8, 11, 15

military discipline………………………………………. 16

military gaols…………………………………………… 2, 15

military precedence………………………………………. 7

Mitchell, John………………………………………………. 14

Montague, John……………………………………………… 5

Mulgrave Battery…………………………………………… 9

nameless crime………………… See homosexuality

New Norfolk………………………… 2, 4, 7, 10, 18, 20

New Norfolk Asylum and Lunatic Hospital 10

New Norfolk Lunatic Asylum…………………… 14

New Town…………………………………………………… 14

New Wharf…………………………………………………….. 7

Norfolk Island……………………………………. 7, 13, 15

One Tree Point…………………………………………….. 19

Ordnance Branch………………………………. 2, 3, 4, 7

Ordnance Branch,…………………………………………. 4

Parkhurst juvenile prison…………………….. 10, 14

parsonage………………………………………………………. 9

Pentonville model prison…………. 10, 12, 13, 14

Point Puer…………………………………………. 4, 7, 8, 14

Port Arthur 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19

Port Arthur Prisoners Barracks…………………. 17

Port Cygnet Probation Station……………………. 12

Premaydena…………………………………………………. 11

Prince Albert Battery………. See Queens Battery

Prince of Wales Battery…………………………………. 9

prison chapels……………………………………………….. 2

prisoners barracks…………………………….. 2, 12, 17

probation stations…………………………… 11, 12, 14

probation system…………………………………………. 10

public health……………………………………………….. 16

Public Service Department…………………………. 13

Queens Battery………………………………………… 9, 10

Queens Orphanage…………………………………….. 14

Richmond………………………………………………… 4, 11

Rideau Canal, Canada……………………………….. 15

Roberts, Peter…………………………………………………. 8

Robinson, HE………………………………………………… 9

Rocky Hills Probation Station……………………. 11

Ross………………………………………………………………… 4

Royal Artillery……………………………………………….. 7

Royal Engineers…………………………………………….. 7

Royal Engineers and Ordnance…………………… 1

Royal Engineers Yard…………………………………. 15

Royal Sappers and Miners…………………………. 17

Royal Scots Fusiliers…….. 7, See 21st Regiment

Royal Society……………………………………………….. 16

Russian threat……………………………………………… 19

Safety Cove…………………………………………………… 14

Saltwater River Probation Station……………… 11

Sandy Bay……………………………………………………. 19

scandals……………………………………………………….. 18

sewerage………………………………………………………. 16

ships

H.M.S. Anson……………………………………………… 14

Layton…………………………………………………………… 3

S.S.Kangaroo……………………………………………….. 17

Simmons, Lt James………………………………………. 16

Southport Probation Station………………………. 11

Stanley, Charles…………………………………………… 16

status…………………………………………… 2, 6, 7, 13, 15

steam engine………………………………………………….. 9

Store and Cash Branch…………………………………. 7

Storekeeper…………………………………. 3, 5, 7, 15, 16

Sullivans Cove…………………………………………. 9, 15

Superintendent of Convicts………………… 4, 6, 18

surveys…………………………………………………………. 17

Tamar River…………………………………………………… 9

Tasmanian Engineer Corps……………………….. 19

The Cascades Probation Station… See Koonya

treadmill…………………………………………………………. 8

Twiss, John………………………. 3, 11, 13, 16, 17, 18

typhoid epidemic………………………………………… 10

Van Diemen’s Land………………………………………. 2

Victor, John Conway 2, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

Warren, Brevet Major Richard…………………… 19

water-mill………………………………………………………. 8

Westbury………………………………………………………… 4

Western Australia……………………………………….. 20

Wilmot, Sir John Eardley………………….. 2, 12, 13

Peter MacFie, Historian

Royal Engineers