Winner of the 2026 Dick and Joan Green Family Award for Tasmanian History.
In the early 19th century, amidst public anxiety about the threat to public order and respectability posed by juvenile offenders, over 2000 boys were transported from the streets of London to the Point Puer Boys Establishment at Port Arthur in Van Diemen's Land. There they were to be turned into productive colonial workers.
Despite the rhetoric of reform, most of the boys endured unrelenting punishment and maltreatment. For some, transportation to Point Puer became a death sentence, with 1 in 30 dying there.
Those who survived Point Puer were released into the colony semi-skilled at best, to be confronted by an unwelcoming society anxious to put its convict origins behind it. This is their story.
See Related Products below for more on Port Arthur and child convicts — order two or more titles together and we'll combine postage into one parcel.
BOOK DETAILS
Softcover book. Published 2025. 274 pages, indexed.
CONDITION
New.
DELIVERY & IN-STORE PICKUP
- Combined Shipping: Sourcing multiple titles for your Tasmanian history library? The Book Cellar offers combined flat-rate parcel delivery across Australia. Secure your books using our online checkout, or phone the bookshop directly on 03 6381 1545 to coordinate multi-volume shipping.
- Free Instore Pickup: Located in Tasmania or travelling the Midland Highway? Select "Instore Pickup" at checkout to pay no postage and collect your items directly from the counter at The Book Cellar, underneath Foxhunters Return in Campbell Town.
|
