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| 25 February 2005 |
| Tasmania's Convicts |
| Learn a bit about Australian history and the many convicts that came more than hundred years ago. |
VOICE OVER: The very day we landed upon the fatal shore. The planters they stood round us full twenty score or more, They ranked us up like horses and sold us out of hand, They roped us to the plough, brave boys, to plough Van Diemen's Land. GARNEY PEARCE: They ploughed, logged, quarried, bricked and built the beginnings of a new world. John Cameron reckons we've done nothing to honour them. JOHN CAMERON: We had a chap that came into my wife's art gallery from Western Australia. He said "You people in Tasmania," he said, "you owe such a lot to the convicts and what they've done". He said "They're not glorified in any way". He said "You've got the seamy side of things, with Port Arthur and Sarah Island, which shows the other side of things." But he said "Most of them were fairly genuine people who were only sent out here because they were stealing clothes or food to look after their family". GARNEY PEARCE: John Cameron hatched a plan to pave the streets of Campbell Town with engraved bricks carrying the name of every convict who ever came ashore in Tasmania. At least 68,000 of them, at first in a single line down the main street. How long will that run for? JOHN CAMERON: Well, when it gets finalised it'll go for about 16km, about 10 miles. GARNEY PEARCE: While Tasmania's bicentenary begins next year, John Cameron didn't hold out his hand out for a grant. He's looking for the descendants to pay $35 to sponsor a brick to build the audacious 10-year plan. Author Jeff Duncombe is Campbell Town born and bred. He's managed to trace 12 convict ancestors in his family tree. At a time when Australia is again grappling with the idea of boat people landing here, the convict trail might be a timely reminder. Jeff Duncombe says it will help us connect and bind us together. GEOFF DUNCOMBE: I think it's a bold scheme but I think it's a very brilliant one, yes. GARNEY PEARCE: Thousands of descendants are invited to Campbell Town in February for the opening of the first section of the convict trail. John Cameron says already the idea is proving to be a runaway success. JOHN CAMERON: It's going to be one big family reunion. |
story notes |
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landed got off the boat fatal shore Fatal means deadly, but here it is used with the additional sense of fateful, meaning controlled by fate. The shore is the coast, or the land that meets the sea. When the poet talks about landing on the fatal shore, he means landing at a place that it is their very unfortunate fate or destiny to be and where they realise they are likely to die. It's a terrible place. planters farmers twenty score or more A score is twenty. Twenty score or more means more than twenty times twenty . More than four hundred convicts arrived with the poet. ranked us up like horses Ranked up means lined up.
They were treated like horses. They were put into lines and sold to the farmers. roped us to the plough A plough is a machine used for digging up the ground. Before the days of engines, ploughs were pulled by horses. But these ploughs were pulled by the convicts. The convicts were roped, or tied, to the plough, and had to pull it along. Van Diemen's Land The old name for Tasmania. The name was changed in 1855. convicts Convicts are people convicted, or found guilty of a crime. In Australia, the word convicts is used for prisoners who were sent to Australia by the British during the 1700s and 1800s. seamy side of things unpleasant, bad and criminal side of life Example: People are always interested in the seamy side of things. hatched developed pave cover with bricks engraved marked came ashore arrived on the land Came is the past tense of the irregular verb come. more information: come bicentenary A bicentenary celebrates two hundred years of something. The prefix bi- means two. Follow the link for more examples. more information: bi- prefix born and bred To be born and bred is to born and brought up in the one place.
Example: He's Jakarta born and bred. |