Macquarie Harbour Penal Station
Overview
Sarah Island
Sarah Island may refer to:*Sarah Island , an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts*Sarah Island , the remnant site of the Macquarie Harbour Penal Station in Van Diemen's Land in Australia...
in the southern portion of Macquarie Harbour
Macquarie Harbour
Macquarie Harbour is a large, shallow, but navigable by shallow draft vessels inlet on the West Coast of Tasmania, Australia.-History:James Kelly wrote in his narrative "First Discovery of Port Davey and Macquarie Harbour" how he sailed from Hobart in a small open five-oared whaleboat to discover...
in what was Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania...
in (Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
), Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
It was built in 1822 to house mainly male convicts, although some women were also sent to the island. The penal colony was closed in 1833. Even though it only operated for 11 years, it achieved a reputation as one of harshest penal settlements in the Australian colonies.
The penal station was established as a place of banishment within the Australian colonies.
