Sarah Island (Langerrareroune, Toogee people) was located in Macquarie Harbour, Van Diemen’s Land. The island was named after Sarah Birch, the wife of a prominent surgeon, merchant and shipbuilder in Hobart Town, Thomas William Birch.
In January 1822, the Sarah Island penal station was established by Lieutenant-Governor William Sorell as Tasmania’s first penal settlement. The impenetrable wilderness surrounding the harbour made survival near impossible for convicts attempting escape. Between 1822 and 1833, any re-offending convicts in Van Diemen’s Land were sent to Sarah Island.
Sorrell also wanted the settlement to be economically viable so it could reimburse the British government for the expense of its establishment. Part of the reason the island was chosen, in addition to it’s isolation, was for it’s resources such as Huon pine forests which could be used for shipbuilding. In just a few years, the station became the largest shipbuilding yard in Australia with a total of 113 ships built, 80 of which were completed between 1828 and 1832.
The station’s early years were plagued by poor planning that resulted in food shortages, malnutrition and shoddy conditions. Barracks were so crowded, convicts had to sleep on their sides rather than on their backs. Punishment included solitary confinement and flogging, with 9100 lashes recorded in 1823 alone.
In addition to convicts, the local Toogee people were forcibly interred on the island in 1832 and 1833 before being sent to the Wybalenna Aboriginal settlement on Flinders Island.
The station was closed in 1833 when the larger Port Arthur settlement opened south of Hobart Town.
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