In 2017 we were awarded the Australian Research Council Discovery Grant Landscapes of Production and Punishment: the Tasman Peninsula 1830-1877. This was – and still is – the largest such grant to examine the historical archaeological legacy of the convict system in Australia. As its title suggests, this grant was to study how convict labour was deployed and managed, using both in depth historical research and innovative approaches to archaeological landscapes. The project brought together researchers from the University of New England and the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority.

The project initially focussed upon collating all available archival material detailing the industrial development of Port Arthur and the peninsula. LiDAR remote sensing data was also attained, mapping for the first time the landscape of the peninsula in incredibly high detail. This data was ground-truthed through a programme of archaeological survey. Evidence derived from the historical, archaeological and buildings research was then used to answer our research questions.

All these evidential strands highlighted how the Australian convict system could be conceived as a massive industrial machine driven by unfree labour. Statistics indicated the vast amount of material required by stations in their day-to-day operations, as well as the staggering amounts of raw materials and manufactured goods that a place like Port Arthur produced. Work and punishment were intertwined, with careful calculations about labour inputs and outputs made and enforced. Men were classified and deployed in labour with a view to the skills and effort that could be extracted from them. In many respects, convict stations were run as businesses – sometimes very poorly.

A key legacy of our project has been the idea that we must look beyond the institutions. Convict life happened outside of cells and wards. Today’s landscape still contains evidence of their labour, taking the form of half-filled sawpits, tracks and overgrown quarries. We see it in the materials, skill and effort contained within still-standing buildings and bridges. This evidence is, however, constantly under threat. Being outside of the bounds of recognised convict places, many sites of labour have already fallen foul of development. It is through research such as ours that this important part of the convict system’s legacy can be understood.

The project resulted in the publication of a book and over 20 scholarly articles. Perhaps more importantly, it also led to the creation of a series of public-facing web-based outputs.