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The Palgrave Handbook of Prison Tourism pp 713–734Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Penal Transportation, Family History, and Convict Tourism

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology ((PSIPP))

Abstract

The chapter explores the gap between the lived experience of Australia’s founding convict mothers and fathers and heritage site portrayals of penal transportation. It focuses particularly on Tasmania, formerly known as Van Diemen’s Land—which operated as a British penal colony in the years 1803–1853. We argue that a disproportionate number of convict heritage sites are located in former punishment stations. As such, much of the discourse about convict heritage interpretation has centered on the more brutal end of the system. While the use of punishment as a means of eliciting labor from convict bodies was an important part of convict experience, the measure of pain extracted was disproportionately borne by a few.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas, Australia

    Hamish Maxwell-Stewart & Lydia Nicholson

Authors
  1. Hamish Maxwell-Stewart
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  2. Lydia Nicholson
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Correspondence to Hamish Maxwell-Stewart .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education and Arts, Federation University Australia, Ballarat, Australia

    Jacqueline Z. Wilson

  2. Department of Criminology, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

    Sarah Hodgkinson

  3. Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Justin Piché

  4. Department of Criminal Justice, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Kevin Walby

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Maxwell-Stewart, H., Nicholson, L. (2017). Penal Transportation, Family History, and Convict Tourism. In: Wilson, J., Hodgkinson, S., Piché, J., Walby, K. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Prison Tourism. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56135-0_34

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56135-0_34

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-56134-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-56135-0

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