My grandmother was a prison visitor and a vehement anti-capital punishment advocate. She visited the man executed in 1946, Frederick Henry Thompson and campaigned for his sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment. She spoke of the appalling conditions in the prison. I am old enough to remember the prison before its closure and the rapid demolition of the majority of it soon after.
I have heard rumours that maybe Frederick Thompson may of not been guilty of the abduction and murder of Evelyn Maughan and could of been one her Uncles ?
I went to Tafe for four years. everyday I was there I walked out of Melville Street and across Campbell Street and never had any idea I was walking out of what was once a prison. You learn something new everyday. Absolutely loving the videos 👍👍👍
I was a volunteer guide at 'the Tench' a few years ago, where I learnt and passed on to tourists a lot of fascinating history, such as that Ned Kelly's father 'Red' Kelly was briefly imprisoned here. You can still do guided tours which include the gallows, the punishment and isolation cells and the underground tunnels through which prisoners were brought up from them to the courtrooms. There are audio-visual presentations too, but the historical integrity of the site has been demeaned in my view by the introduction of 'ghost' tours and supposed paranormal investigation.
Hi Angus, I really like what you're doing here, and appreciate the work that you're putting into it. Personally I have a deep irrational wish that none of old Hobart had been torn down or changed at all. However you a giving us a way to to time travel back. Thank you. Excellent work and a great idea, honesty though I don't believe you need a cute animal as a prop/draw card ( and I truely hope it's not just that ). Your mini doco's are really stand alone. I was very sorry to hear that Dolly died. She was lucky to have someone to care for her in her last years. I hope that your channel continues to grow, generates some income for you and is always fun for you. Good stuff! 👍🏼
Thank you for this, I live in Melbourne. This has made me very interested to understand more about the history of Hobart. I would also be interested to know more about the history of Hobart in how it helped Melbourne develop.
I went up Tolosa and checked out Merton the other day, it was a nice time snap of the past. I could imagine how people lived there and how it looked with big gum trees
Great video, I have never heard of this place and I can't ever remember being taught about it in a Tasmanian school. I guess I must have assumed Risdon had been there forever. :) But when you think about it does look like it was built in the mid-60s. Nice new puppy btw.
I'd want to keep producing content. The channel isn't sustainable quite yet. If you feel inclined don't be afraid to share my videos. That will help a lot. Thanks.
Thanks for the insight into this site! I have never been inside the penitentiary chapel, but I have looked through the fence into the area behind it and wondered how it used to look. I hadn't noticed the low fence running further down on the other side of the Melville turnoff. Fascinating!
Love your work Angus, please keep going! Thank you for the research you put into these vids, and the really effective way you present them. Always learn something new.
Love your work! Have been posting links so fellow Tasmanians can come and see the channel. So many interesting history tales to tell, like the old stage coach routes etc. Looking forward to your future vids.
@@angusthornett There are more than a handful of locally published booklets in book stores now that detail specific Tassie history topics (the old coach routes being one). Worth a look for subject matter and the info on it.
Wow, great video , thank you so much, I spent many years living in Brisbane Street, and was fascinated with the prison, the tour you can do is very sad.
Fascinating once again. I find it interesting that the word for a torture device somehow became the commonplace term for an exercise machine. Would love to see more videos on our penal history.
@@angusthornett Are you going cover stories outside Hobart,.. In other area's of Tasmania? One of that you could do is about the Passenger train history in our state. Starting of with the earliest passenger train right up to the last the Tasman Limited the last time it went ran was in May 1978. I can remember going on that train from Ulverstone to Launceston many many times as a child in the 60's and finally as a young adult in the late 70's.
Your bridge video popped up on my recommends a couple of days ago, then I saw that there were many more, so I've been watching all of them. I was going to say, I love how you take your dog everywhere with you, and then I noticed you had a new puppy and was sad that maybe big puppy may no longer be with us. I saw a comment and your answer on this below, and I'm sorry for your loss😔🕊. Hello new puppy 🤗. I'm a member of the Tasmanian History page and really enjoy your work 👏👏💖
Thanks, glad you've enjoyed them. The channel isn't sustainable yet. I need to get the subscriptions up. If you feel so inclined don't be afraid to share my videos.
You I am a tour guide at the Hobart Penitentiary Chapel and it is a hidden gem of Hobart. I have recently had an increase of locals visiting who have commonly said that they have driven past the Chapel and always wondered what is was like inside and the history attached. Many international and interstate visitors say that they have found the Penitentiary Chapel and court space more interesting than Port Arthur. Btw have you done or are you planning a video on the Convict Historic Coal Mines at Saltwater River? Also from reading some of comments below… I like you having your dog accompanying you in the videos it bit like Rick Stein and Chalky (it makes a connection with the viewing audience). Finally the drone shots give the videos a third dimension and brilliantly shot. Keep up the good work. Oops nearly forgot where in Lenah Valley is John Lee Archers house ? Thanks
Cheers, Mick. The channel isn't sustainable yet. I need to get the subscriptions up. If you feel so inclined don't be afraid to share my videos. That helps, so I can continue to post videos into the future.
Cheers, Alex. The channel isn't sustainable yet. I need to get the subscriptions up. If you feel so inclined don't be afraid to share my videos. That helps, so I can continue to post videos into the future.
What a horrible place to have been imprisoned in. There are still plenty of remnants of the convict labour in many of Tasmanian's architecture. Our recent trip to Richmond and the Gaol was quite evident of their past and hardships for such minor offences. Well put together Angus.
Remember that Richmond Gaol was only for crimes commited in Tasmania. Also remember that the present tends to look at the past with a modern outlook. Generally speaking, convicts were better off than at home. They had three meals a day and meat up to 3 times a day rather than 1-2 times a week. Working conditions were generally better. Convicts were very good and negotiating conditions and doing work out of hour in their own business. Transportation removed them from the influence of other criminals. Flogging was relatively rare, with only 25% being flogged an average of 46 strokes. Given that some at Port Arthur received 5000+ strokes the average is even less. I know of one convict at Port Arthur who escaped 3 times. He was not flogged until the third recapture and only 25 lashes. Flogging was more of an embarrassment, as it was designed to inflict pain, but little damage. They were back at work within a week. The army and navy also flogged. The British army had regiment nicknamed the shining backs, due to the flogging scars. There was for a long time no maximum number of strokes. 800-1000 was not uncommon. But it did work. The only regiment to survive the retreat in the peninsula war, as cohesive fighting unit, was the one that stopped to flog two men. Minor crimes is another myth. Very few were done for "minor crimes". Even then these minor crimes were lucrative, a silk handkerchief was worth two weeks of hot food. Whilst the present sees convict life as brutal it was not dissimilar to other aspects of life. People who did wrong were punished.
@@CowboyJojosAdventures No worries. Like all history there are lots of myths and exaggerations. Plus, it is easier on the conscience of people with convicts in their family tree, to say they were a petty criminal rather than an habitual criminal, as most convicts were.
Thank you for the guided Tours around Hobart and Glenorchy. We spend some considerable time in Tasmania and were amazed by the Architecture of many Buildings all over the Island. Being an Engineer myself we both found it rather doubtful that the infrastructure was created by convicts. It would take many years of honing one’s skill to build such monuments.Maybe there was a two tier system ?
Hi Angus, started watching your blogs the other day as it came up on my utube, can I say well done , and very informative, keep up the good work, cheers , James Sorry to hear about your old mate, but your new one ,seems quite cheeky,
All dogs go to Heaven. Thanks. The channel isn't sustainable yet. I need to get the subscriptions up. If you feel so inclined don't be afraid to share my videos.
dude what's a video my jaw just dropped...you are right up my alley here Angus I can't wait for you to see my next two videos...that's very interesting I'm wondering what they did with Matthew Brady yet let alone know the truth about Alex Zander Pearce's skull returning to Tasmania....done well dude when I went to work the other day boss aid did you see Angus new video I'm like.bi he's like your Gunna love it and yep I sure did convict history don't get me started bro....I just finished going through Campbell town and Richmond jail omg this I did not know such a underrated channel love the editing and work my friend beers on me 🍻😎👍🍻
The arrow is not just a convict stamp. It was a government approval stamp for items used by government departments. It was on all sorts of things, but most noticeable on miltary gear and vehicles etc. well beyond the Vietnam war. Not just Australian either.
@@angusthornett I'm so sorry, I did not realise. She loved you so much the way she use to look at you. I'll miss not seeing her. Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
i lived in campbell st in 66-67 200 yds up the rd from it and walked past it every day , my grand father was a head warder there for 30 odd yrs up untill the 50,s , he was a tough old bugger cheers
“The past is eternal”…another profound and thought provoking vlog…the human propensity to cruelty seems to be a permanent when I think of the images coming out of Ukraine whilst viewing these aspects of convict history in Hobart…
The vast majority of convicts were serial offenders. The same sort of people who are in jail now, were the same sort of people in jail then, for the much same sort of crimes. We forget the value of things as well. A silk handkerchief doesn't sound much, but it would earn a thief enough for two week's of hot food.
My Pop was a guard there at one point. A man escaped and pop chased him, pop then shot him in the leg to stop him running instead of shooting him dead.
so none of the old gaol is left as a tourist attraction ??? usually come back home for 2 weeks every 4 yrs , but in 2007 the gaol still operated as a tourist site , dungeons were still there , church , gallows etc , has it all bee demolished ???
I've been looking at the timelines lately and the pictures, some trees and plants growing on the said buildings that the slaves 'made' seemed to be there YEEAARS before they even got there. And the time of arriving with that many settlers doesn't add up. And a bunch of slaves/prisoners (the worst of he worst) stealing and killing but had knowledge of building these stone buildings and churches that take years and years to build all over the world, get built here in no time? All big towns and cities were all 'made' at the same time, there wasn't enough resources,not enough tools and not enough people to do this. Free masons = free masonry And founders = founders of the land They wiped the aboriginals out because they knew more and weren't just hunters and gathers as we are taught in schools!
My grandmother was a prison visitor and a vehement anti-capital punishment advocate. She visited the man executed in 1946, Frederick Henry Thompson and campaigned for his sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment. She spoke of the appalling conditions in the prison. I am old enough to remember the prison before its closure and the rapid demolition of the majority of it soon after.
Good on your grandmother 💞
I have heard rumours that maybe Frederick Thompson may of not been guilty of the abduction and murder of Evelyn Maughan and could of been one her Uncles ?
Bloody hell, I’m going have to step up my game. That’s a seriously good video. Well done.
A collaboration between the two of you would be incredible.
Aw that was such a lovely gesture ❤
I went to Tafe for four years. everyday I was there I walked out of Melville Street and across Campbell Street and never had any idea I was walking out of what was once a prison. You learn something new everyday. Absolutely loving the videos 👍👍👍
I was a volunteer guide at 'the Tench' a few years ago, where I learnt and passed on to tourists a lot of fascinating history, such as that Ned Kelly's father 'Red' Kelly was briefly imprisoned here. You can still do guided tours which include the gallows, the punishment and isolation cells and the underground tunnels through which prisoners were brought up from them to the courtrooms. There are audio-visual presentations too, but the historical integrity of the site has been demeaned in my view by the introduction of 'ghost' tours and supposed paranormal investigation.
Hi Angus,
I really like what you're doing here, and appreciate the work that you're putting into it.
Personally I have a deep irrational wish that none of old Hobart had been torn down or changed at all.
However you a giving us a way to to time travel back. Thank you.
Excellent work and a great idea, honesty though I don't believe you need a cute animal as a prop/draw card ( and I truely hope it's not just that ). Your mini doco's are really stand alone.
I was very sorry to hear that Dolly died. She was lucky to have someone to care for her in her last years.
I hope that your channel continues to grow, generates some income for you and is always fun for you.
Good stuff!
👍🏼
Learning a bunch about my home state from this channel, keep it up mate!
Different dog?!
Kick arse chilled factual production of an amazing time of Hobart 🦘❤️
Angus! your work is brilliant and narrated in a way that is so fitting to the story line you clearly have a passion for. Absolutely brilliant.
Thank you for this, I live in Melbourne. This has made me very interested to understand more about the history of Hobart.
I would also be interested to know more about the history of Hobart in how it helped Melbourne develop.
Really enjoying your videos after stumbling on them and learning a lot about Hobart, some things I’ve never heard despite growing up here.
Expressing .. exactly the same.....👍👍🥰
I went up Tolosa and checked out Merton the other day, it was a nice time snap of the past. I could imagine how people lived there and how it looked with big gum trees
Great video, I have never heard of this place and I can't ever remember being taught about it in a Tasmanian school. I guess I must have assumed Risdon had been there forever. :) But when you think about it does look like it was built in the mid-60s. Nice new puppy btw.
I used to walk past this building and was saddened the whole prison had not been saved and restored. It's such a unique and interesting site.
Can’t get enough of your videos
I'd want to keep producing content. The channel isn't sustainable quite yet. If you feel inclined don't be afraid to share my videos. That will help a lot. Thanks.
Thanks for the insight into this site! I have never been inside the penitentiary chapel, but I have looked through the fence into the area behind it and wondered how it used to look. I hadn't noticed the low fence running further down on the other side of the Melville turnoff. Fascinating!
Love your work Angus, please keep going! Thank you for the research you put into these vids, and the really effective way you present them. Always learn something new.
Thanks, David. I'd like to keep going. The channel isn't sustainable yet. If you feel inclined don't be afraid to share my videos. That helps a lot.
@@angusthornett Sure, have started doing so.
@@davidhope5763 thank you
Thanks, mate, another fabulous video!
Wicked video. Love your style and content. Keep them coming
Thankyou. very interesting and well produced.
Love your work! Have been posting links so fellow Tasmanians can come and see the channel.
So many interesting history tales to tell, like the old stage coach routes etc. Looking forward to your future vids.
Thank you, Trevor. Appreciate the help. That's not a bad topic idea either.
@@angusthornett There are more than a handful of locally published booklets in book stores now that detail specific Tassie history topics (the old coach routes being one). Worth a look for subject matter and the info on it.
Wow, great video , thank you so much, I spent many years living in Brisbane Street, and was fascinated with the prison, the tour you can do is very sad.
Fascinating once again. I find it interesting that the word for a torture device somehow became the commonplace term for an exercise machine. Would love to see more videos on our penal history.
I'd like to keep producing content. The channel isn't sustainable yet. If you feel inclined don't be afraid to share my videos. That will help a lot.
@@angusthornett Are you going cover stories outside Hobart,.. In other area's of Tasmania? One of that you could do is about the Passenger train history in our state. Starting of with the earliest passenger train right up to the last the Tasman Limited the last time it went ran was in May 1978. I can remember going on that train from Ulverstone to Launceston many many times as a child in the 60's and finally as a young adult in the late 70's.
@@peterlyall6789 Hi Peter, there's a video on this channel called Who Killed the Hobart Trains?
Your bridge video popped up on my recommends a couple of days ago, then I saw that there were many more, so I've been watching all of them. I was going to say, I love how you take your dog everywhere with you, and then I noticed you had a new puppy and was sad that maybe big puppy may no longer be with us. I saw a comment and your answer on this below, and I'm sorry for your loss😔🕊. Hello new puppy 🤗. I'm a member of the Tasmanian History page and really enjoy your work 👏👏💖
Thanks, glad you've enjoyed them. The channel isn't sustainable yet. I need to get the subscriptions up. If you feel so inclined don't be afraid to share my videos.
You I am a tour guide at the Hobart Penitentiary Chapel and it is a hidden gem of Hobart. I have recently had an increase of locals visiting who have commonly said that they have driven past the Chapel and always wondered what is was like inside and the history attached. Many international and interstate visitors say that they have found the Penitentiary Chapel and court space more interesting than Port Arthur. Btw have you done or are you planning a video on the Convict Historic Coal Mines at Saltwater River? Also from reading some of comments below… I like you having your dog accompanying you in the videos it bit like Rick Stein and Chalky (it makes a connection with the viewing audience). Finally the drone shots give the videos a third dimension and brilliantly shot. Keep up the good work. Oops nearly forgot where in Lenah Valley is John Lee Archers house ?
Thanks
Montague Street.
I could cover the Coal Mines in the future.
Really enjoying your work Angus 👍🏼
Thanks, James
Great easy going delivery of our history, good stuff!
Cheers, Mick. The channel isn't sustainable yet. I need to get the subscriptions up. If you feel so inclined don't be afraid to share my videos. That helps, so I can continue to post videos into the future.
@@angusthornett Will do mate..
A great series, keep them coming!
Cheers, Alex. The channel isn't sustainable yet. I need to get the subscriptions up. If you feel so inclined don't be afraid to share my videos. That helps, so I can continue to post videos into the future.
Awesome work mate! I need to come and pay you a visit in Tassie
Or go back to Kanchanburri
Thank you, another well made short film.
What a horrible place to have been imprisoned in. There are still plenty of remnants of the convict labour in many of Tasmanian's architecture. Our recent trip to Richmond and the Gaol was quite evident of their past and hardships for such minor offences. Well put together Angus.
Remember that Richmond Gaol was only for crimes commited in Tasmania.
Also remember that the present tends to look at the past with a modern outlook.
Generally speaking, convicts were better off than at home. They had three meals a day and meat up to 3 times a day rather than 1-2 times a week. Working conditions were generally better. Convicts were very good and negotiating conditions and doing work out of hour in their own business.
Transportation removed them from the influence of other criminals.
Flogging was relatively rare, with only 25% being flogged an average of 46 strokes.
Given that some at Port Arthur received 5000+ strokes the average is even less.
I know of one convict at Port Arthur who escaped 3 times. He was not flogged until the third recapture and only 25 lashes.
Flogging was more of an embarrassment, as it was designed to inflict pain, but little damage. They were back at work within a week.
The army and navy also flogged. The British army had regiment nicknamed the shining backs, due to the flogging scars. There was for a long time no maximum number of strokes. 800-1000 was not uncommon.
But it did work. The only regiment to survive the retreat in the peninsula war, as cohesive fighting unit, was the one that stopped to flog two men.
Minor crimes is another myth. Very few were done for "minor crimes". Even then these minor crimes were lucrative, a silk handkerchief was worth two weeks of hot food.
Whilst the present sees convict life as brutal it was not dissimilar to other aspects of life.
People who did wrong were punished.
@@mattmcguire1577 thank you 🙏🏽
@@CowboyJojosAdventures No worries. Like all history there are lots of myths and exaggerations.
Plus, it is easier on the conscience of people with convicts in their family tree, to say they were a petty criminal rather than an habitual criminal, as most convicts were.
Thank you for the guided Tours around Hobart and Glenorchy. We spend some considerable time in Tasmania and were amazed by the Architecture of many Buildings all over the Island. Being an Engineer myself we both found it rather doubtful that the infrastructure was created by convicts. It would take many years of honing one’s skill to build such monuments.Maybe there was a two tier system ?
Excellent thanks Angus.
Hi Angus, started watching your blogs the other day as it came up on my utube, can I say well done , and very informative, keep up the good work, cheers , James
Sorry to hear about your old mate, but your new one ,seems quite cheeky,
All dogs go to Heaven. Thanks. The channel isn't sustainable yet. I need to get the subscriptions up. If you feel so inclined don't be afraid to share my videos.
Great work Angus !
watch out for the Shaq Attack
@@angusthornett we are always on the lookout for the Shaq Attack 😂 Loving the inclusion of the new pup as well mate. Good to see 😊🙌🏻
dude what's a video my jaw just dropped...you are right up my alley here Angus I can't wait for you to see my next two videos...that's very interesting I'm wondering what they did with Matthew Brady yet let alone know the truth about Alex Zander Pearce's skull returning to Tasmania....done well dude when I went to work the other day boss aid did you see Angus new video I'm like.bi he's like your Gunna love it and yep I sure did convict history don't get me started bro....I just finished going through Campbell town and Richmond jail omg this I did not know such a underrated channel love the editing and work my friend beers on me 🍻😎👍🍻
I returned 'home' in 2014 and took my family on a tour and it was fantastic.
So interesting. Do you think you could do one on Brickfields?
The arrow is not just a convict stamp.
It was a government approval stamp for items used by government departments. It was on all sorts of things, but most noticeable on miltary gear and vehicles etc. well beyond the Vietnam war.
Not just Australian either.
Thank you, I knew Tassie had some horrible history, but its sad that I never knew about this despite growing up in Hobart.
It’s pretty wild
You love Hobart too, appreciate it man, special place 4sure
Another ripping video mate. Well done
Do one about something up nee norfolk surely love you stuff man it's so good
Angus,. Thats a different dog isn't it ????
Please don't stop making these short films.
They are so good. Thank you
All dogs go to heaven.
@@angusthornett I'm so sorry, I did not realise. She loved you so much the way she use to look at you. I'll miss not seeing her. Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
bro i love that road go that way to maccas most days
This video is intriguing. Should have kept it for tourist attraction like Port Arthur jail.
The chapel, courts and some cells are open for public tours.
Thank you. Enjoying information. What kind is Dog, love him
Jack Russell
If you watch ABC Restoration Australia Series 1. You can see one of the old gaol doors in the Harrington St Tasmania episode.
Thanks.
Did you change dogs?
i lived in campbell st in 66-67 200 yds up the rd from it and walked past it every day , my grand father was a head warder there for 30 odd yrs up untill the 50,s , he was a tough old bugger cheers
Amazing, just found you channel today,, wow.
Forgive me for asking but if you want add soundtrack or any kind of music I'd be honored.
Glad you've enjoyed all so far, mate.
“The past is eternal”…another profound and thought provoking vlog…the human propensity to cruelty seems to be a permanent when I think of the images coming out of Ukraine whilst viewing these aspects of convict history in Hobart…
A very interesting story of our brutal beginnings 👌👏👏👏
You have a new fur baby. Sweet! Cheers for the video.
Hi Angus , I like your videos but tell me, how come you don't walk your dog/dogs. I noticed you have a new furry friend. 👍🐾🐾
Why walk when you can be carried?
As a descendent of convicts yes it was a cruel life for stealing a loaf of bread
The vast majority of convicts were serial offenders. The same sort of people who are in jail now, were the same sort of people in jail then, for the much same sort of crimes.
We forget the value of things as well. A silk handkerchief doesn't sound much, but it would earn a thief enough for two week's of hot food.
My Pop was a guard there at one point. A man escaped and pop chased him, pop then shot him in the leg to stop him running instead of shooting him dead.
Bloody hell.
@@angusthornett the man was running down Campbell Street towards the wharf when this happened. Pop was also a police officer at one point too
so none of the old gaol is left as a tourist attraction ??? usually come back home for 2 weeks every 4 yrs , but in 2007 the gaol still operated as a tourist site , dungeons were still there , church , gallows etc , has it all bee demolished ???
Could you imagine the legs on those prisoners after being on the stepper 💪
Melville Street ❤️
the goal was still fully enclosed with the brick wall around it in 66-67 as i walked past every day , still prisoners there in 66-67 i believe
I believe there also used to be detention centers in Hobart for illegal immigrants. There's a good documentary on it called Mary meets Mohammed.
At Pontville, it's still there but owned privately now. I think something is grown there.
It's fascinating how our gaol system has gone from one extreme to another, now prisoners goto a holiday camp.
Bloody poms. It makes me feel sick.
Sobering
Loving dog lol
I've been looking at the timelines lately and the pictures, some trees and plants growing on the said buildings that the slaves 'made' seemed to be there YEEAARS before they even got there. And the time of arriving with that many settlers doesn't add up. And a bunch of slaves/prisoners (the worst of he worst) stealing and killing but had knowledge of building these stone buildings and churches that take years and years to build all over the world, get built here in no time?
All big towns and cities were all 'made' at the same time, there wasn't enough resources,not enough tools and not enough people to do this.
Free masons = free masonry
And founders = founders of the land
They wiped the aboriginals out because they knew more and weren't just hunters and gathers as we are taught in schools!
It was an inside job🙃
Need to do one on the Brisbane Hotel!