Captain Rupert Deering, soldier and penal administrator of the
99th Regiment, was Commandant of the second
convict settlement
A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...
at
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together w ...
. His tenure lasted from the departure of
John Price in January 1853 to September of the same year.
During his time, the settlement was being wound down. Prisoners, guards, and civil officers and their families were moved to
Port Arthur in
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sep ...
, present day Tasmania.
There was one last event of convict defiance when, in March 1853, some convicts seized a government launch and attempted to row to freedom. In July, news was received that the launch had reached the coast of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
and some of the runaways had been captured.
References
*
Hazzard, Margaret, ''Punishment Short of Death: a history of the penal settlement at Norfolk Island'', Melbourne, Hyland, 1984. ()
Norfolk Island penal colony administrators
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