A–Z of Convicts in Van Diemen's Land

by Simon Barnard

During the Industrial Revolution, crime rates grew and a penal code was established, with over 200 offences punishable by death. The alternative was deportation, often to Van Diemen's Land. Over the following 50 years, approximately 73,000 men, women and children were transported to the island (which today is known as Tasmania). Approximately 90% of the convicts were transported for theft, and most were given either seven or 14 year sentences. More serious crimes meant spending life at the outpost. This book is result of 20 years of obsessive chronlicling about the subject.

Genres: Australia, Nonfiction, History

90 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Bluebelle-the-Inquisitive (Catherine) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author and Illustrator: Simon Barnard
Age Recommendation: Tween
Art Style: Digital Drawings (based on contemporary records)
Topic/ Theme & Setting: Encyclopaedia of convicts life in 1800s Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)

To start with this is really only a book you read and enjoy if you have an interest. That interest would be in Australian's convict past, living conditions in that time or transportation. That said this could be an invaluable resource to a youngling doing an assignment on Port Arthur, convicts or early Australia. The intended audience is younglings but it could be enjoyed by an adult, could be informative to them. There is so much information in here that is not spoken about, that is hard to access in one place without visiting one of the convict museums (I'm so glad we are now honouring that part of our past).

A-Z of Convicts in Van Diemen's Land is written up as an encyclopaedia of life for transported persons in 1800s. Pleasantly it doesn't focus on Port Arthur Penitentiary (the most famed of the remaining sites) but looks at others such as Sarah Island, Hobart Prisoners' Barracks and the hulks. The book is quite wordy, but they not needlessly, each section tells a story. Using small sections of pure fact and small narrative of convicts, gailors, administrators and others from the time. The illustrations are gorgeous, pulling you into the time and going at least a vague understanding of what would have been endured at the time and giving you the opportunity to find the stories told in the illustrations. What is also nice is the variety of people talked about, the variety of their origins including American Linus Millar and Jamaican Thomas Day. It is complete from complete from Absconder to Zanyism.

This is book two of Simon Barnand's Tasmanian convict non-series. By age level Goalbird (a picture storybook, the biography of William Swallow) and followed by Convict Tattoos (cataloguing what tattoos convicts had, their significance and who some of them were, for high school students). I have read and enjoyed both immensely but one of my personal interests is transportation and convict life if it a topic that appeals they won't disappoint.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best convict books every written. I've been submerged in convict-era research for a couple of years now, but the illustrations of this book just cement all that learning. I really feel I should've started at this book.

This picture book is not simple. It is an incredibly dense text that I took twenty days to read, wanting to drink up every last word and illustration before turning the page. There are interesting small stories, and more in depth segments concerning the political climate of the time.

I would recommend this book to everyone with the smallest interest in Australian history.

[Calzean · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well constructed and laid out, quick but thorough, look at the convicts and convict system that operated in the old Van Dieman's Land.

The illustrations bring to life many of the aspects of the first part of the 1800s and is where this book shines, as does the summary of some of the 73000 people transported to VDL.

I thought his bibliography was a bit short but then saw on his web site a very comprehensive listing. See: http://www.simonbarnard.com.au/

I assume this is aimed at the early High School age group but it is still full of information normally found (and harder to find) in various other books on that era.

[Amelie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

[Stacey Socholotuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting content though one title that I moved to the middle school collection.

[Sue]

Best resource for anyone writing historical fiction (or non fiction for that matter) set in colonial Van Diemen's Land. Helps to visualise everything from a shepherd's hut to basic eating utensils to portable road gang accommodation.