"I am so behind myself...or MOFO adventures continued."
I often refer to myself as a 'tourist in my own town', but as far as Hobart is concerned I have been falling short of that marker.
Saff has been asking me about going to the site of the Cascades Female Factory for a couple of years now. Zok and I went about ten years ago and all that was there was a marker and some ruins. I was putting her off because of what I remembered.
However, this has completely changed.
We booked in for a mid-morning tour, and coincidentally our night event was a three-piece band 'Bush Gothic' who rearrange traditional 'transport' songs and convict ballads.
Our morning was spent learning about some of the women, why they were transported, how their lives progressed. Followed by the musical version. So to speak. In case you do not know...Van Diemens is the original (European) name for Tasmania.
The words are taken from the description of one female convict, there were many young teens transported, and many babies born along the way (the whole way, the crews allowed themselves the "convenience" of prisoners on board).
The photo is an arts project done using the descendant of a convict, staged with the items that convict was transported for. Most people were transported for petty theft.
I could write a lot about transportation to Australia, but there is some much current injustice and cruelty in todays prison systems that I don't feel it is necessary to dig into the past for examples that would evoke emotion.
The performance was held in the Rosny Barn, and the singer knew the story of the convict slash settlers that first built and operated the barn. How about that?
The barn is becoming a favorite, I went there a few times for the market-
Now, they are running (the Clarence council) a series of outdoor movies.
(!)
All in all, I thought we planned out a tidily informative and fun day.
Also, I totally would have been transported...
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