THE LAST CONFESSION OF ALEXANDER PEARCE A STUDY GUIDE BY KATE RAYNOR http://www.metromagazine.com.au http://www.theeducationshop.com.au ‘It seems to me a full belly is prerequisite to all manner of good. Without that, no man will ever know what hunger can make you do.’ – Alexander Pearce Introduction the fledgling colony and a fellow Irish- important story, and would sit well man. At stake in their uneasy dialogue alongside The First Australians series n 1822, eight men escaped from the is nothing less than the soul of man. recently screened on SBS. most isolated and brutal prison on Utilizing the stunning and foreboding Iearth, Sarah Island in Van Diemen’s landscape of south-west Tasmania, The It could also work in the context of Land. Only one man survived and his Last Confession of Alexander Pearce Philosophy or Religious Studies, as it tale of betrayal, murder and cannibal- draws a visceral and compelling picture poses profound questions about the ism shocked the British establishment of the savagery and barbarism at the nature of good and evil, and redemp- to the core. The Last Confession of heart of the colony. It is an example of tion. It provides two intriguing character Alexander Pearce follows the final days Australian filmmaking at its very best. studies (Pearce and Conolly) and could of this man, Irish convict Alexander be used in English (film as text); and, Pearce, as he awaits execution. The Curriculum Links with the eloquence of its visual storytell- SCREEN EDUCATION year is 1824 and the British penal ing, it also has relevance to Film/Media colony of Van Diemen’s Land is little This film should be compulsory view- Studies. Teachers are advised to view more than a living hell. Chained to a ing for every middle years and senior the film carefully before screening it for wall in the darkness of a cell under secondary Australian History student their classes: this is very dark and dis- Hobart Town Gaol, Pearce is visited in the country. It is a brilliant piece turbing material, dealing with extremely by Father Conolly, the parish priest of of filmmaking on an exceptional and violent aspects of Australian history. But 2 112 convicts escaped, of whom sixty- two perished and nine were murdered by their fellow convicts. The remaining forty-one were all eventually recap- tured, four of them after spending some time in South America. given the gruesome nature of the tale, it is almost guaranteed to engage and in- Altogether about 1200 men and trigue even the most apathetic student! women were sentenced or sent to Sarah Island. Most of them had com- Backgound Briefing mitted further offences while serving their original sentences; others came Van Diemen’s Land as ‘remittance men’, skilled tradesmen who worked at the Settlement in ex- Van Diemen’s Land was named by change for remission of their sentence. Dutchman Abel Tasman, the first Euro- They were supervised by military pean to explore Tasmania. The name detachments of several regiments (up was given in honour of Anthony van to ninety soldiers at one time), and by Diemen, Governor-General of the Dutch a variety of civilian officers, supervi- East Indies, who had sent Tasman on sors and constables, many of whom his voyage of discovery in 1642. Sarah Island were ex-convicts. Ships’ crews were regular visitors, and tradesmen were In 1803, the island was colonized by Sarah Island (sometimes known as co-opted and often bribed to work the British as a penal colony and was Settlement Island) lies in the far south- at the Settlement. There were also regarded as part of New South Wales. west corner of Macquarie Harbour, women and children: female convicts In 1824, Van Diemen’s Land became on the west coast of Tasmania, within working as servants; wives of soldiers a colony in its own right. In 1856 the sight of the Gordon River. This isolated and officials; and wives and children of colony was granted responsible self- island of six hectares (fifteen acres) convicts. At the Muster in 1828 there government, with its own representa- was a penal settlement between 1822 were 531 people on Sarah Island, in- tive parliament, and the name of the and 1833, established before the more cluding about 380 convicts, ninety-five island was changed to Tasmania. well-known Port Arthur, as a place of military, fourteen women and twenty- ‘secondary’ punishment, an attempt to seven children. From the 1830s to the abolition of control the uncontrollable. Its convicts penal transportation in 1853, Van laboured under the harshest condi- Over time Sarah Island gained a Diemen’s Land was the primary penal tions in nearby rainforest, felling Huon reputation as a place of unspeakable colony in Australia. Following the pines for boat building. Of all the horrors – a living hell. Convicts were suspension of transportation to New possible sites for a penal settlement, routinely flogged, tortured, brutalized, South Wales, all transported convicts Macquarie Harbour was the most dehumanized, starved and degraded. SCREEN EDUCATION were sent to the island. In total, some windswept and barren, but it was also And then, of course, there were the 75,000 convicts were transported to the most secure. Any convict trying to legendary exploits of Alexander Van Diemen’s Land, or about forty per escape Sarah Island had not only to Pearce, the Cannibal Convict … cent of all convicts sent to Australia. get across the harbour but to try and The last penal settlement in Tasmania hack his way through the impenetrable at Port Arthur finally closed in 1877. rainforests of the west coast. In all, 3 A SELECT HISTORY TIMELINE OF VAN DIEMEn’S LAND/TASMANIA 1642 Tasmania discovered by Europeans – Abel Tasman made landfall on the 1825 Order-in-Council separated Van Diemen’s Land from New South Wales Heemskirk and Zeehan on 24 November 1642. 14 June. Legislative and Executive Councils were established in Van Diemen’s Land. 1700 – 1799 1830 Governor Arthur established the penal settlement of Port Arthur on the 1772 French navigator Marion du Fresne anchored his ships Mascarin and Tasman Peninsula. Tasmania’s ‘Black Line’ – Governor Arthur attempt- Castries in Frederic Hendric Bay, now known as Marion Bay. ed to force Aboriginal people onto the Tasman Peninsula. 1773 Furneaux visited Adventure Bay. 1831 Emigration Commissioners established in London to promote emigration to Australian colonies. 1777 Captain James Cook visited Adventure Bay on his third and last voyage. 1833 Civilian juries began to be used for certain criminal trials. 1789 Cox visited Adventure Bay. 1835 George Robinson appointed Protector of the Aboriginal people, who 1788 Captain William Bligh visited Adventure Bay. have been removed to Flinders Island in Bass Strait. The Anti- 1792 Admiral Bruny D’Entrecasteaux, directed by National Assembly to Transportation League founded in Sydney. search for the missing explorer La Pérouse, anchored the Esperance 1837 Queen Victoria crowned. Church Act in Van Diemen’s Land. and Recherche at Recherche Bay. He entered the channel prior to departure for New Caledonia. 1840 Military juries for criminal trials abolished. Order-in-Council ended transportation of convicts 22 May 1840 (UK). 1793 D’Entrecasteaux returned to the channel and surveyed Norfolk Bay and the upper reaches of the Derwent. Charts made by D’Entrecasteaux 1846 Aboriginal people on Flinders Island in Bass Strait petitioned Queen were unknown to the British who later duplicated much of the work. Victoria. 1794 Lieutenant John Hayes reached Storm Bay and explored Derwent. 1847 Anti-transportation movement began in Van Diemen’s Land. 1798 Matthew Flinders and George Bass proved Van Diemen’s Land is an 1850 – 1899 island in the Norfolk. 1850 South Australia, Van Diemen’s Land and Victoria gained two-thirds 1800 – 1849 elected legislatures. 1802 Commander Nicholas Baudin sighted De Witt Island; Lieutenant Charles 1851 Victoria separated from New South Wales. Robbins landed on King Island and proclaimed Van Diemen’s Land a British possession. 1853 Last convicts transported to Van Diemen’s Land. 1803 The Albion, under the command of Captain Ebor Bunker, reached 1855 Constitution Act 1855 (Tas) – parliamentary self-government. Order-in- Risdon Cove ahead of the Lady Nelson on 12 September 1803, with Council changed the island’s name to Tasmania, 21 July 1855 (UK). Lieutenant John Bowen to establish the settlement. James Meehan arrived to conduct the first surveys. 1856 Responsible government in South Australia and Tasmania. 1804 David Collins established a convict settlement at Hobart on the Derwent 1869 Tasmania and Victoria were connected by telegraph. River in Van Diemen’s Land; William Paterson established a second set- 1870 British troops were withdrawn from the Australian colonies; each tlement in Van Diemen’s Land, named George Town, on the Tamar River. colony established its own forces. 1810 Governor Lachlan Macquarie took office and Ellis Bent became the 1896 Tasmania and Victoria passed Federation Enabling Acts. Colony’s third deputy judge advocate. 1898 People in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia voted ‘yes’ in the 1811 Governor Macquarie inspected Van Diemen’s Land, and set out the referendum for Federation. town design for Hobart. 1899 Second referendums on the Australian Constitution succeeded in New 1814 The Charter of Justice 2 April 1814 (UK) established law and order in South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia. Se- Van Diemen’s Land. cret Premiers’ conference held in Melbourne. Boer War began in South 1824 George Arthur became Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land; Sir Africa; colonial troops embarked to support British forces. John Pedder became Chief Justice of Van Diemen’s Land. For further detail, see <http://www.macmanor.com.au/historyt.htm>.