Meticulous records shed light on cross-generational effects of convict transportation to Tasmania
By Selina Ross
Meticulous records of Tasmania's earliest European inhabitants are shedding light on the effects of transportation on health across generations.
In the early to mid-1800s, Tasmania, or Van Diemen's Land, was an island prison.
Extensive records were taken to keep track of convicts both incarcerated or working around the state.
State archivist Ross Latham said the records documented the administration of the Van Diemen's Land convict system.
We even know in some cases the species of worm that infested the convict's gut and what was in their bank account.
UTAS historian Hamish Maxwell-Stewart
"It's really a way that if somebody was thinking that that person had absconded and potentially been captured somewhere else, 'did they match the description?'," he said.
Detailed descriptions of individual convicts filled the roll of photographs.
"If you look in some of the records, you'll see there's meticulous level of description about heights, colour of eyes, any scars, tattoos, complexion," Mr Latham said.
"And also some little anecdotal comments that might be about scruffy appearance or dodgy appearance."
Historian Hamish Maxwell-Stewart from the University of Tasmania is using the information to explore the impact transportation had on subsequent generations of Tasmanians.
"The records are amazing. They record every day a convict spent in cells, every day they spent working in chains in a road gang," Professor Maxwell-Stewart said.
"We even know in some cases the species of worm that infested the convict's gut and what was in their bank account."
PHOTO: While the books are ageing, the data they contain is still useable. (ABC News: Selina Ross)
Professor Maxwell-Stewart is using height data to compare those who came to Tasmania with people who remained in Britain and Ireland.
He said the genes inherited from parents played the biggest role in determining an individual's height.
"However, early childhood experiences will dictate the extent to which you can reach your biologically programmed height," he said.
"And across a population, an average height tells you a lot about the experiences that that population experienced when they were in utero and up to about the age of six."
The professor said while convicts were generally shorter than the rest of the population, their offspring were not.
"The really interesting thing is that their children are tall, indeed much taller than if they'd stayed behind and been born in Britain," he said.
"So it appears that there were some intergenerational advantages that were conferred on Tasmanians by transportation."
Digitised data to help track ancestors movements
Tasmania's superior food offerings and a rural setting with fewer diseases are believed to be behind the advantage.
The professor is looking at the effects of transportation on generations right through to World War I.
"It can tell us a lot about the intergenerational impact of something like exposure to solitary confinement, something we're very interested in. There have been no studies on this," he said.
"We know that solitary confinement is very, very detrimental in the short term."
Professor Maxwell-Stewart said there were strong indications that solitary confinement cut life expectancy.
"What we don't know is what happened to the children of convicts that had greater exposure to solitary confinement than other convict parents," he said.
"So whether there was an intergenerational effect, whether there was, for example, a lower level of parenting because of the trauma experienced.
"And we'd like to do the same with things like flogging and exposure to hard labour in leg irons, et cetera."
Most of the convict archives have been digitised through the efforts of the Tasmanian Archives and Heritage Office, the University of Tasmania, the University of Melbourne and Ancestory.com.
A new portal has been launched on the LINC Tasmania website to share more information. http://www.linc.tas.gov.au/convict-portal
Mr Latham said archivists hoped to show where convicts moved around the state.
"There's just that general interest, 'OK, I'm touring Tasmania, I'm seeing all this built heritage, what's the story?'," he said.
"You'll be able to look at a particular locality and, via the convict portal, learn a bit about what its purpose was and actually eventually be able to track the convicts there.
"So if you had a convict ancestor you'll soon be potentially able to view the portal, look at it on your smartphone, wherever you may be, and say, 'OK, my descendent was here'."
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