The Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority presents this semi-regular series of talks by authoritative speakers on a variety of topics, ranging from history and conservation to environmental issues, research results, study tours and much more.
The talks are held every couple of months at the Port Arthur Historic Site, are free of charge and open to anyone who is interested in the topic. Rich and varied subjects and speakers make for fascinating listening and discussion.
For more information about our Port Arthur Talks, please phone +61 (0)3 6251 2324.
Thursday 23 January, 2014
'Taking the air': Health tourism at Eaglehawk Neck, 1875-1920
presented by Dr Marian Walker
By the end of the 19th century Tasmania had developed a reputation for health tourism. From early settlement the island had been described in travel literature as the ‘Sanatorium of India’, the ‘Sanatorium of the Australian Colonies’ and the 'Sanatorium of the South'. By the second half of the 19th century a variety of entrepreneurs began to capitalise on this rhetoric by establishing 'sanatoriums' and 'health resorts' designed specifically to attract invalids. This paper will examine this trend by employing the example of the 'Lufra Hotel' established near Port Arthur in 1899 by British naval doctor Dr Heber Dowling Ellis. It will conclude that while not all health enterprises established at this time could accurately have been described as 'sanatoriums', the 'Lufra Hotel' was one establishment that qualified more than most.
Dr. Walker was educated at the University of Tasmania and the University of New England. She obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Tasmania where she is a Research Associate with the School of Humanities. Her research focuses on the social and cultural history of travel and tourism with a special interest in the concept of image as a social and cultural construct. Her other research interests include community identity, public memory, cultural landscapes and the interpretation of tourism sites.
ALL WELCOME
Thursday 23 January, 2014 at 5.30pm at the Junior Medical Officer’s Conference Room, Port Arthur Historic Site
For more information call 6251 2324
Port Arthur Talk leaflet - Dr Marian Walker
Thursday 13 February, 2014
Roses from the heart: a tribute to convict women
presented by Dr Christina Henri
Tasmanian artist Christina Henri is using art as a meaningful tool to tell the stories of our past and bring focus to heritage sites, especially the Cascades Female Factory Historic Site. This presentation tells us the how, why and where about
Roses from the Heart – the first memorial to ALL women sentenced to transportation as convicts to Australia 1788-1853.
Beginning as a memorial art installation based on the colonial bonnet which pays tribute to the contribution paid to colonial society by convict women, it has grown to become a collection of over 23,000 bonnets made by descendants and interested individuals alike. Christina will share stories of her visits to Ireland with
Roses from the Heart in 2010, 2012 and 2013.
Christina Henri completed her PhD in visual and performing arts through the University of Tasmania in 2011. She has been Honorary Artist-in-Residence at the Cascades Female Factory Historic Site since 2003, and has been involved in numerous art installations and exhibitions in recent years that involve acknowledgement of convict women. This year she was inscribed on the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women.
ALL WELCOME
Thursday 13 February, 2014 at 5.30pm at the Junior Medical Officer’s Conference Room, Port Arthur Historic Site
For more information call 6251 2324
Port Arthur Talk leaflet - Christina Henri
Thursday 27 March, 2014
Jane Franklin at Port Arthur
presented by Dr Alison Alexander
In a period when most ladies sat at home with their embroidery, Jane Franklin achieved fame throughout the western world, and was probably the best travelled woman of her day. Born in late eighteenth century London and married at the age of 36 years to Sir John Franklin, she travelled widely, and with an original ambition to live life to the full she was equally desirous of making her kind and mild husband a success. Arriving in Tasmania in 1837 when Sir John became governor, she swept like a whirlwind through the colony: attempting to rid the island of snakes, establishing a scientific society and the Hobart regatta, and adopting an Aboriginal girl to name a few of her many activities.
In 1837 the Franklins visited Port Arthur. In her diary and letters, Jane Franklin, an acute observer, gave a full and frank description of her visit. This paper analyses this description.
Alison Alexander has written 24 books about Tasmanian history, ranging from commissioned histories of a variety of institutions and areas, to biographies. Her most important books are:
The ambitions of Jane Franklin (2013), and
Tasmania’s Convicts (2010).
ALL WELCOME
Thursday 27 March, 2014 at 5.30pm at the Junior Medical Officer’s Conference Room, Port Arthur Historic Site
For more information call 6251 2324
Port Arthur Talk leaflet - Alison Alexander