Hilary Carey
Orangery, Goldney Hall, Lower Clifton Hill, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1BX
Throughout the nineteenth century, Norfolk Island was regarded with horror as simply the worst place on earth. This was the heart of darkness, a place reserved for what one writer referred to as 'the devils of devils, the most hardened and diabolical wretches who curse the earth.' Until 1855 when transportation was abandoned, Norfolk Island was the Azkaban of the British Empire, a site of last resort for criminals regarded as incapable of reform by any other means. Or was it? All prisons are unhappy places but Norfolk Island did not deserve its fearsome reputation which, paradoxically, was largely invented as part of the campaign to end convict transportation. This talk will take you to this place of terror and explain why prison chaplains such as the Rev. Thomas Rogers wrote such lurid accounts of this sad and beautiful place. It will explore western ideas about prisons and prison reform and suggest reasons for the collapse of attempts to use religion to cure criminals.
This event is part of InsideArts festival 2015.
Please click here to book and reserve your place.
