Descended from convicts
Ian Kerr
Postal Hub Podcast listeners may have heard me mention (more than once) that Tasmania is the best part of Australia, and quite possibly the world. Tasmania has it all: unspoiled beaches, clean air, leatherwood honey, confusing one-way street systems, and much more.
Tasmania also has a strong convict history, and that history is recognised in Australia Post's new stamp issue commemorating the 150th anniversary since the last convict transport ship arrived in Australia.
The stamp issue depicts three former penal colonies: New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) and Swan River (Western Australia).
The Van Diemen's Land stamp features Port Arthur. The World Heritage-listed convict site operated from 1830 to 1877, and these days is a famous tourist attraction.
The NSW Colony stamp features the heritage-listed Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney - the first government-built convict barracks, operational from 1819 until 1848.
The Swan River Colony stamp depicts the end of the convict transportation era, when 279 prisoners arrived at the Swan River Colony in 1868. The stamp shows the Convict Establishment, built in the early 1850s with convict labour, and later known as Fremantle Prison.
The Convict Past stamp issue is available at post offices and online at auspost.com.au/stamps.
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