Juvenile convict labour and industry: The Point Puer landscape

The nineteenth-century boys' establishment at Point Puer operated as a carceral institution that attempted to reform young inmates by offering trade training. These functions, however, are poorly understood. Previous historical research has established that the training was separated into a series of trade and work tasks, that a highly regular and disciplinary routine was enacted, and that a growing population and lack of resources marred the success of the training programs.² However, a more nuanced understanding becomes possible when Point Puer is considered through the lens of its work and various industries. Operating between 1834 and 1849 as an outstation of the Port Arthur penal settlement, Point Puer provides an institutional snapshot of the specialised and separate treatment of juvenile criminals in colonial Australia and also a case study of how training and industry formed a crucial part of prisoner labour systems, both in Australia and worldwide.³ In this article the processes and products of juvenile labour at Point Puer are examined through the archaeological landscape and historical record. A focus on industry provides a framework for understanding the value of juvenile labour and the network of activity that existed at and around Point Puer.