On April 18 2008, Vietnamese journalist Danh Đức was standing in the rain at the Kourou Space Centre, the European Space Agency’s spaceport in French Guiana, a territory that is, as an overseas département, still an integral part of France. Eyes heavenward, Danh Đức was eager to witness the launch Continue Reading
An Algerian Prisoner in New Caledonia Part 2: The Descendants of Abdelkader ben Cherfia
In a previous blog, An Algerian Prisoner in New Caledonia, we began the story of Abdelkader ben Cherfia. A blacksmith from Blida, Abdelkader met an untimely death as a murder victim at the hands of his wife, Peroline Langevin, in 1901. His death notwithstanding, Abdelkader ben Cherfia’s life story reflected Continue Reading
‘Cassim’: an extraordinary life – Part 2
We closed Part 1 of our blog on Cassim, with details of his penal transportation from Mauritius to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania). From there, he was transferred to Moreton Bay (modern Brisbane) and sent to the Limestone Hills (modern Ipswich) to look after government livestock. Here, we note that during Continue Reading
Chinese Prisoners on Cockatoo Island, Sydney
The small sandstone island of Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour is best known as a convict stockade which held the ‘worst’ of the convict system: former Norfolk Islanders and bushrangers are its most famous inhabitants. However, from the 1850s onwards Cockatoo Island acted primarily as a local prison for those Continue Reading
Genealogies of Enslavement and Convictism in the British Empire
In a former blog, I wrote about the enslaved girl Constance Couronne, who in 1834 with her cousin Elizabeth Verloppe was transported from the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius to the penal colony of New South Wales. The two children had been convicted of attempting to poison their mistress. Constance lived Continue Reading
The Makam Dato Koyah: working with a community in Penang
On Transfer Road, in the UNESCO world heritage site of George Town Penang, there is a fascinating place called the Makam Dato Koyah. There lies buried a man who in his lifetime was known as Syed Mustapha Idris. A shrine (keramat) grew up around him after miraculous happenings followed his Continue Reading
Salvation, Commerce, and Repatriation: The Salvation Army in French Guiana
Among the materials held in the archives of French Guiana is a box of papers relating to the activities of the Armée du Salut, or Salvation Army, in France’s mainland South American colony in the 1930s. French Guiana became a penal colony in 1854. It held under-sentence convicts from all Continue Reading
An Algerian Prisoner in New Caledonia
The Story of Abdelkader ben Cherifa Many accounts of Algerians sent to New Caledonia focus on those sent in the aftermath of the 1870-71 uprisings against colonial French rule. However, prisoners were also sent from Algeria and areas of the Maghreb prior to 1870; approximately 2000 prisoners were transported between Continue Reading
‘Cassim’: an extraordinary life – Part I
One of the graves that can be found in Minjeribah (North Stradbroke Island)’s Dunwich Cemetery in the Australian state of Queensland bears the name of John Vincent Cassim and his wife Mary (Figure 1). I recently returned to the grave site with my friend and fellow historian Tamsin O’Connor, who Continue Reading
Children, Caste and Censuses in the Andaman Islands
Between 1858 and 1939, the British transported over 80,000 Indian and Burmese convicts to the penal colony of the Andaman Islands. In the face of Indigenous hostility to passing and shipwrecked vessels, Britain’s initial ambition was to use convicts to occupy the archipelago and secure sea routes, build necessary infrastructure, Continue Reading