Talk:Macquarie Harbour Penal Station

Latest comment: 12 years ago by MurfleMan in topic Ergot added to bread?

Earlier Conversations around the name etc edit

Could some one undo the redirect, and do it around the other way?

Macquarie Harbour Penal Station as the empty - to Sarah Island.

Absolutely 98% of Australians au fait with this subject would know of Sarah Island but would never know about the other title.

I wrote the article here because that was the name of the penal station. I added the redirect from Sarah Island because that is what most people would know it as. If this were on the island (as opposed to the historic penal station, which would be a key part of its history), then it would belong at Sarah Island, but otherwise, I think this is the best place to put it. Ambi 11:38, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Yup - well with that logic - 'The Franklin' should be entered in wikipedia as the 'Lower Gordon Power Development Scheme' which is what the HEC/Hydro called it when they were planning it and doing it. I find your message confusing - the penal station was on the island in the first place.User:SatuSuro

Generally, we use the most common name for the thing. That's why the Franklin Dam article is titled Franklin Dam. The difference here is that Sarah Island and the station are not necessarily the same thing; it would be quite possible to write a different article on Sarah Island. Ambi 5 July 2005 14:56 (UTC)
Tell that to the guys who won't let me call a Thylacine a Tasmanian Tiger :) Jgritz 5 July 2005 15:00 (UTC)
Thylacine makes sense, though - it's the actual name, and it's quite commonly known as that as well - the Tasmanian tiger is a nickname and an obvious redirect. Ambi 5 July 2005 15:21 (UTC)


Trying to be as diplomatic as possible - I wonder whether you folks have either been there that is the place itself, or read any of Richard Davey's work on it for starters, let alone the small library that's been written on Sarah Island ( i have 6 of them )?

I mean - the need to make a distinction of necessary connection or disconnection between M H P S and S I -if they are in fact the one and same thing! Ambi - please show where the M H P S was in fact somewhere else?

I rest my case, and return to other west coast issues that seem less fuddled.

Please don't twist my words - I never said it wasn't on Sarah Island, but that a seperate article could perhaps be written about it. If there's a consensus to move it to Sarah Island, I'm quite happy to do so - anyone else have any opinions on the matter? Ambi 6 July 2005 06:24 (UTC)
I'm Tassie born and bred and I've never actually heard it called Macquarie Harbour Penal Station but I do agree with Ambi here, that there is a distinction between the two, if only very small. I reckon a very small article on Sarah Island (more a geographical article) that points to MHPS for anything to do with the gaol. Also Vcxlor - Go easy on the paragraph spacing - there's no need to space paras out as much as you have been lately. Let the wiki markup do the formatting work. Jgritz 6 July 2005 07:05 (UTC)

I'm starting to change my mind and think it probably should go under Sarah Island now. Why? - well this for one. Also - almost all of the Tas Gov literature refers to it as the Sarah Island Historic Site. The island itself is only about 50 metres wide, so isn't really geographically significant place warranting its own article. Just my 2 cents (again) Jgritz 6 July 2005 09:46 (UTC)


Oh well - try the West Coast Tasmania Convict Heritage page for starters, I'd be interested to see what you think of that one - even if it is in progress in a manner of speaking.User:SatuSuro 6 July 2005 09:57 (UTC)

I'd probably prefer to see this type of info go into History of Tasmania, as the convict history isn't really exclusive to the west coast. People in Sydney, Hobart and London were pulling the strings. I can see where you're coming from, but the Tas History Article needs some more info anyway. Jgritz 6 July 2005 10:23 (UTC)


Yeah, that's the problem with you Lonnie guys.:) I used to live in Queenstown a long time ago, and for a very very short time ran the local newspaper.:)

and yup the Lonnie and Hobart push - yup Blainey's very obscure article about the three way pull in Tassie in 1900 -1914 did exactly what i sense about the centrism of the two eastern nodes - and it was for that brief time that the west coast had political and economic clout on a par with the two others...

And to think that of rumour during Gray's time that he was going to move the Govt up to Lonnie! wah.

anyways, I would once again argue that the specific references and the unique qualities of Sarah (and grummet) islands deserve - along with the legacy (give me another part of the tasmanian landscape that has had either the tourist clout, the books, and interest that sarah has had....) do deserve to remain as is. If someone is not feeding the Tas Hist - well someone else...

oh and by the way the reason why the island (re your finishing comments in your mhps entry) has little for richard (either davey or flanagan) to ponder is that the west coasters will pinch anything (ask me i used to live in queenie) that they can - they used to go down and pinch anything from there, from the 1880's + to the present day.

Hey thanks for the chat (did you hear that one of the salmon farms broke open in the macquarie harbour recently) and the fish - aka the the late douglas adams. I still reckon leave the stuff as is for the moment.Best Wishes User:SatuSuro 6 July 2005 10:40 (UTC)


Having raved. I checked the new companion to tasmanian history (Alexander) - and yup this is the correct title - MHPS - and there is no mention of sarah island. I got it wrong. User:SatuSuro 6 July 2005 12:41 (UTC)


Flanagan the elder edit

There is nothing in 5 reviews found in google that Flanagan the elder's book has any reference to Sarah Island - reason for questioning an insert by an anon editor..SatuSuro 12:57, 25 September 2006 (UTC)Reply

New book on Sarah Island edit

Following the publication of Hamish Maxwell-Stewart's book 'Closing Hell's Gates, which explodes a lot of myths about the place, this article needs some heavy revision. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.223.174.249 (talk) 10:16, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Reply

Ergot added to bread? edit

The article includes the claim "Ergot was deliberately added in the bakehouse, so that the bread would quickly become mouldy and inedible". From the Ergot article, it seems an unlikely thing to do, however they may have added it in the belief that the bread would become quickly mouldy...I've tagged it for a cite.MurfleMan (talk) 23:33, 30 March 2011 (UTC)Reply

I've removed the claim as uncited MurfleMan (talk) 04:30, 23 February 2012 (UTC)Reply