Archaeological

Case Study

Anson Hulk Mooring Location, Prince of Wales Bay, Hobart

Ecophyte Technologies was approached by Brad Williams, Masters student in Maritime Archaeology at Flinders University and President, Maritime Archaeology Association of Tasmania to conduct a marine magnetometer survey of Prince of Wales Bay, Hobart to locate the mooring of the Anson prison hulk.

The 1742 ton Anson was built in 1812 as a naval vessel, however was considered third rate and never saw active service. The ship served as a quarantine ship, then transported convicts to Van Diemens Land, from 1844 becoming the only prison hulk in Australia specifically used for the incarceration of female convicts, moored in the middle of Prince of Wales Bay, Tasmania. The ship was broken up in 1851 in Hobart however historical research suggests that the mooring system and related artefacts may remain in Prince of Wales Bay. These artefacts, if in-situ, provide a unique opportunity to compare the archaeology of female hulk confinement with existing paradigms of Australian convict life. As large accumulations of unconsolidated silt and poor visibility prevent straightforward visual survey, a marine magnetometer was employed to locate ferrous anomalies within the survey area.

Magnetometer investigations yielded three significant anomalies; one of which is attributed to the large jetty to the south of the bay, one of which is attributed to the survey boat reversing to retrieve the magnetometer towfish when it became snagged on a rocky outcrop in the bay and one which is unexplainable. Given the location and nature of the unexplainable anomaly it may be the Anson mooring. This location will be the focus of direct investigation by Brad Williams in the near future.

The location of the Anson mooring is the focus of a poster to be presented at the Australian Institute of Maritime Archaeology/Australian Archaeology Association Conference in Fremantle in November 2005 by Brad Williams and Ian Moffat entitled “Geophysical Investigations of the Anson Mooring Site, Prince of Wales Bay, Tasmania”.