It’s often thought that Port Arthur was the Tasman Peninsula’s only penal settlement, but that’s not strictly true.

During the 1840s, there were many ‘probation stations’ peppered around the peninsula. One of them was Koonya, located roughly halfway between Taranna and Premaydena.

The Koonya probation station – originally called Cascades because of the waterfalls nearby – was established in 1841. The convicts who were sent there were tasked with cutting down trees and producing sawn timber that could be used in construction projects.

There was a hospital, officers’ quarters, cottages for the overseers, and cell blocks. All these buildings are still intact today.

Koonya’s population peaked in 1846, with around 400 convicts stationed there.

It started declining after that, particularly when the government put a stop to convict transportation in 1853.

Koonya ceased as a probation station in 1855, but it continued on for a while as a convict farm. By the mid-1870s, however, Port Arthur was the only penal settlement still operating on the Tasman Peninsula.

After it closed in 1877, the whole peninsula was opened up to private citizens. Land at Koonya was subdivided and sold, and some farms and orchards sprang up. Its old hospital building operated as the Tasman Peninsula’s hospital from 1927 to 1970. All its convict era buildings were restored in the 1980s and now serve as heritage accommodation for visitors.

Today, Koonya is a small community that balances small-scale farming with community events and tourism.

Callum J. Jones studied English, History, and Journalism at the University of Tasmania and lived in Western Sydney from 2022 to 2024 while working as a journalist for Professional Planner, a leading online publication for financial planners. He has written for Tasmanian Times since 2018 and has also been published in a range of other outlets, including Quadrant and the BAD Western Sydney anthologies.

Tas That Was is a column that includes:

  • anecdotes of life in Tasmania in the past;
  • historical photographs of locations in Tasmania; and/or
  • documentaries about locations in Tasmania.

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