There are two known gravediggers who lived and worked on the Isle of the Dead during its time as a penal colony.
The first was John Barron, an Irish convict who lived and worked on the island for more than 10 years until pardoned in 1874.
The second was Mark Jeffrey, an English convict who volunteered for the job as gravedigger and lived on the isle from Mondays to Saturdays and returned to the Port Arthur settlement to attend Sunday church services.
He was the gravedigger until the penal colony's closure in April 1877, then transferred to Hobart Town prison.
There are two known gravediggers who lived and worked on the Isle of the Dead during its time as a penal colony. The first was John Barron, an Irish convict who lived and worked on the island for more than 10 years until pardoned in 1874. The second was Mark Jeffrey, an English convict who volunteered for the job as gravedigger and lived on the isle from Mondays to Saturdays and returned to the Port Arthur settlement to attend Sunday church services. He was the gravedigger until the penal colony's closure in April 1877, then transferred to Hobart Town prison.
Isle of the Dead (Tasmania)