Major Thomas Ryan (c.1790–??) soldier and penal administrator, was acting commandant of the second
convict settlement
A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer t ...
at
Norfolk Island, from July 1839 until the arrival of
Alexander Maconochie in March 1840.
Although he regarded the convicts as having been sent to the island for punishment, he tried to give them hope of release at some future time. Rations were increased, meals inspected, and well behaved and willing convicts were allowed to maintain gardens.
References
*
Hazzard, Margaret, ''Punishment Short of Death: a history of the penal settlement at Norfolk Island'', Melbourne, Hyland, 1984. ()
Norfolk Island penal colony administrators
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