Port Arthur - Settlement
View of settlement including the Commandant's House Port Arthur’s most senior official. A residence befitting his rank and position was erected on high ground on the fringe of settlement in 1833.
The Commandant's House, originally built as a simple wooden cottage, had a commanding view over the rest of the settlement. It evolved over the years to become a many-roomed complex fringed by ornate gardens and pathways and separated from the rest of settlement by high masonry walls.
Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name... ... read more 
