Two double cottages each to contain two families, have been ordered to be built in front of the old military barracks; the furst of these cottages has been commenced and is now progressing with as much dispatch as possible - it will be a good brick building and afford suitable accommodation for two married officers.
JAMES BOYD, COMMANDANT, 19 JANUARY 1854.
Many of the serving soldiers were married and in some cases their families accompanied them to Port Arthur.
Unless they were officers, the families all shared a room together in the barracks.
The building was sold after the closure of Port Arthur but was badly damaged in the 1897 bushfires. One side was rebuilt a few years later, the other being used as a chicken house. During the 1960s-80s considerable conservation work was
Built in 1854, each cottage had two
carried out to stabilise and reconstruct
rooms on the ground floor, a kitchen
missing elements of the building.
behind and one or two attic rooms above. The tenants were military families at first, but overseers and civil officers occupied them from time to time.