{"id":5190,"date":"2010-08-31T17:36:29","date_gmt":"2010-08-31T06:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/?p=5190"},"modified":"2010-08-31T21:18:34","modified_gmt":"2010-08-31T10:18:34","slug":"port-arthur-isle-of-the-dead-epitaphs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/2010\/08\/31\/port-arthur-isle-of-the-dead-epitaphs\/","title":{"rendered":"Port Arthur: Isle of the Dead epitaphs"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have an interest in epitaphs. Epitaphs tell us something of the deceased and\/or their near family and community.<\/p>\n

During\u00a0last week\u2019s\u00a0visit to the\u00a0Port Arthur Historic Site <\/a>I took time to do the harbour tour and read up on the Isle of the Dead. The Isle of the Dead <\/a>holds many secrets but some valuable research has been published by Richard Lord and Partners of Taroona Tasmania\u00a0in ‘Isle of the Dead: Port Arthur – Inscriptions on the headstones and historical background of the cemetery at Port Arthur penal establishment 1830-1877’, 6th edition 2009.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Revd George Eastman served the penal settlement and Tasman community from 1859 to 1870. One cold and stormy evening he responded to a call to visit a dying convict. Following time and\u00a0Christian ministry to the dying man he returned home and went to bed already unwell. This was to be his own death bed as he never rose from it again. Within 2 days he had died of pneumonia. Two of our guides commented on his compassion and care for the convicts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The west side of his raised sandstone vault reads,<\/p>\n

SACRED<\/em><\/p>\n

to the memory of<\/em><\/p>\n

THE REVD GEORGE EASTMAN.<\/em><\/p>\n

For 26 Years the faithful Chaplain on\u00a0Tasman’s Peninsula.<\/em><\/p>\n

and at other Institutions.<\/em><\/p>\n

who departed this life<\/em><\/p>\n

25th April 1870.<\/em><\/p>\n

Aged 51 years.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

(East side)<\/p>\n

Long and earnestly the Pastor Labored<\/em><\/p>\n

to bring souls to CHRIST,<\/em><\/p>\n

And oft on this Calm Isle, proclaimed<\/em><\/p>\n

to mourning groups, the Christian’s Cheering<\/em><\/p>\n

HOPE<\/em><\/p>\n

THE JOYFUL RESURRECTION MORN<\/em><\/p>\n

and<\/em><\/p>\n

GLORIOUS IMMORTALITY.<\/em><\/p>\n

He being dead\u00a0yet speaketh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 HEB. XI.4.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>The Revd George Eastman’s\u00a0life of service both warmed my heart and inspires my ongoing ministry.<\/p>\n

\u00a0His epitaph\u00a0both records and proclaims his passion for evangelism, his pastoral ministry and the\u00a0HOPE OF THE JOYFUL RESURRECTION MORN in which he lived and ministered. I\u00a0want to use my (probably shorter) epitaph to proclaim the resurrected Christ. I thank George Eastman for his example and God for The Revd Eastman’s life.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0For further reflection, prayer and work:<\/p>\n