Fremantle Prison
Encyclopedia
Fremantle Prison is a former Australian prison located in The Terrace, Fremantle
, in Western Australia
. The 6 hectares (14.8 acre) site includes the prison, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, tunnels, and prisoner art. The prison was one of 11 former convict sites in Australia inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2010 as the Australian Convict Sites
.
The prison was built by convict labour in the 1850s, and transferred to the colonial government in 1886 for use as a gaol for locally-sentenced prisoners. It closed as a prison in 1991 and reopened as a historic site. It is now a public museum, managed by the Government of Western Australia
with daily and nightly tours being operated. Some tours include information about the possible existence of ghosts within the prison. There are also tours of the flooded tunnels and aqueducts under the prison.
The prison is also widely referred to as Fremantle Gaol.
Fremantle Prison was constructed soon after the arrival of the convict ship Scindian
in 1850. The Swan River Colony
was settled by free settlers in 1829. In 1849, the farmers petitioned the colonial authority to request skilled convicts be sent from the British government. The first ship with 75 prisoners aboard arrived even before confirmation of the request was received. Edmund Henderson
found on arrival that the town was unprepared and arranged temporary accommodation for the convicts at the harbour master's warehouse (now the Esplanade Hotel). Under direction from Henderson, James Manning and Henry Wray
supervised the construction of the prison using convict labour from limestone
quarried on-site. Construction began in 1851 and was completed in 1859. The first prisoners were moved there in 1855. The original design of the main cell block was based upon that of Pentonville Prison
in England.
Once construction of the prison's wings, perimeter walls and associated buildings was complete, convicts were often used in chain gang
s for other public works in the Fremantle and surrounding Perth area, for example, Perth Town Hall
and Fremantle Asylum
. During this period the prison was named the Convict Establishment, although known locally and informally as the Limestone Lodge.
In 1868, penal transportation
ceased in Western Australia. Numbers of transported convicts gradually declined; the prison came under the control of the colonial government and was renamed Fremantle Prison in 1886. Locally-sentenced male and female prisoners were moved from Perth
gaol to the site which became the largest prison in Western Australia. Transportation had already ceased in the other colonies by 1853. The old prison bakery was converted into the women's prison to accommodate this new role. It held up to 60 women until 1970, when the women's section closed and the inmates were transferred to Bandyup Women's Prison
, north-east of Perth. The former women's section then became the prisoner assessment centre.
During construction of the buildings, six deep shafts were sunk into the limestone bedrock to the east of the main building to provide the prisoners with fresh water from a limestone
aquifer
. The quality of the water proved better than that in the town and prisoners were soon pumping, by hand, up to 55 millilitre of water per year from prison reservoirs to the colony and to ships berthing at the developing port. In 1888 a steam pump was installed to take over the work. In 1896, a series of tunnels or Horizontal Drives were constructed 20 metres under the prison to provide a greater surface area allowing more water to be drawn. The work was carried out using prison labour in poor conditions. The accessible tunnels run for over 1 kilometre; however, by 1910 the tunnels system was no longer needed and was sealed, leaving tools and construction equipment in place. The tunnels became the subject of many urban myths in the local area.
In 1907, after the gold rush
es in Western Australia and the rapid population growth in the area, the prison was expanded with the construction of New Division to the north, built by contractors with stone from quarries at Rottnest Island
. In the yard of this section, a panopticon
was built, influenced by Jeremy Bentham
's concept. This area also contains Death Row
.
During World War I
and World War II
, the Australian Army
took over part of the prison and used it as a military prison
from September 1939 until June 1946. Nearby Rottnest Island
was also used to hold prisoners and prisoners-of-war during war time.
The last person to be hanged at Fremantle Prison was serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke
, executed in 1964.
On 4 January 1988, with recorded inside temperatures of 52.2 °C (126 °F), a prison riot
took place. Seventy prisoners took over four and three divisions, taking 15 officers hostage. The riots led to a large fire damaging three and four divisions causing A$
1.8 million of damage.
about 30 km south of Perth, which opened the same year. Casuarina Prison replaced the 130-year-old Fremantle Prison as the state's main maximum-security prison. The buildings remained the jurisdiction of the Department of Housing and Works and the complex was leased for ten years to a conservation group, the Fremantle Guardians, who successfully ran tours around the buildings. After the lease expired in 2001, the state government again took control and embarked on a long-term plan for the future conservation of the site.
The network of tunnels under the prison was opened to the public on 7 June 2005.
Thomas Hill Dixon
held the position of Superintendent of Convicts for nine years, running Fremantle Prison and the convict system. Together with the Comptroller General
Edmund Henderson
, he created a reforming, humane convict system for Western Australia. He instituted a system of training convicts in a trade, and he adapted Western Australia's legal situation to the marks system used by Alexander Maconochie
in the Norfolk Island
penal system. He was opposed to flogging and favoured the introduction of female convicts into Western Australia.
Cell sizes were increased by knocking down the inner wall between two cells after changes were ordered following a Royal Commission
held in the 1890s. At the same time, the prison was divided into several parts. In the main block, four divisions were created:
The main block also houses solitary confinement
, the gallows
and two churches.
The gallows
room was the only legal place of execution
in Western Australia between 1888 and 1965, with 43 men and one woman hanged in this period, the last being Eric Edgar Cooke
. Aside from hanging, other punishments for lesser crimes included solitary confinement
and lashing
s in the exercise yard.
Michal Bosworth writes that staff disliked giving the lashings and reports on a remission in lashes ordered in 1853, "because no one could be found to carry out the punishment." However, the last flogging occurred in 1943.
The prison contains two chapels, one Protestant
and one Catholic
. Behind the Anglican chapel altar, there is a painted representation of the Ten Commandments
. The words to the sixth commandment use the unusual translation of "thou shalt do no murder" rather than "thou shalt not kill," the more common interpretation in the Church of England
. Given that the gallows were still in regular use, it was felt that "thou shalt not kill" would have been hypocritical
. The most notable feature in the church is the face of child-murderer Martha Rendell
, which can be seen on the outside of the window but not on the inside.
In August 2005, work began on the restoration of the prison gatehouse area. Poor-quality concrete
rendering
was removed and the original stonework was revealed in October 2005. The work is the start of a three-year plan to halt the deterioration of the buildings and preserve them for the future.
Fremantle Prison is currently the best preserved convict-built prison in the country and became the first building in Western Australia to be listed on the Australian National Heritage List
. The Australian Federal Heritage Minister, Senator
Ian Campbell
, stated that it would be included in a nomination of eleven convict areas to become World Heritage Site
s.
Policy dictates the prison is used for the benefit of the community without damaging the fabric of the site. Since 1992, the prison has operated as a heritage museum, and by 2005 the prison was attracting more than 130,000 visitors every year. The Anglican Chapel is currently visited on tours and used for wedding
services; New Division is used as a New Business Enterprise Centre; the hospital is now home to the Fremantle Children's Literature Centre; and the women's prison is now an art college.
Guided tours run daily through the site. Torch
light tours are also held twice weekly. Ramps are provided to enable disabled access through the ground floors of the prison; however, some upper levels are inaccessible. On tunnels tours visitors can walk and paddle through the tunnels by boat. Visitors descend 20 metres down a set of vertical ladders attached with harnesses
and need to be fairly fit. A gift shop and restaurant also operate. The prison is closed Good Friday
and Christmas Day.
The prison art gallery, a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Works, showcases and offers for sale the artworks of current and ex-prisoners of Western Australia. Art therapy
has been used within the prison for education and rehabilitation.
Additionally many cells and areas of the prison depict prisoners' artwork, including that of the 19th-century forger James Walsh, whose artwork was hidden beneath layers of white-wash for decades. Painting or drawing on walls was originally forbidden, however, this rule was relaxed in special cases where art was found to calm violent prisoners, and was relaxed generally towards the end of the life of the facility.
A more contemporary prison artist was Dennis (NOZ) Nozworthy, who stated that he found art on death row. Some of his work currently is held in the collections of Curtin University
, Perth Central TAFE, and the WA Government, Department of Justice.
Other cells contain Aboriginal artwork many by unknown artists. The Walmajarri artist Jimmy Pike started painting in Fremantle prison, having received tuition from Steve Culley and David Wroth.
Other notable prisoners include members of the Fenian Brotherhood
. Sixty-two Fenian's arrived at Fremantle in 1867. Many were pardoned over the years; however, in 1876 six managed to escape and fled aboard the Catalpa whaleboat
to New York
.
Magazine) claimed that the prison should be demolished because it is a place of suffering. This statement caused a public outcry, with several Fremantle residents sending angry letters to The Sunday Times, stating the exact opposite of what the writer claimed.
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
, in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. The 6 hectares (14.8 acre) site includes the prison, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, tunnels, and prisoner art. The prison was one of 11 former convict sites in Australia inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2010 as the Australian Convict Sites
Australian Convict Sites
"Australian Convict Sites" is a World Heritage property consisting of 11 remnant penal sites originally built within the British Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries on fertile Australian coastal strips at Sydney, Tasmania, Norfolk Island, and Fremantle; now representing:" ....
.
The prison was built by convict labour in the 1850s, and transferred to the colonial government in 1886 for use as a gaol for locally-sentenced prisoners. It closed as a prison in 1991 and reopened as a historic site. It is now a public museum, managed by the Government of Western Australia
Government of Western Australia
The formation of the Government of Western Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1890, although it has been amended many times since then...
with daily and nightly tours being operated. Some tours include information about the possible existence of ghosts within the prison. There are also tours of the flooded tunnels and aqueducts under the prison.
The prison is also widely referred to as Fremantle Gaol.
Construction
Scindian
Scindian is widely considered the first convict ship to transport convicts to Western Australia.A barque of 650 tons, Scindian was constructed at Sunderland, England in 1844 and named after the Indian Scindia dynasty...
in 1850. The Swan River Colony
Swan River Colony
The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...
was settled by free settlers in 1829. In 1849, the farmers petitioned the colonial authority to request skilled convicts be sent from the British government. The first ship with 75 prisoners aboard arrived even before confirmation of the request was received. Edmund Henderson
Edmund Henderson
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edmund Yeamans Walcott Henderson KCB was an officer in the British Army who was Comptroller-General of Convicts in Western Australia from 1850 to 1863, Home Office Surveyor-General of Prisons from 1863 to 1869, and Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, head of the London...
found on arrival that the town was unprepared and arranged temporary accommodation for the convicts at the harbour master's warehouse (now the Esplanade Hotel). Under direction from Henderson, James Manning and Henry Wray
Henry Wray
Lieutenant-General Henry Wray CMG was a Royal Engineers officer who arrived in Fremantle on 12 December 1851 and was responsible for carrying out the construction plans for Fremantle Prison for Edmund Henderson....
supervised the construction of the prison using convict labour from limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
quarried on-site. Construction began in 1851 and was completed in 1859. The first prisoners were moved there in 1855. The original design of the main cell block was based upon that of Pentonville Prison
Pentonville (HM Prison)
HM Prison Pentonville is a Category B/C men's prison, operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service. Pentonville Prison is not actually within Pentonville itself, but is located further north, on the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury area of the London Borough of Islington, in inner-North London,...
in England.
Once construction of the prison's wings, perimeter walls and associated buildings was complete, convicts were often used in chain gang
Chain gang
A chain gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work, such as mining or timber collecting, as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include building roads, digging ditches or chipping stone...
s for other public works in the Fremantle and surrounding Perth area, for example, Perth Town Hall
Perth Town Hall
The Perth Town Hall, situated on the corner of Hay and Barrack streets, is the only convict-built town hall in Australia.Designed by Richard Roach Jewell and James Manning in the Victorian Free Gothic style, the hall was built by convicts and free men between 1868 and 1870...
and Fremantle Asylum
Fremantle Arts Centre
Fremantle Arts Centre is a multi-arts organisation, offering a program of exhibitions, residencies, art courses and music in a historic building in the heart of Fremantle, Western Australia....
. During this period the prison was named the Convict Establishment, although known locally and informally as the Limestone Lodge.
In 1868, penal transportation
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
ceased in Western Australia. Numbers of transported convicts gradually declined; the prison came under the control of the colonial government and was renamed Fremantle Prison in 1886. Locally-sentenced male and female prisoners were moved from Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
gaol to the site which became the largest prison in Western Australia. Transportation had already ceased in the other colonies by 1853. The old prison bakery was converted into the women's prison to accommodate this new role. It held up to 60 women until 1970, when the women's section closed and the inmates were transferred to Bandyup Women's Prison
Bandyup Women's Prison
Bandyup Women's Prison is located in the northeastern rural suburb of West Swan, Western Australia. Prior to its construction, the female prisoners were at Fremantle Prison, which was overcrowded and offered women limited opportunities....
, north-east of Perth. The former women's section then became the prisoner assessment centre.
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
aquifer
Aquifer
An aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
. The quality of the water proved better than that in the town and prisoners were soon pumping, by hand, up to 55 millilitre of water per year from prison reservoirs to the colony and to ships berthing at the developing port. In 1888 a steam pump was installed to take over the work. In 1896, a series of tunnels or Horizontal Drives were constructed 20 metres under the prison to provide a greater surface area allowing more water to be drawn. The work was carried out using prison labour in poor conditions. The accessible tunnels run for over 1 kilometre; however, by 1910 the tunnels system was no longer needed and was sealed, leaving tools and construction equipment in place. The tunnels became the subject of many urban myths in the local area.
In 1907, after the gold rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
es in Western Australia and the rapid population growth in the area, the prison was expanded with the construction of New Division to the north, built by contractors with stone from quarries at Rottnest Island
Rottnest Island
Rottnest Island is located off the coast of Western Australia, near Fremantle. It is called Wadjemup by the Noongar people, meaning "place across the water". The island is long, and at its widest point with a total land area of . It is classified as an A Class Reserve and is managed by the...
. In the yard of this section, a panopticon
Panopticon
The Panopticon is a type of building designed by English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the late eighteenth century. The concept of the design is to allow an observer to observe all inmates of an institution without them being able to tell whether or not they are being watched...
was built, influenced by Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
's concept. This area also contains Death Row
Death row
Death row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...
.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
took over part of the prison and used it as a military prison
Military prison
A military prison is a prison operated by the military. Military prisons are used variously to house prisoners of war, enemy combatants, those whose freedom is deemed a national security risk by the military or national authorities, and members of the military found guilty of a serious crime...
from September 1939 until June 1946. Nearby Rottnest Island
Rottnest Island
Rottnest Island is located off the coast of Western Australia, near Fremantle. It is called Wadjemup by the Noongar people, meaning "place across the water". The island is long, and at its widest point with a total land area of . It is classified as an A Class Reserve and is managed by the...
was also used to hold prisoners and prisoners-of-war during war time.
The last person to be hanged at Fremantle Prison was serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke
Eric Edgar Cooke
Eric Edgar Cooke nicknamed The Night Caller was an Australian serial killer. From 1959 to 1963, he terrorised the city of Perth, Western Australia, by committing 22 violent crimes, eight of which resulted in deaths....
, executed in 1964.
Prison riot
A prison riot is an act of concerted defiance or disorder by a group of prisoners against the prison administrators, prison officers, or other groups of prisoners in attempt to force change or express a grievance....
took place. Seventy prisoners took over four and three divisions, taking 15 officers hostage. The riots led to a large fire damaging three and four divisions causing A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
1.8 million of damage.
Closure
Fremantle Prison was decommissioned on 8 November 1991. Prisoners were transferred to Casuarina PrisonCasuarina Prison
Casuarina Prison is the main maximum security prison for Western Australia, located near Perth. The prison accommodates minimum, medium and maximum security prisoners and was opened in 1991 to replace Fremantle Prison...
about 30 km south of Perth, which opened the same year. Casuarina Prison replaced the 130-year-old Fremantle Prison as the state's main maximum-security prison. The buildings remained the jurisdiction of the Department of Housing and Works and the complex was leased for ten years to a conservation group, the Fremantle Guardians, who successfully ran tours around the buildings. After the lease expired in 2001, the state government again took control and embarked on a long-term plan for the future conservation of the site.
The network of tunnels under the prison was opened to the public on 7 June 2005.
Prison operation
Thomas Hill Dixon
Thomas Hill Dixon was the first Superintendent of Convicts in Western Australia. Together with his superior, the Comptroller General Edmund Henderson, he created a reforming, humane convict regime for Western Australia...
held the position of Superintendent of Convicts for nine years, running Fremantle Prison and the convict system. Together with the Comptroller General
Comptroller General of Convicts (Western Australia)
The Comptroller General of Convicts was the head of the convict establishment in Western Australia.The office existed from 1850, when Western Australia first became a penal colony, until 1872, four years after penal transportation to Western Australia had ceased.-History:Western Australia's first...
Edmund Henderson
Edmund Henderson
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edmund Yeamans Walcott Henderson KCB was an officer in the British Army who was Comptroller-General of Convicts in Western Australia from 1850 to 1863, Home Office Surveyor-General of Prisons from 1863 to 1869, and Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, head of the London...
, he created a reforming, humane convict system for Western Australia. He instituted a system of training convicts in a trade, and he adapted Western Australia's legal situation to the marks system used by Alexander Maconochie
Alexander Maconochie (penal reformer)
Alexander Maconochie was a Scottish naval officer, geographer, and penal reformer.- Early life :Maconochie was born in Edinburgh on 11 February 1787. He joined the Royal Navy in 1803 and as a midshipman he saw active service in the Napoleonic Wars and was a prisoner of war from 1811 to 1814...
in the Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
penal system. He was opposed to flogging and favoured the introduction of female convicts into Western Australia.
Cell sizes were increased by knocking down the inner wall between two cells after changes were ordered following a Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
held in the 1890s. At the same time, the prison was divided into several parts. In the main block, four divisions were created:
- One Division—Short sentences, remand prisoners, and (up until 1970) juveniles as young as 13 years old.
- Two Division—Serious crimes without violence.
- Three Division—Violent offenders.
- Four Division—Murderers and long-term men.
The main block also houses solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
, the gallows
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
and two churches.
The gallows
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
room was the only legal place of execution
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
in Western Australia between 1888 and 1965, with 43 men and one woman hanged in this period, the last being Eric Edgar Cooke
Eric Edgar Cooke
Eric Edgar Cooke nicknamed The Night Caller was an Australian serial killer. From 1959 to 1963, he terrorised the city of Perth, Western Australia, by committing 22 violent crimes, eight of which resulted in deaths....
. Aside from hanging, other punishments for lesser crimes included solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
and lashing
Flagellation
Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails and the sjambok...
s in the exercise yard.
Michal Bosworth writes that staff disliked giving the lashings and reports on a remission in lashes ordered in 1853, "because no one could be found to carry out the punishment." However, the last flogging occurred in 1943.
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
and one Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. Behind the Anglican chapel altar, there is a painted representation of the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
. The words to the sixth commandment use the unusual translation of "thou shalt do no murder" rather than "thou shalt not kill," the more common interpretation in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. Given that the gallows were still in regular use, it was felt that "thou shalt not kill" would have been hypocritical
Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie....
. The most notable feature in the church is the face of child-murderer Martha Rendell
Martha Rendell
Martha Rendell was the last of three women to be hanged in Western Australia. She was convicted of murdering her de facto husband's son, Arthur Morris, in 1908. She was also suspected of killing his two daughters, Annie and Olive by swabbing their throats with hydrochloric acid...
, which can be seen on the outside of the window but not on the inside.
Restoration and heritage listing
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
rendering
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
was removed and the original stonework was revealed in October 2005. The work is the start of a three-year plan to halt the deterioration of the buildings and preserve them for the future.
Fremantle Prison is currently the best preserved convict-built prison in the country and became the first building in Western Australia to be listed on the Australian National Heritage List
Australian National Heritage List
The Australian National Heritage List is a list of places deemed to be of outstanding heritage significance to Australia. The list includes natural, historic and indigenous places...
. The Australian Federal Heritage Minister, Senator
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
Ian Campbell
Ian Campbell (Australian politician)
Ian Gordon Campbell , Australian politician, was a Liberal member of the Australian Senate representing Western Australia between 1990 and 2007.-Early life:...
, stated that it would be included in a nomination of eleven convict areas to become World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
s.
Policy dictates the prison is used for the benefit of the community without damaging the fabric of the site. Since 1992, the prison has operated as a heritage museum, and by 2005 the prison was attracting more than 130,000 visitors every year. The Anglican Chapel is currently visited on tours and used for wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
services; New Division is used as a New Business Enterprise Centre; the hospital is now home to the Fremantle Children's Literature Centre; and the women's prison is now an art college.
Guided tours run daily through the site. Torch
Flashlight
A flashlight is a hand-held electric-powered light source. Usually the light source is a small incandescent lightbulb or light-emitting diode...
light tours are also held twice weekly. Ramps are provided to enable disabled access through the ground floors of the prison; however, some upper levels are inaccessible. On tunnels tours visitors can walk and paddle through the tunnels by boat. Visitors descend 20 metres down a set of vertical ladders attached with harnesses
Climbing harness
A climbing harness is a piece of equipment used in certain types of rock-climbing, abseiling or other activities requiring the use of ropes to provide access or safety...
and need to be fairly fit. A gift shop and restaurant also operate. The prison is closed Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
and Christmas Day.
Prison art
Art therapy
Because of its dual origins in art and psychotherapy, art therapy definitions vary. They commonly either lean more toward the ART art-making process as therapeutic in and of itself, "art as therapy," or focus on the psychotherapeutic transference process between the therapist and the client who...
has been used within the prison for education and rehabilitation.
Additionally many cells and areas of the prison depict prisoners' artwork, including that of the 19th-century forger James Walsh, whose artwork was hidden beneath layers of white-wash for decades. Painting or drawing on walls was originally forbidden, however, this rule was relaxed in special cases where art was found to calm violent prisoners, and was relaxed generally towards the end of the life of the facility.
A more contemporary prison artist was Dennis (NOZ) Nozworthy, who stated that he found art on death row. Some of his work currently is held in the collections of Curtin University
Curtin University of Technology
Curtin University is an Australian university based in Perth, Western Australia, with additional campuses in regional Western Australia and at Miri , Sydney and Singapore...
, Perth Central TAFE, and the WA Government, Department of Justice.
Other cells contain Aboriginal artwork many by unknown artists. The Walmajarri artist Jimmy Pike started painting in Fremantle prison, having received tuition from Steve Culley and David Wroth.
Prisoners
- Brenden AbbottBrenden AbbottBrenden James Abbott is an Australian bank robber who was branded the Postcard Bandit by the Western Australian Police to attract news media attention...
– "the Postcard Bandit"; escaped the prison on 24 November 1989, by fabricating a prison guard uniform. - Eric Edgar CookeEric Edgar CookeEric Edgar Cooke nicknamed The Night Caller was an Australian serial killer. From 1959 to 1963, he terrorised the city of Perth, Western Australia, by committing 22 violent crimes, eight of which resulted in deaths....
- Serial killer, last person to be hanged in Fremantle Prison (26 October 1964). - Moondyne JoeMoondyne JoeJoseph Bolitho Johns , better known as Moondyne Joe, was Western Australia's best known bushranger.- Biography :...
- BushrangerBushrangerBushrangers, or bush rangers, originally referred to runaway convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who had the survival skills necessary to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities...
- Famed escape artist. - John Boyle O'ReillyJohn Boyle O'ReillyJohn Boyle O'Reilly was an Irish-born poet, journalist and fiction writer. As a youth in Ireland, he was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, or Fenians, for which he was transported to Western Australia...
- Fenian political prisoner. - Martha RendellMartha RendellMartha Rendell was the last of three women to be hanged in Western Australia. She was convicted of murdering her de facto husband's son, Arthur Morris, in 1908. She was also suspected of killing his two daughters, Annie and Olive by swabbing their throats with hydrochloric acid...
- Last woman to be hanged at the prison. - Bon ScottBon ScottRonald Belford "Bon" Scott was a Scottish-born Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980...
- Former lead singer of rock band AC/DCAC/DCAC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"... - James WilsonJames Wilson (Irish Nationalist)James Wilson was a Fenian who was transported as a convict to Western Australia.Born James McNally in Newry, County Down, Ireland on 6 February 1836, little is known of his early life...
- Irish Nationalist. - John ButtonJohn Button (campaigner)John Button, born in Liverpool, England on 9 February 1944, is a Western Australian who was the victim of a significant miscarriage of justice.-Conviction:...
- Served 5 years after being wrongfully convicted of manslaughterManslaughterManslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
. - David Birnie - serial killer
Other notable prisoners include members of the Fenian Brotherhood
Fenian Brotherhood
The Fenian Brotherhood was an Irish republican organization founded in the United States in 1858 by John O'Mahony and Michael Doheny. It was a precursor to Clan na Gael, a sister organization to the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Members were commonly known as "Fenians"...
. Sixty-two Fenian's arrived at Fremantle in 1867. Many were pardoned over the years; however, in 1876 six managed to escape and fled aboard the Catalpa whaleboat
Catalpa rescue
The Catalpa rescue was the escape, in 1876, of six Irish Fenian prisoners from what was then the British penal colony of Western Australia.-Fenians and plans to escape:...
to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
STM Controversy
In 2010, a writer for STM (Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times (Western Australia)
The Sunday Times, owned by News Limited, is a tabloid Sunday newspaper printed in Perth and distributed throughout Western Australia.-History:...
Magazine) claimed that the prison should be demolished because it is a place of suffering. This statement caused a public outcry, with several Fremantle residents sending angry letters to The Sunday Times, stating the exact opposite of what the writer claimed.
See also
- Convict era of Western Australia
- The HougoumontHougoumont (ship)Hougoumont was the last convict ship to transport convicts to Australia.A three-masted full rigged ship of the type commonly known as a Blackwall Frigate of 875 tons gross on dimensions of 165.5 feet long, 34 ft beam and 23 ft depth of hold, Hougoumont was constructed at Moulmein, Burma...
- List of allegedly haunted locations
- Round HouseRound HouseThe Round House is the oldest building still standing in Western Australia. It is located at Arthur Head in Fremantle, and recent heritage assessments and appraisals of the precinct of the Round House incorporate Arthur Head....
- Also located in Fremantle, built in 1830, and used as a prison for colonial and indigenous prisoners until 1886. - Perth GaolPerth GaolThe Perth Gaol was a gaol built in Perth, Western Australia between 1854 and 1856 to house convicts and other prisoners. It operated until March 1888 when the last prisoner was transferred to Fremantle Prison...