The history of Fremantle Prison, a former Australian prison in Fremantle, Western Australia, extends from its construction as a prison for convicts, using convict labour, in the 1850s, through to its modern-day usage as a tourist attraction. The design for Fremantle Prison was based on the Pentonville Prison in Britain, and it would be the longest, tallest prison cell block in the southern hemisphere. Construction began in 1851, and was completed by the end of 1859. The prison was transferred to the colonial government in 1886 for use for locally sentenced prisoners. Following a Royal Commission held in 1898−99, some changes were made to Fremantle Prison, including knocking down the inner wall between two cells, introducing a prisoner classification system, and constructing internal walls in the main block to create four separate divisions. A new cell block, New Division, was completed in 1907 and occupied in 1908.
Following another Royal Commission investigation 1911, there were some rapid changes in prison policy. A new superintendent with outside experience, Hugh Hann, was appointed, and supported by the newly elected Labor government interested in penal reform. Fremantle Prison was partially used as a military gaol during both world wars. The World War II takeover necessitated the commissioning of Barton's Mill Prison in 1942, which remained opened after the war. Pardelup Prison Farm was another prison outstation established in 1927 to reduce overcrowding at Fremantle. Both facilities were part of reforms made to the prison system, but significant changes to the operation of Fremantle Prison did not begin until the 1960s. Comptroller General Colin Campbell introduced expedient prisoner assessments, officer training, work release programs, and social workers and welfare officers.
The government department in charge of the prison underwent several reorganisations in the 1970s and 1980s, but the culture of Fremantle Prison was resistant to change. Growing prisoner discontent culminated in a 1988 riot with guards taken hostage, and a fire that caused $1.8 million worth of damage. The prison closed in 1991, replaced by the new maximum-security Casuarina Prison. Since 1991, the prison has been conserved as a recognised heritage site on state, national, and World Heritage lists, and various restoration works have been undertaken since the 1990s. New uses have been found for various sections of the prison, including a New Business Enterprise Centre in the New Division cell block, and wedding ceremonies in the prison chapels. It has also become a significant tourist attraction, with guided tours since 1991.
19th century
Background Within a few months of the founding of the Swan River Colony in June 1829 by free-settlers, there was a need for a prison to incarcerate criminals. There was little infrastructure for the settlers, let alone criminals, so the shipwrecked Marquis of Angelsea, just off the coast from South Beach, was used as a makeshift prison. This arrangement was quite arduous for the sheriff, who spent much of his time rowing a small boat, either to transfer prisoners or bring over their meals. It was not until September 1830 that work started on a new prison at the west end of High Street: the twelve-sided Round House on Arthur Head.
While the Swan River Colony was established as a "free settlement", by the 1840s the early reluctance to accept Britain's convicts was overcome. Cheap convict labour could overcome the significant shortage of manpower in the colony. However, the arrival of the first convict ship Scindian on 2 June 1850 was unexpected. While a sailing ship had been sent ahead to inform of the pending arrival of seventy-five convicts, it had been blown off course. The Round House was full to capacity, almost overflowing, so the convicts had to be left on the ship. There was also no prepared accommodation for the warders, pensioner guards, Captain Edward Walcott Henderson, Comptroller General of Convicts, or his clerk, James Manning. Rents for accommodation in Fremantle quickly rose due to the sudden increase in demand, leaving Henderson paying more for his basic lodgings in Fremantle than for his house in London.
Eventually Henderson leased two properties in Essex Street for £250 per year, at the site of the modern-day Esplanade Hotel. He used his convicts to convert the buildings into a temporary prison. Meanwhile, Henderson was looking for a site to build a permanent convict establishment. Whilst he favoured Mount Eliza due to its height, which gave it pleasing vistas and supposedly healthier air, Governor Charles Fitzgerald rejected that proposal. Henderson ultimately settled on the current site on a hill overlooking Fremantle.
Construction
Henderson's initial design for Fremantle Prison was based on the Pentonville Prison in Britain. Pentonville, designed by Joshua Jebb, used the "separate system" that kept prisoners in nearly complete isolation, to encourage reflection on their crimes. Jebb reviewed Henderson's plans in 1851, and to reduce the cost, he changed the two diagonal cell blocks that mimicked Pentonville into a four-storey linear structure, which would be the longest, tallest prison cell block in the southern hemisphere. Construction began soon afterwards, supervised by Henderson, Manning, and Royal Engineer lieutenant Henry Wray, who had arrived with another convict ship. Within eighteen months of the Scindian 's arrival, the convict population had grown to almost 1000. In 1855 convicts began to be moved into The Establishment, as the prison was then known as, but the project would not be completed until 1859.
Works rapidly progressed following the arrival of Wray in 1851 with the Royal Engineers, known as the sappers. They trained convicts to work with limestone, which was quarried on-site. Soft stone was used to fill in swamps around Fremantle, and when the better quality stone ran out, quarries were opened at nearby sites such as Arthur Head. The first part to be constructed was a ramp connecting the town to the prison site. The graded and limestone-capped slope would later become Fairbairn Street. Once this was completed, the priority was the construction of accommodation for Henderson and the prison warders to relieve the expense of paying for private lodging. Cottages were built along Henderson Street in 1851, and Henderson's residence, a sizable building known as The Knowle, was completed in 1851 some distance away from the other buildings, in the modern-day grounds of Fremantle Hospital. Houses for the senior staff were also constructed in the 1850s. They were situated at the front of the prison site, along the road then known as The Esplanade (modern day The Terrace).
Workshops, later to be known as the East Workshops, were built to rehabilitate prisoners, and aid in site construction. A blacksmith's shop was constructed in 1852, and a carpenters’ shop was added in 1858. The prison was designed to have other services onsite, including a kitchen, with four boilers, scullery, pantry, cool room and stores; a bakehouse and ovens, with separate stores for flour and bread; as well as a washhouse, laundry and drying room. The building holding these services was completed in 1855. A separate building, a hospital providing medical services, was also planned, but was one of the last to be constructed. The foundations were laid in 1857, but the plans were changed the next year to provide additional space to isolate contagious or dangerous patients. The hospital was finished in 1859.
The prison walls were constructed beginning in 1853, and the site for the Main Cell Block was excavated and levelled. Once the walls were completed in 1855, the only opening was in the western side. This gap was where the gatehouse and associated entry complex was built in 1854 and 1855. The main gate was in place in 1855, while the London-made clock for the top of the structure was installed a year later. In 1856, a mini tornado toppled most of the northern boundary wall, and extensive work was undertaken to rebuild and widen the walls.
The Main Cell Block was built in two stages. Construction of the southern half of the block began in 1853 and most of the masonry works were finished within a year. The section was finished in 1855, including the association wards, a circular jarrah stairwell, and 18 solitary confinement cells in the Refractory Block. However, iron fittings for the guardrails, which had been ordered from England three years previously, still had not arrived. Anxious for the new cell block to start being used, Henderson ordered that doors and rails be made locally, with iron salvaged from convict transport ships. The obvious transition between the local and imported railing now marks the boundary between the southern and northern wings. Prisoners were transferred from the temporary South Beach prison on 1 June 1855.
Construction of the northern wing followed, and by the start of 1857 the foundations were laid, and 40% of the masonry works were done. However, the Crimean War saw the Royal Engineers recalled, leaving only Wray as Acting Comptroller General, while Henderson was on leave in England to oversee the prisoners' construction of the building. Much of the work was completed that year, including the remaining masonry, basement, slating the roof, and paving the corridor. While Henderson had wanted single cells, Wray conceded to the Governor's lobbying for additional capacity. He adjusted the design to include some double-width cells housing three prisoners, and triple-width cells holding five prisoners, allowing an additional 40 prisoners to be accommodated. Another measure that increased capacity was the lengthening of the northern wing by . The justification was to mirror the southern wing, which had also been constructed longer than planned, due to inaccurate surveying. However, this also caused the project to run over budget. Stairs, guard railings, and doors were installed in 1858, and the prison was completed by the end of 1859, with Henderson back from leave and back in charge.
Transition to local control During Western Australia's convict era, the prison was known as the Convict Establishment, and was used for convicts transported from Britain. Longer term local prisoners were also held there from 1858, at a cost to the colonial government, as the then-newly constructed Perth Gaol had been handed over to the British imperial government for use as a convict station for short term prisoners. Local prisoners were also kept in the Round House, or on Rottnest Island. In 1876 Perth Gaol was transferred back to local control.
In 1868, penal transportation ceased in Western Australia, and numbers of convicts in the colony gradually declined, down to 83 in the mid-1880s. Due to the great expense of sending these convicts back to Britain, the authorities there negotiated with the colonial government to transfer control of the convicts, as well as the prison complex – demolition was considered too expensive. Early negotiations had broken down, but were restarted in August 1883. Governor Broome set four conditions in February 1884:
The last two conditions were the most controversial, though after one and a half years, a compromise was reached: only buildings actually in use would be repaired, and pensions would be paid, but only when the officers actually retired. The British authorities authorised minimal repairs, to be made as cheaply as possible. The transfer was intended to be completed by the end of 1885, but was not finalised until 31 March 1886.