Fremantle Prison

Mandag 14 Mars:

Jeg og Malin kultiverer oss...

Fremantle Prison, originally known as the Convict Establishment, was built by convict labour between 1852 and 1859 from limestone quarried on site. Its history, including its convict past, its use as the main place of incarceration for the state, and its current role as an important historic and tourist venue reflects in many ways the history of Western Australia.

Between 1845 and 1847, York Agricultural Society, supported by several merchants, lobbied the colony's Legislative Council to petition the British Government to send convicts. They saw this as the best option to help supplement the lack of skilled and unskilled labour threatening to cripple the colony. The convicts were to provide much needed cheap labour for the building of roads, bridges, jetties and other infrastructure necessary to service the colony. For convicts who were nearing the end of their sentence a system of ticket of leave, similar to our modern day parole, was also introduced which helped provide labour for the development and expansion of agriculture.

The first ship carrying convicts arrived at Fremantle on 1 June 1850. Captain Edmund Henderson was responsible for the 75 convicts on board as well as the Pensioner Guards, Warders and their families who accompanied them. The colony was completely unprepared for their arrival as the ship carrying this human cargo overtook the ship carrying the dispatch containing news of this event.

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Work on the prison itself began in 1852 and by 1855 enough of the main cell block, perimeter walls and service buildings were complete for the convicts to be transferred to the site. The prison was completed by 1859. Accommodation and services included the perimeter walls, the Gatehouse, the Main Cell Block, a hospital, workshops and a service building which housed the cook house, bake house and laundry. Six houses were constructed on the western side of the Prison for the senior officers of the establishment. These grand buildings helped confirm the officers' high status in the society of the colony.

By the time transportation ceased in 1868, just over 9,700 convicts had been transported to Western Australia. In 1886, with less than fifty convicts still imprisoned the British government passed control of the Prison to the colonial government and Fremantle Prison then became the Swan River colony’s primary place of incarceration.

Over og under, fengselets kjøkken, hvor de innsatte selv hadde fast arbeid. Arbeid på kjøkkenet var ansett som å være en av de beste jobbene. Selve maten var lite å skryte av de første årene hvor det stort sett kun ble servert suppe. Om man var heldige å få litt kjøtt, var det snakk om en eneste kengaroo som skulle deles på 9000 sultne mennesker...

Det var ytterst få toaletter i fengselet ettersom hver fange fikk tildelt sitt eget "toalett", en rød bøtte, som skulle deles med celle-kameraten fra kl 4 om ettermiddagen til neste morgen kl 7. Se under!

Bill, guiden vår holder opp det provisoriske toalettet.

Fengselets kirke er i bruk den dag i dag, og har blitt et meget populært lokale å leie til bryllup.

Seriemordere, pedofile og andre med livstid hadde god tid til å skaffe seg en hobby. Mange ble faktisk flinke til å male, og satte spor etter sitt opphold i Fremantle prison.

"One leg`ed jack" er kjent for sin kunst selv i dag. Han lever enda, men soner resten av sin livstid i et fengsel 20 kn nord for Perth.

Celle fra begynnelsen av/ midten av 1900-tallet.

Vi fikk til å med bli med på" dead mans road"- ruten fra den cellen der den dødsdømte tilbringer sin siste natt før han ender opp i dette rommet og på denne stolen. Tauet dere ser ble brukt til å henge den siste dødsdømte fangen med i 1966...

Fremantle prison er et lite fengsel på verdensbasis, men det fengselet i verden som hadde flest selvmord i sin tid før det stengte ned i 1991. Derfor selvmordsnett!!

Walking out of there:)

Linn S.