The history of Sydney Harbour’s Cockatoo Island

Australian history buff Jessica Knight takes a look at the fascinating (and horrific) history of Sydney Harbour’s Cockatoo Island.

Cockatoo Island used to be home to Australia’s most notorious outlaws and criminals, and this history is what makes the heritage-listed island such a fascinating place to visit today.

While many people visit this popular tourist destination in Sydney Harbour for events including the Sydney Biennale and the Sydney Comedy Festival, Cockatoo Island’s criminal history is on display all over the island, and is quite an eerie reminder of Sydney’s convict past.

The island has undergone a remarkable transformation over nearly two centuries. It was first used as a penal institution for the country’s worst outlaws and criminals. Then, after the removal of the convicts, it became a stone quarry, mining much-needed building supplies to support the growing colony. After demand for Cockatoo Island’s stone declined, the site, once associated with murderers and thieves, became a girls’ reformatory and a home for children. Finally, the island was taken over by the Royal Navy and converted into a dockyard that built up Australia’s fleet. Its current incarnation is as a historical site, as well as a venue for events and pop-up bars.

When Cockatoo Island first became a prison in 1839, it made sense that one of the islands of Sydney Harbour should be used as a prison. The islands were not considered great places to live, so from the very beginning they were used as places where problematic convicts could be sent.

The islands were also used to demonstrate to all convicts that misbehaviour would not be tolerated. After the very public execution of Francis Morgan on 30 November 1796, his body was coated in tar, which acted as a preserver, and hung in chains from a post on Fort Denison (or Pinchgut as it was known during this time). His body shook in the wind and the creaking of his iron chains could be heard from the mainland on a still night, a warning to all convicts. It became normal to isolate (living) convicts from the mainland on the islands, with soldiers rowing across weekly to throw food supplies across to the convicts.

The gaol on Cockatoo Island was thought to be unescapable (it was not until 1863 that Frederick Ward became the first man to successfully escape the island. He went on to become the bushranger, Thunderbolt, terrorising the roads of New England) and so the hardest cases were imprisoned on the island.

According to the newspapers of the time, these convicts soon developed a reputation for being ‘wild beasts’, rife with ‘vice and villainy’. Mutinies were common, the atmosphere was constantly unstable, and it was extremely dangerous to work as a guard on Cockatoo Island as being murdered was a very real possibility. Life for convicts wasn’t very safe either, as some convicts would form gangs and roam the island attacking other convicts. On one occasion a convict smuggled material from the working yards, fashioned a spear and killed someone.

On top of this constant danger, life was hard for the convicts. Not only were they sentenced to daily hard labour, but the conditions were appalling. Rats and snakes were common on the island and the convicts endured very difficult sleeping conditions. Their sleeping arrangements were such that the men needed to crawl into three-tiered bunks, which resembled battery-hen cages, and were often seen gasping for breath as they slept in their poorly ventilated rooms.

And if you need more convincing that life on the island was not a walk in the park, there were even specially designed punishment cells, which were underground and used to punish severe offences. The only way in to these cells was by climbing down a ladder, and this was removed once the prisoner entered. Alone in the dark, the only reprieve for prisoners came when food was lowered from a small hole in the cell’s roof.

But this was not the only type of punishment. Prisoners could be left isolated on rocky outcrops of the island, with a short rope tying them to the rock. Daniel Dunmore provides an example of this in 1856. His plans to escape by swimming through the shark-infested waters of Sydney Harbour were discovered, and he was tied to a rock during severe and stormy weather for three days. His death didn’t even raise eyebrows or draw any sympathy.

Cockatoo Island’s early history as a penal settlement between the years 1839 and 1871 is both fascinating, complex and horrifying. It is this history that makes the island a fascinating place to visit. And that’s before you even look at Cockatoo Island’s maritime history (which was partly built by convicts).

You can explore Cockatoo Island’s history through the Convict Trail tour. Once you’ve had your fill of this horrible history, you can enjoy a variety of other activities on or near the island, from tennis to kayaking. And if you want to camp or glamp overnight, Cockatoo Island has a camping ground with a stunning view of Sydney Harbour.

For more information on Cockatoo Island and what’s happening on the island, visit their website.