Convict Guide - published 2006 - Manual / Resource - Page 160
Guide to New South Wales State archives relating to convicts and convict administration
these circumstances a new penal settlement was necessary. He
favoured Port Macquarie, which had been reported on favourably by the
Surveyor General, and was sufficiently isolated to make it ideal as a
place of punishment for convicts of the worst character. (HRA vol. 10,
p.366).
In March 1821 Francis Allman was appointed commandant of the new
penal establishment. (HRA vol. 10, p.480). The Governor informed him
that the principal object was to 'secure a secondary place of punishment
for the worst description of convicts, especially those convicted of
crimes after their arrival in the colony'. (HRA vol. 10, p.480).
By October 1821 there were 92 convicts at Port Macquarie. (HRA
vol. 10, p.575). Most were employed on government projects or by
officials under supposed orders. Convicts were grouped according to the
level of their skill and the severity of their punishment. Those assigned
to hard labour were placed in chain gangs, or employed in agriculture
and public works. By 1825 the number of convicts had increased to
1500. However, Governor Brisbane had decided that Port Macquarie was
no longer suitable for penal purposes now that pastoralists were moving
into the region.
Port Macquarie
penal settlement
closed to make way
for free settlers
In 1828 Governor Darling informed the Colonial Office that only 530
convicts remained at Port Macquarie, and that by 1829 only 290
convicts would remain. (HRA vol. 18, p.522). The Governor believed
that Port Macquarie should be opened to free settlers and that the penal
establishment should be abolished. In November 1828 he was
authorised to close the establishment and on 15 August 1830 a
proclamation was issued inviting free settlers into the area. (Fletcher,
Ralph Darling, p.103).
Port Macquarie remained a convict outpost after it was opened to free
people and was maintained as a centre for invalids, specials, and
lunatics throughout the 1830s and 1840s. Following the cessation of the
transportation of convicts from Britain to New South Wales in 1840, the
military detachment was removed from Port Macquarie in 1847 and the
invalids and lunatics were removed to the Liverpool Asylum.
Cockatoo Island
penal settlement
established 1839
In 1839 owing to orders to discontinue transportation from New South
Wales to Norfolk Island, and Lieutenant Governor Franklin's refusal to
receive the transportees in Van Diemen's Land, Governor Gipps formed
an establishment on Cockatoo Island for the reception of prisoners
removed from Norfolk Island. (HRA vol. 20, p.217). The deep waters
surrounding the island made it secure and it was sufficiently close to
Sydney for the authorities to maintain a watchful eye. Convicts recently
sentenced in the colony were separated from those who had returned
from Norfolk Island, by placing them in separate wards at night. (Kerr,
Design for convicts, pp.75-6).
Initially the convicts on Cockatoo Island constructed grain silos built
from the solid sandstone bedrock on the Island. Construction of a dry
dock began in 1851 and convict labour was used to service visiting
vessels of the Royal Navy. In the early years the dockyard was
administered by the prison superintendent, who reported to the
Governor through the Colonial Secretary. After responsible government
was granted in 1856, the Superintendent reported to the Legislative
Council and the Premier.
State Records Authority of New South Wales
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