Fremantle Prison
Fremantle Prison was built as a convict barracks in the 19th century and remained in continual use until 1991. The Prison was a place of hangings, floggings, dramatic convict escapes and prisoner riots. Inmates included imperial convicts, colonial prisoners, enemy aliens, prisoners of war and maximum-security detainees.
The first convict transport sailed into Fremantle Harbour in 1850. The Convict Establishment, as the prison was first known, was built by convict labour between 1852 and 1859 using limestone quarried on the site. The first prisoners moved into the main cell block in 1855.
The Establishment was renamed Fremantle Prison in 1867. Transportation ceased the following year when the Hougoumont carried the last convicts to Fremantle. Nearly 10 000 convicts passed through the ‘establishment’ between 1850 and 1868.
