Student Resource

FREMANTLE PRISON

JOIN me - “con” on a tour of life insidefremantle prison.

Student Resource

Turn on the Lights

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Convict Escape3

Escape Plan

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Convict Rules Versus School Rules

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Investigation: Convict Profile

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Convict Cell – Picture Analysis

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Picture Comparison

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Investigation: Convict Daily Life

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Five W’s and an H

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Primary and Secondary Sources

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Letter Back Home

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Convict Debate

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Supporting Information

24© Government of Western Australia 2009
Published by Fremantle Prison, Department of Treasury and Finance – Building Management and Works, Government of Western AustraliaThe Terrace, Fremantle, Western Australia, 6160, Australia
All rights reserved. This publication is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, classroom teaching, research, criticism or review, as permitted under
the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any otherinformation storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher. No image in this publication may be reproduced without the permission of the copyright owners.
Fremantle Prison’s Key to Knowledge resources have been produced by Fremantle Prison for general classroom use. Teachers may duplicate the resources for education purposes only.
Research and Text: Luke Donegan
Design: Axiom Design Partners
Text editing: Maia Frewer, Oonagh Quigley
Acknowledgements:
Fremantle Prison would like to thank the following organisations and individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of this resource – State Records Officeof Western Australia, State Library of Western Australia, National Library of Australia, Western Australian Museum, History Teachers Association of Western Australia, City ofFremantle - Local History Collection, St Patrick’s Primary School, Margaret McPherson, Maree Whitelyi

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Activity

Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Turn on the Lights
Between 1850 and 1868 almost 10,000 convicts were sent toWestern Australia from Great Britain.
In your small group, find as many answers to the questions below as you can.
You can use the Internet, school library and any information given to you by your teacher.
The first group to find all the answers get to be the convict administrators including the Comptroller-General (theperson in charge of convicts), the Superintendent (in charge of the prison), the Chief Warder, the Surgeon (or convictdoctor) and the Flagellator (the person who whips bad convicts). Unfortunately the rest of the class get to be convicts.

When did the first convicts come to Western Australia?

What sort of crimes did they commit?

How were they punished?

Where did they stay?

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Activity

Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Turn on the Lights
Why were convicts sent to Western Australia?

When did convicts stop coming to Western Australia?

Did any escape? Give one example.

How were good convicts rewarded?

Name two buildings built by convicts in Western Australia.

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Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Convict Escape
Boom! From your cell in the Establishment you hear the loud report ofthe prison’s signal cannon. The explosion is followed immediately by thedistant sound of smashing windows. A few seconds later every dog in
the Fremantle settlement is barking and howling.
The cannon is only fired when convicts have escaped fromthe Establishment or one of the outside work parties.

The guards have it in for you and every little slip up
earns you a flogging from the cat o’ nine tails. Yourmovements are also restricted by a pair of leg irons
joined by a chain.

You have been locked up for over a year now, stuck
on work parties inside the prison walls. At the moment
you are digging a well behind the Main Cell Block.
The work is backbreaking and endless.

Enough is enough! It’s time to plan your own escapeand break out of the Convict Establishment.

Fremantle Prison Gatehouse with signal cannon in foreground c1870s
Fremantle Prison Collection

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Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Escape Plan
next page.
Write your escape plan on theong hands!
But don’t let it fall into the wr
rk out your plan

Study the maps of the prison and woMark your escape route on the twomaps

Write out step by step what you will

do to escape.

You will need to plan:
How to get out of your cell
How to break free of your leg irons
Where to meet up with your friends
will take and how will you get

Which route through the prison you
over the perimeter wall
How you will avoid being seen

What tools you will need and how toget them

theHow you will avoid being tracked bytrackers once outside the walls

police and Aboriginall live once outside.

Where you will go and how you wil

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Activity

Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
Step 4:
Step 5:
Step 6:
Step 7:
Step 8:
Step 9:
Step 10:

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Activity

Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Main Cell Block, 1859 Floor Plan
Fremantle Prison Collection

Site plan of Fremantle Prison c1900-1910
State Records Office of Western Australia

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Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Convict Rules
School Rules
vERSUS

The document below shows the rules that convicts had to follow at theConvict Establishment in 1862. It is one long sentence! Identify eachrule and compare them with the rules you have to follow at your school.

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Activity

Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Convict Rules vERSUS School Rules
Rules for convicts (1862)

Write down the rules the convicts had to follow in 1862.

Rules for students (today)
Does this rule apply to students at yourschool? Write yes or no.

Yes (students have to obey teachers)
YesNo prisoner shall disobey an overseer or officer
No swearing
No assault, fighting, or abusive language

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Activity

Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Convict Rules vERSUS School Rules
List four rules for convicts in 1862 that are the same as the rules at your school?

Why do you think it was necessary for the convicts to have these rules?

Why do you think it is necessary for your school to have rules for students?

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Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Investigation

convict profile
Choose a convict to investigate.

John Boyle O’Reilly

Some well known Western Australian convicts were:

Joseph Lucas Horrocks

Famous Irish convict

Opened a successful copper mine

Moondyne Joe

William ‘Fiddler’ Graham

James WalshJoseph Ralph

Escape artist and ‘ladies man’Famous escape artistTalented artist

Escape artist

Thomas Bushell

Thomas Smirk

Hanged for attacking a warder

Had twelve children and lived in Fremantle

Thomas ‘Satan’ Browne
Opened a pleasure resort in South Perth

Ross Alexander

Patrick Gibbons

Convicted for accidentally killing an

Attacked an ex-convict by biting off his bottom lip

old lady while drunk

Discuss your convict with your classmates.
?

Who would your convict have got on well withMore Info

Did your convict deserve to be transported toWestern Australia? Explain why or why not.

http://www.fremantleprison.com.au/Pages/Convict.aspx
http://www.fremantleprison.com.au/History/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.convictcentral.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Convicts_transported_to_Western_Australia

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Activity

Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

CONVICT PROFILE

Convict No.

Convict’s name:
Where did he come from?
What year did hearrive in Fremantle?

Nameof Ship:

What was his crime?

What did he do while in prison?

How did he leave the prison?

What did he do in later life?

Ask your teacher if you need more paper.

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www.fremantleprison.com.auFremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

ConvictcellPicture analysis
The picture below shows the replica or copy of aconvict cell which can be seen at Fremantle Prison.

There ist som ain th ewhereis cell.

toile

Can you findit?

Reconstructed Convict Cell in Fremantle Prison 2009
Fremantle Prison Collection

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Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Activity

Convict cell – picture analysis
What furniture can you see in the cell?

What things in the cell are there to stop the prisoner from escaping?

The convict cells were only seven feet long by four feet wide, most likely smaller
than the bathroom in your house. What do you think it would have been like to live
in a room that small for months or maybe years?

The convicts had no books, personal belongings or spare clothes. But some cleverprisoners were able to hide things in their cell. Where could you hide something if
this was your cell?

If you could hide one personal item in your cell, what would it be?

What does the cell tell you about what life was like for convicts in theConvict Establishment?

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Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Fremantle Prison

Picture comparison
Over the course of time, some things change while others stay the same.
Paintings and photographs can show how places change over time.
The watercolour below was painted by Henry Wrayin 1859 and shows the prison soon after construction
was completed.

Convict Prison, Fremantle 1859, Henry Wray (1824-1900)
National Library of Australia

The photograph below shows the same view ofFremantle Prison in 2008, 149 years later.
How has the prison changed over 149 years?

Main Cell Block 2008
Fremantle Prison Collection

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Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Activity

Picture Comparison
Have a close look at the painting and the photograph. Look at the building and the Parade Ground in front.
Identify what things you can see in the pictures that have stayed the same and what things have changed.
1859 painting

2008 photograph

What things have changed?

What has stayed the same?

What does the painting show about life at Fremantle Prison in 1859?

Who are the people in the painting and what are they doing?

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16What do you think Fremantle Prison will look like 150 years from now?
Draw a picture of the prison from the same viewpoint in the pictures above, as you imagine it may look.

Picture Comparison

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Fremantle Prison 2160

ActivityFremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Investigation convict daily life
What was daily life like for convicts during the convict era from1850 to 1886? Choose an aspect of convict daily life to investigate.
Investigation topics include:

Rules
Prisoner cells
FoodWork
Ticket of leave and conditional pardons

Daily routine
Clothing
Punishment
Religion

Use the Five Ws and an H sheet to plan your investigation questions. What questions
will help you find out about convict daily life?
Once you have a list of questions you can then search for information.

Where can I searchfor information?

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Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Activity

Five W’s and an H
Name:
My Investigation:

What Do I Want to Know? (Focus Questions)

What?

Who?

When?

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Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Activity

Five W’s and an H
Where?

Why?

How?

Write a question
you can ask the tour
guide on your trip toFremantle Prison

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Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Primary secondary
sources

Historians investigate people and events from the past by finding
sources of information. There are two main types of information thatare useful to historians - primary sources and secondary sources.
Secondary Sources are documents that describe eventsin the past. They use primary sources to help tell theirstory. For example, someone writing a history bookabout the Second World War gathers information
by researching the war. They look to other books,
photographs, diaries and memoirs, letters and official
documents for information. They cannot rely on theirown memories if they were not in the war themselves.
All of the following can be secondary sources:

Primary Sources are written or created at the time ofan event, or very soon after something has happened.
A primary source is written by someone who has
direct or contemporary experience of an event. All ofthe following can be primary sources:
Diaries
Letters
Photographs
MapsSound recordingsInterviews
Newspaper articles
Published first-hand accounts, or stories.

History textbooks
Biographies
TV documentaries
Articles in encyclopaedias or on the internet
Published stories
Movies of historical events.

Primary and secondary source checklist

The following checklist will help you work out if a document is a primary or secondary source.

Primary sources:

Secondary sources:

whencreated at the time of an event, or very soon after

created after event; sometimes a long time aftersomething happened

whocreated by someone who saw or heard an event
themselves

created by someone who did not see the eventfor themselves

howcreated from observations

created from investigation - often uses primary sources
as examples

whatletters, diaries, photos and newspapers

history text books, historical movies and biographies

I was there and I
wrote a diary. That’s
a primary source.

I wasn’t there. I wrote
a history book about it.
That’s a secondary source.

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Activity

Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Letter back home
Imagine you are a convict imprisoned at the Convict Establishment.

Write a letter to a friend back home describing a day in your life as a convict.
Include information about the following in your letter:

What year is it?
What was your crime?
Describe your cell
What did you do at work?
What do you want to do when you get outof prison?

How long have you been in prison?
Describe your day
What did you eat?
Describe an event – escape attempt,punishment etc.

Include a description of an interesting event you witnessed or were involved in. You could also include a drawingof some aspect of your life as a convict.

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Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

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Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Convict debate
A debate is a formal argument where people argue for and against aparticular topic or statement. Language spoken by participants in adebate is used to persuade others to agree with a point of view.
Debating is an important skill that helps people
discuss complex issues and persuade others toconsider their point of view.

Online newspapers – online newspapers often
have blogs where journalists write about issues andinvite members of the public to write and submit
their points of view about the issue online.

Debates occur in the following situations;

Forums – a forum is where members of the
public gather together to discuss a particular issue.
A moderator stands before the audience andintroduces the issue and then invites members of theaudience to speak their point of view about the issue.

Politics – politicians constantly debate each otherin Parliament and on television and radio, hoping toconvince the public to agree with their point of view.
During an election campaign, candidates sometimes
participate in formal debates on television, hoping topersuade the public to vote for them.

Formal debates

Television – people are invited on current affairs
programs to debate each other about issues thatare currently in the news.

A formal debate is where two teams of speakers
present arguments for and against an issue or topic.
The people involved are:Radio – on talk-back radio members of the public
can phone in and give their points of view oncurrent issues ‘on air’.

An affirmative team of three speakers – thesepeople agree with the topic.
A negative team of three speakers – these people
disagree with the topic.

Newspapers – members of the public can debate
issues by writing letters to the editor and having
their letters printed by the paper.

A chairperson who coordinates the debate – thechairperson introduces the topic and then introduceseach speaker in turn. At the end of the debate thechairperson may ask for questions from the audience.

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Close theaffirmative caseby presenting a
final argument
Summarises
the team’sarguments

Third Negative speaker

Rebuts thesecond negative
speaker’sarguments

Rebuts the third
affirmative
speaker’sarguments
Close thenegative caseby presenting a
final argument
Summarises
the team’sarguments

7.

Presents one
or two majorarguments,
supported withevidence

Third affirmative speaker

Rebutsthe second
affirmative
speaker’sarguments

6.

Presents amajor argument
supported withevidence

Presents one
or two majorarguments,
supported withevidence

Second negative speaker

Rebuts (whichmeans to argueagainst) the
first affirmative
speaker’sarguments

Rebuts thefirst negative
speaker’sarguments

5.

Defines the
topic from theirpoint of view

4. Second affirmative speaker

Presents amajor argument
supported withevidence

First negative speaker

Defines thetopic

3.

Introduceseach speakerin turnFirst affirmative speaker

Announces
the topic

2.

1.

Chairperson

A formal debate usually follows the procedure below:www.fremantleprison.com.au

Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Activity

Convict Debate: supporting information
In the table below record your arguments and any supporting information you foundin your investigation. This information should be taken from your notes.
Debate Topic:

Argument

Supporting information24

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Fremantle Prison : Key to Knowledge Program : Convict History

Activity

Convict Debate: supporting information
Argument

Supporting information25

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