Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L00053:schedule:5:p25
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L00053
Segment Type: schedule
Provision Reference: sch 5 (pt 25/42)
Character Range: 552806–555640

building for Fitzroy Dock.
H Significant people Cockatoo Island is important for its association with the administration of Governor Gipps in the 1840s, the construction of Fitzroy Dock from 1851-57 under Gother Kerr Mann, Federation in 1901, the formation of the Royal Australian Navy in 1911 and the construction of the first steel warship built in Australia, HMAS Heron.
Attributes
All of the remaining historic fabric in the former industrial area.
Description:
History:
Cockatoo Island is the largest island in Sydney Harbour. It is not known who first called it Cockatoo Island, though it was known as such long before it was called Biloela. This name was given to the Island in 1870 by the Reverend William Ridley, a student of an Aboriginal language, in response to a request from the Governor for a suitable name. The Island has been subject to five major administrative/occupation phases.
1) Prison Dockyard 1839-64. The expansion of settlement 1810-20 under Governor Macquarie led to the construction of places of confinement including Norfolk Island and Macquarie Harbour. Assigned convicts were left under the control of landowners but convicts in government service and secondary offenders in penal settlements were housed in barracks as soon as these could be constructed. In time the settlements on Norfolk Island and in Tasmania were defeated by isolation and the inability of Sydney and Hobart based administrators to exercise adequate control. In 1839 Governor Gipps advised the Secretary of State for the Colonies that he was forming an establishment on Cockatoo Island for Imperial prisoners withdrawn from Norfolk Island. Unlike contemporary New South Wales (NSW) penal establishments which were executed under contract, the work on Cockatoo Island was carried out by the prisoners. Expenses were met from Imperial, not Colonial, funds emphasising the role of the Imperial Government in the establishment of Cockatoo Island. The buildings were constructed to the design of the commanding Royal Engineer, George Barney, responsible for convict and military buildings in NSW. Twelve grain silos were also cut out of the rock in 1839 to store grain, following Gipps' order that the government would make provision for the storage of 10,000 bushels on the island within two years. The year 1839 also saw the expansion of the island's convict gaol with the construction of the barracks; U-shaped in plan, the barracks held accommodation for 344 convicts. As transportation ceased in 1840 the prison was used to house an increasing number of colonially sentenced convicts. As the island was surrounded by deep water it was ideal for maritime activities as a British outpost at a time of increasing rivalry between European nations and the United States of America in the Pacific. In 1846 Governor Gipps reported to the