Highlights | Fremantle Prison

Prison Collection Highlights

Punishment birch nd (no date), Punishment box nd

birch twigs, hemp cord dimensions variable

pine wood box, metal 20.0 x 96.5 x 20.5 cm h x w x d

The punishment implement is constructed from birch twigs bound with hemp cord in a besom fashion. Birching used a bundle of nine to twelve long birch twigs. The twigs were lashed together at one end to form a handle and left free at the other end in a spray about six inches in circumference. The birch was soaked in water before use. A low narrow table was used. The offender was not strapped to the table, but his hands and feet were usually held. The wooden box is for holding punishment birches and whips.

Fremantle Prison Collection

Leather protective belt marked with convict arrow nd

leather, metal 123.0 x 15.0 cm l x w

The leather belt was worn around a convict’s midriff during flogging. It prevented the prisoner’s internal organs from bursting open. Flogging was done with a 'cat-o'-nine-tails', a whip made of leather strands. Severe discipline was enforced at Fremantle Prison to ensure that the prisoners worked hard.

Fremantle Prison Collection

Convict leg-irons nd

iron leg shackles consisting of ankle bracelets, rings and chain sections containing 25 oval links each, ankle bracelets diameter 16.5 and 15.5 cm, chain (l) 149.0 cm

Iron leg shackles were worn by convicts at Fremantle Prison to both punish the inmates and prevent escape. Combined with physically exhausting labour, they helped control the prisoners. The shackles weighed a considerable amount (there were differing sizes) which made it difficult to walk easily, resulting in a shuffling gait.

Fremantle Prison Collection

Leather buckets with convict arrow nd

leather distorted cylindrical buckets dimensions variable

Recovered during an archaeological excavation at Fremantle Prison in 1993. Both buckets are stamped with the broadarrow. The arrow was used to mark an item as property of the British Government and indicates that the buckets were either imported from Britain or manufactured at the Prison.

Fremantle Prison Collection