Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of Fremantle Prison.
On this page
Building, prison and heritage
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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1851
Building begins
Convicts start building the prison from limestone quarried on the site.
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1 June 1855
The first prisoners
Prisoners move into the southern half of the Main Cell Block.
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1859
The Main Cell Block
The northern wing is completed by the end of the year.
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31 March 1886
Fremantle Prison
The Convict Establishment passes to the colonial government and is renamed.
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1888
The gallows
The prison becomes the only lawful place of execution in Western Australia, until 1984.
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1910
The tunnels close
The water tunnels dug beneath the prison in the 1850s are closed.
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1964
The last hanging
The last execution at the prison takes place.
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1972–1973
A Royal Commission
A Royal Commission examines the mistreatment of and discrimination against Aboriginal prisoners.
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4 January 1988
Riot and fire
A riot and fire cause heavy damage; the hostages are released after 19 hours and no one dies.
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30 November 1991
Closure
The prison closes and its prisoners move to Casuarina Prison.
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2005
National Heritage
The prison is added to the National Heritage List, and the tunnels open to visitors.
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2010
World Heritage
Fremantle Prison is inscribed on the World Heritage List as one of the Australian Convict Sites.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
