BEFORE THE CATALPA -

Fremantle Prison was referred to as 'The Establishment' and it didn't take much time for it's original occupants to look for ways of escaping.

Convicts had been brought to W.A. In 1850 to help alleviate the shortage of workers and this meant that teams would go out to construction sites under the supervision of guards.

On the 25th of January 1859, five members of one such working party escaped into the bush and followed the river until they were able to find a small boat. They then made their way back down the Swan River and out into the open water of the Indian Ocean.

Their first 'port of call' was Garden Island where they robbed a family that was living there. They took a whaleboat belonging to the family and filled it with provisions, water, firearms etc.

Although their escape had been discovered quite quickly, there was a delay in following due to the absence of the police boat that had been busy ferrying the Governor to Rottnest Island. By the time the police arrived on Garden Island, the escapees were long gone.

They were spotted about four days later off Moore River and the pursuit began again. The chase continued north, day after day, night after night. Finally after many days the police caught up with them at Shark Bay. The chase had covered a whopping 800 kilometres!

When the prisoners were captured one of the original five was missing. Later questioning revealed that the missing man had been killed by his companions for drinking more than his fair share of the fresh water. His body was found months later and one of the re-captured prisoners was hanged for the murder and the other three were found guilty of 'robbery under arms'.

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