proposals concerning the formation of depots at York, Toodyay, and Bunbury. In all these places old buildings were purchased, or the erection of new ones was begun in 1851, for the accommodation of the felons. In July parties of 40 each were sent to those centres for public works purposes, and to be hired out. A superintending warder controlled them, and other necessary officials were appointed. The construction of main lines of roads was begun in each place, and arrangements were made to cut the road to run from Fremantle to Perth.
In July the Finance Board decided on the remuneration, direct from the funds of the Convict Establishment, of the following officers:—On the Perth and Fremantle Road—Dr. Galbraith, medical officer, £50; Captain Bruce, visiting magistrate, £50; Mr. C. Gregory, assistant-superintendent, £109 10s. and quarters; Rev. R.W Mears, chaplain, £50; Overseers Fowler, Johnston, and McCormack, £52 10s. each. At York—Captain Meares, visiting magistrate, £50; Mr. R. Viveash, medical officer, £36; Mr. E. Parker, assistant-superintendent, £73; overseer, Assistant-Warder Caldwell, £52. At Toodyay—Mr. J.S. Harris, visiting magistrate, £50; Rev. C. Harper, chaplain, £50; Mr. M. Clarkson, assistant-superintendent, £73; overseer, Assistant-Warder Stamford, £52; At Bunbury—Mr. G. Eliot, visiting magistrate, £50; Mr. Bedingfield, medical officer £36; Mr. Onslow, assistant-superintendent, £73; Overseer Wright, £52. All the chief officers were given a forage allowance of 6d. per diem. It was also decided to form a depot at Guildford in October. Dr. Wollaston was appointed medical officer to the convicts in the Albany district.
Comptroller-General Henderson, on 23rd July, 1851, instructed employers to make a deduction from the wages of ticket-of-leave men, in pursuance of the original arrangements. He regulated the scale at 8s. 6d. per month in order to make up the necessary half-yearly payment of £2 10s. The yearly amount required from the employer was £5, which went in payment of the courier's passage to the colony. The total amount required to be paid by each ticket-of-leave man was notified to the employer.
The largest body of prisoners not on ticket of leave was detained in Fremantle. Not only was this necessary because of the important buildings being erected there, but because the worst class of men had to be kept under severe control. It may be well imagined that the colony now contained men of the worst passions. Among these a strict discipline was preserved, and the ears of Fremantle residents began to be shocked by the jangle of chained men. No serious difficulties were yet experienced, and breaches of discipline were comparatively few. The erection of a permanent building to house the constantly increasing body of convicts was started with zest. It is said that Captain Henderson desired to erect the prison on Mount Eliza, at Perth, but that Governor Fitzgerald refused to countenance such a proposal; a site was chosen on the side of the hill overlooking Fremantle, and on 4th August an ordinance passed the Legislative Council vesting "the site of the convict prison of Fremantle in certain officers in trust for Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors for ever."
A tram line was laid down, and by July ran from the locality of the proposed prison into the valley below, where pensioners' barracks and officers' quarters were already in course of erection. The soil excavated from the hill-side was deposited by the tram in the valley, and was intended to form an enclosure for garden. When that was levelled the tram line was lengthened and the hollows filled up to the beach. Hard white stone, taken from the hill and from near the banks of the Swan at North Fremantle, was used on the buildings. Thick walls were made, and the structures promised to be models of solidity. Fremantle was now the theatre of activity; of depraved serfs, officially known by numbers, forced to work under the directing eye of free men. There were not sufficient mechanics among them to carry out the work, and the Comptroller-General introduced free men, with their wives and children, from South Australia, in August.
Of public works in which the Government was directly concerned there were many. The various branches of the civil service were rendered so busy that the officials had never known the like before. The Government completed or were constructing such structures as a lock-up at Bunbury, a room at Fremantle for water police, two houses at Guildford, a guard-room near the tunnel at Fremantle, a house near the gaol at Fremantle, a new court house on Arthur Head at Fremantle, abattoir at Claise Brook near Perth, servants' home in Murray Street, Perth, weatherboard house on Carnac Island, and additional offices on the north-west wing of the Government Offices, Perth.
Beyond continued toiling in public works and in cutting temporary roads in country districts, 1852 was chiefly remarkable for the number of free emigrants imported to the colony by the English Government. Three vessels arrived and landed such numbers that colonists could no longer accuse the mother country of not keeping her pledge. On 24th February the Will Watch put into Fremantle with 49 males and 43 females; on March 26 the barque Mary with 49 males, 50 females, and 23 children; and on 31st May the barque Raleigh with 167 people—all free emigrants. It was some months before all these new comers were absorbed, and the colony was put to some expense in subsisting them.
Only two convict ships arrived. These were the Marion on 31st January with 279, and the William Jardine on 4th August with 212 men. Of those on the Marion 161 were eligible to tickets of leave. The Marion conveyed 30 sappers, and the William Jardine 29 pensioners.
The Imperial authorities, in keeping with their liberalised convict system, were still willing to despatch, free of charge, the wives and families of ticket-of-leave men who might ask for them. In their new surroundings in Western Australia the convicts were not always anxious to have the company of their wives of other days, and often, it must be confessed, contracted new alliances with incoming female emigrants. Some were not so inconstant, and applied for the introduction of their families. Meanwhile, the wives, apparently considering that the conviction and transportation of their husbands justified their seeking new mates, repeatedly married again in England. The Emigration Commissioners in London communicated, by request, in 1851-2 with the wives and families of 60 ticket-of-leave men, but not one took advantage of the offer to be conveyed to Western Australia. That the ticket-of-leave men were not devoid of humanity, and were like unto other men, was manifested in January, 1852. Those employed in and near Perth talked of uniting to form a club for the maintenance of their sick. This step was not necessary some months later when the Colonial Hospital was completed, where sick convicts were treated at the expense of the Convict Fund. Besides, invalid depots were soon formed at Fremantle and Perth for their accommodation and branch depots in country districts.
