Biloela on Cockatoo Island, Sydney Harbour was the second of the locations of the Industrial Schools for Girls. The location of the school was in the premises of the men's prison, formerly known as Cockatoo Island, that had been renamed, presumably to make it appear a more palatable place for keeping young girls.
BIL-OE-LA (pronounced Billowy la), the name of the new establishment provided by the Government for the girls recently removed from Newcastle, has excited some curiosity in regard to its derivation. It is an aboriginal word, meaning "cockatoo," as will be found by reference to the Hon. W. Ridley's book on Kamilaroi. The name Biloela is not given to the whole of the island, but only to the Industrial School premises. The name of the island has already been changed once. Some years ago it was called Banks' Island, in honour of Sir Joseph Banks. Since the removal of the girls to their new school – where they are entirely removed from encouragement by the plaudits of inconsiderate and vicious persons – it is said that there has been more effective discipline.1
The area of the school was defined in the Government Gazette on 26 May 1871, as
… the Western portion of the Island within the following boundaries: – Commencing on the southern margin of the Island, at about 57 feet easterly from the eastern Lime-kiln – and bounded thence on the east by a line bearing about north 10½ degrees east about 278 feet to the southern corner of the enclosure, northerly of the covered tank ; thence by the south-western boundary-wall of that enclosure, north-westerly about 118 feet ; thence by a line south-westerly at right angles to that boundary about 25 feet ; and thence by a line bearing about north 32 degrees west 240 feet to the northern margin of the Island, and on the north-west, on the west and on the south, by the waters of Port Jackson, south-westerly, southerly and easterly to the point of commencement.2
The Sydney Morning Herald on 10 March 1879, described the location of the Industrial School and explained that:
The part, of the island which is used for the Reformatory and Industrial School is fenced off by a high and ugly corrugated iron fence.
The Industrial School … is held in the stone quadrangle formerly occupied by the convicts. The buildings are kept beautifully clean with paint and whitewash, and they are light and airy; but there is the prison stamp upon them, and at the ends of the dormitories there are the grated windows, where, in the convict days, the sentries were stationed, ready to fire upon the unhappy prisoners in the event of a riot or outbreak occurring in the night. We were told that the girls did not mind these things, and that they actually liked the place. It may be a great improvement upon the squalid homes these poor creatures come from, and they may appreciate it accordingly; still it would be far better to place them in a building of a different character and with associations of a more pleasing nature. There has been made of late a sort of playground
for the children, with swings, and a small shed for wet weather. With this exception there is nothing but the bare rocks and the stone wells for the poor children to see — no trees, no flowers, nothing but gloom.3
Biloela (1876)
Image courtesy of Trove - Digitalized Newspapers
The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912)4
BILOELA.
… [The] view of Biloela from the mainland near Birchgrove … shows the south-eastern side of the island, where are situated the Fitzroy Dock Works. The place for years bore the name of Cockatoo Island, but when the Crown prisoners were removed from it, and the establishment was made use of as a female reformatory and industrial school, it received the more euphonious aboriginal designation, "Biloela." In the foreground of the picture is part of Birchgrove. In the background beyond Biloela appear the highlands at the entrance to Lane Cove. To the left are the western extremity of Spectacle Island (now used as a gunpowder depot) and Pulpit Point. Biloela Island is about a quarter of a mile in length. The magnificent dock works, constructed in the solid rock, were effected almost exclusively by the use of prison labour. The dock is 400 feet long with 20 feet depth of water over the sill. The Galatea, of over 3600 tons burden, was taken in without the slightest difficulty.5
The planning to transfer the girls was almost certainly finalised between 18 April 1871, when CLARKE handed over the school to LUCAS, and 26 May when this new superintendency was proclaimed by the Governor, Somerset Richard, Earl of Belmore. The 26th was the day when the younger girls were actually transferred from Newcastle to Sydney aboard the Morpeth.6 The elder 'more refractory' girls left Newcastle on the Government steamer, Thetis, the following day.7 Girls who were tried in Sydney8 during May or country NSW9 during late April, were retained in Sydney and never reached the Newcastle site.10
The decision to remove the girls from Newcastle was made partly in response to the proximity of the school to residences, the ease of escape and the wild behaviour of the girls on the easily observable site. The major reason for Newcastle's closure was unstated but was almost certainly economic.11 By placing the girls on the island in the old Biloela gaol buildings, it was hoped that these problems would be reduced or eliminated. This was true only in regard to the cost savings of locating the school near Sydney and to the isolation of the site. That Cockatoo Island was an unwise location for the welfare of the girls was apparent to members of the media and possibly many others at the time and criticism of the government's wisdom in making this decision began shortly after the relocation.
NO YOU DONT!12
'From the Sydney Punch'
In Sydney Harbor thar's an isle,
A place that's dull and drear,
With nary tree upon its sile –
It looks pertickler queer ;
It ain't at all the sort of isle
Whar lovers bill and coo –
Its character is raly vile –
Folks call it " Cockatoo."
As Cockatoo its known to Fame –
Known also to each Peeler,
But lately they hev changed its name
An' called it " Biloela."
It's now the home of rowdy gals –
A naughty sister-hood –
Who, 'prison'd on thet rocky isle,
Air larnin' to be good !
But 'taint no use – they'll never larn –
Those gals air reg'lar squalers,
An' horrid yarns the folks du tell
About them Biloelas.
They scream, and roar, and tear their clothes
An cuss an' swear a few –
Why Biloela's ten times wuss
Than was old Cockatoo!
On that thar isle thar is a dock,
Whar ships of war repair ;
Hard by them virgins under lock
The dry dock still is there !
The wisdom of some public men,
In that is clearly shown ;
Them chaps should have their praises cut
In Biloela stone! …13
The site was badly chosen as it had difficult access and a shortage of fresh water. Visiting clergy who came often and with ease to Newcastle were required to travel to the island and while sisters from the House of the Good Shepherd ministered religious education to the Catholic girls, the teacher, Margaret KELLY became responsible for the Protestants. Attacks were made on the buildings by visiting sailors arriving at the nearby Fitzroy Dock. Riots amongst the inmates still occurred and successful escapes were made from the island. Frequently small boats and dingys containing men cruised around the island. Any girls who were observed to be conversing with these men were locked in one of the dormitories. The time for their confinement varied but 'for the remainder of the day' was one such imprisonment.14 One instance of the male offenders being referred to court was reported to the Colonial Secretary by LUCAS on 18 October 1871,15 but this court case has not yet been found. The isolated nature of the school from public scrutiny was not good for the inmates.
Biloela Industrial School Admissions
Because the first admissions to Biloela are located in the missing pages of the Entrance Book,16 girls who were identified as having been admitted to Cockatoo Island during this period have been recorded below. Many trial locations are unidentified and it has not always been possible to identify an exact admission date but an attempt has been made to place the admissions in an approximate chronological order. Their names have been sourced from LUCAS's April 1872 list17 and supplemented by mentions in the superintendent's weekly reports from the CSIL. Each weekly report may only name one girl. It was possible to match young admissions and later arrivals by cross-referencing their names in the Child Welfare Index.18 If only a discharge record from the Biloela Discharge Register is identified on this index then that inmate had to have been recorded in the Entrance Book during the period when the pages were missing. Unfortunately, any older inmate admitted before or during 1875 may have been discharged before the Discharge Register was commenced. Individual letters in the CSIL index that specified Biloela as a location were also identified.19 The Police Gazettes and Trove also reported some court locations or admissions.
The list below contains the names of the missing 157 Biloela admissions. Variations in spelling and handwriting have resulted in at least two duplications that are still being identified. Of these admissions seven were those of young boys under the age of 8 years who were eventually transferred from Biloela – usually onto the nearby Vernon. Names of boys have been recorded in bold to enable them to be identified easily on the list. Of the final eleven admissions whose family details appear on the first page after the missing section of the Entrance Book, almost all have been identified and matched to their family details. The list is amended as further details are uncovered.
It is not the intention to investigate the lives or circumstances of the Biloela inmates unless they were the sisters of girls who were admitted to Newcastle. If you believe that you are connected to any of these girls or would like to further investigate their lives, please contact me and it can be arranged for you to contribute what you can uncover of their story in their own biography on this site.
Note: A warrent for the arrest of Robert and Christina McCauley under the Industrial Schools Act was taken out in about July 1872 and reported on page 209 of the NSW Police Gazette. Robert was eventually arrested and admitted to the Vernon but no evidence that Christina ever went to Biloela has been found. Biloela Reformatory AdmissionsNo record for any Reformatory admissions to Newcastle or Biloela has yet been found. Girls known to have been admitted to the Reformatory do not appear in any records for the Industrial School. One incomplete list naming the inmates in Newcastle425 and those admitted to Biloela by August 1874 exists.426 Newspaper reports or entries in the NSW Police Gazette have been used to tentatively identify girls admitted to the Reformatory after August 1874. In September 1875 there were nine inmates427 and by December 1876 there were fourteen girls in the Biloela Reformatory.428 A description in the Sydney Morning Herald on 10 March 1879, shortly before the Reformatory was moved to Watson's Bay, identified the locality of the samller Reformatory:
Shaftesbury Reformatory Admissions
Shaftesbury remained under the superintendency of Agnes KING. Admissions to the reformatory were not identified in any Industrial School records and only one admission register dating from 1888 survives.490 Girls admitted before 1888 are identified below. Newspaper reports or entries in the NSW Police Gazette have been used to identify girls admitted to the Reformatory after February 1880. The mysterious Jane MURPHY who was transferred from Goulburn Gaol with her brother, Henry, on 28 November 1877 and Mary EVANS also from Goulburn Gaol who was sent to Biloela at the same time as Emily JACKSON but does not appear in the Biloela records, need more investigation as these girls cannot be found being admitted to Biloela. They are not recorded in industrial school admissions so were perhaps admitted to the Reformatory.
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Updated March 2020