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The island with a thousand stories...
The geographical history of Rottnest Island has been dominated by changes in sea level. These changes occurred either as sea water became trapped and released when ice sheets advanced and retreated, or as the land slowly rose and fell in response to changing stresses in the earth's crust.
It is believed that Rottnest Island was separated from the mainland 7,000 years ago. The sea level rose, cutting the Island off from the land mass, and it is now the largest in a chain of islands (which includes Garden and Carnac Islands) on the continental shelf opposite Perth. These islands all are formed of limestone rocks with a thin covering of sand. The limestone base of Rottnest Island has an effect on all life on the Island, including the types of plants which can grow on it, the species of animals which can feed upon the plants, and the extent to which humans can make use of the Island.
Habitats and Salt Lakes
The Island has six major habitats: coastal, salt lakes, brackish swamps, woodlands, heath and settled areas. Salt lakes occupy ten per cent of the area of Rottnest Island. Many of them - including Lake Baghdad, Lake Vincent, Herschel Lake, Garden Lake, Government House Lake and Serpentine Lake - are permanent and have surrounding beaches. Other lakes such as Pink Lake, Lake Sirius, Lake Negri and the twin Pearse Lakes may dry out in summer.
Rottnest Coral Reefs
The limestone coral reef surrounding Rottnest grew approximately 100,000 years ago when the sea level was thought to be at least three metres higher than the present day. This reef system is fed by the warm Leeuwin Current and provides a home to much of Rottnest's marine life, as well as presenting a significant hazard for shipping.
Maritime History
Once unchartered waters...
Rottnest Island's waters contain a number of shipwrecks - a legacy of the uncharted navigational voyages that occurred during the early exploration of the southwest coast of Australia.
Exploration
The earliest discovery of Rottnest Island by Europeans is credited to Dutch navigators during the 17th century in their search for a shorter route from the Cape of Good Hope to Batavia. The first Europeans to actually land on the Island are believed to have been Samuel Volkerson and his crew of the Dutch ship Waeckende Boey while searching for survivors of another Dutch ship the Vergulde Draek in 1658. William de Vlamingh, who in 1696 was the next recorded European visitor to Rottnest Island, gave the Island its name after the abundance of quokkas he saw, mistaking them for rats.
More than thirteen ships have been wrecked within the waters of Rottnest Island. These wrecks are protected under Commonwealth legislation, Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976, as well as State legislation, Maritime Archeology Act 1973. Plaques have been located next to the wrecks and are complemented by onshore plaques indicating their locations.
Pilot services and lighthouses
The operation of the pilot station is another major element of the maritime history of Rottnest Island. The Rottnest Island Pilot Station operated between 1848 and 1903. Pilots were experienced sailors whose job was to guide ships around dangerous reefs and into Fremantle harbour mainly to deliver supplies to the Swan River Colony. Over its 55 years of operation, the Rottnest Island Pilot Station used a number of different boats. Generally, the boat types used were a double-ended whaleboat, a slightly larger lugger and a small dinghy.
Lighthouses played a key role in the pilot boat operations by providing a communication link between the pilot boat station and incoming ships. The Island's first lighthouse was completed in 1851 and was constructed by Aboriginal prisoners, under the supervision of the Prison Superintendent. Half a century later it was replaced with a new, taller lighthouse on Wadjemup Hill; and a third was built in 1900 at Bathurst Point after the loss of 11 lives when the ship, the City of York, was wrecked in 1899. The Bathurst Point and Wadjemup Hill lighthouses remain today. The Wadjemup lighthouse is open to the public and tours are conducted daily.
A secure boathouse, established in 1846, was the first building constructed for the pilot service. This was built at the northern end of the seawall. Six years later, quarters for the pilot crew were added to the top of the boathouse. In 1859 another boathouse was built and both still remain today. The last pilot left Rottnest Island in 1903, ending more than 55 years of piloting, and a new system was established with a signal station set up near Bathurst Lighthouse for the Fremantle Harbour Trust. It was dismantled in 1904 and then erected near Wadjemup lighthouse. Once a vessel was sighted, the news was telephoned to the lighthouse in Fremantle and the new, steam-powered pilot boat dispatched from there. The signal station remained in operation until 1949 when compulsory pilotage was abolished, effectively making the signal station on Rottnest Island redundant. The signal station was restored in 2002.
There is an exhibition on the Rottnest Island Pilot Service including a replica whaleboat, now housed in the 1859 pilot boathouse. This exhibition is open daily.
Colonial Settlement
A place with potential...
The first Europeans took up residence on Rottnest Island shortly after the first settlement of the Swan River Colony was established in 1829. Rottnest Island was considered to be of interest as a place with potential for salt harvesting, farming and fishing. Thomson Bay was named after Robert Thomson, who became a major landholder on Rottnest Island during the 1830s.
In December 1830, Benjamin Smyth surveyed Rottnest Island for the Surveyor General. A plan for the township to be known as Kingstown was proposed, containing 177 lots of 1/3 of an acre and other lots of 10 acres to be offered to the public. These lots were contained within the area now known as Thomson Bay and extended around to what became Bickley Bay on the site where Kingstown Barracks stands today. William Clarke and Robert Thomson took up town lots and pastureland and Smyth's survey of 1831 showed the town lots and sites for various designated purposes. Farming involved successful cereal cropping and other attempts at establishing vegetable gardens and vineyards.
Aboriginals on Rottnest Island
Before Rottnest became an island...
Artefacts have been found at a number of sites on Rottnest Island pre-dating 6,500 years ago and are possibly tens of thousands of years old, indicating previous Aboriginal occupation of this area prior to the separation of the Island from the mainland. Since the most recent rise in sea levels from 10,000 to 6,500 years ago, the Island has been separated from the mainland.
The local Aboriginal people were not sea-faring and did not have vessels capable of making the crossing from the mainland and therefore did not traditionally inhabit the Island following the rise in sea level.
Known to local Aboriginal people as Wadjemup, the Island is believed to be a place of spirits and is of significance to Aboriginal communities.
There are 17 sites on Rottnest Island listed under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972-1980. This Act makes it an offence to alter an Aboriginal site in any way without written permission from the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.
Penal Settlement
Ten Aboriginal prisoners were brought to the Island in August 1838. After a short period when both settlers and prisoners occupied the Island, the Colonial Secretary announced in June 1839 that the Island would become a penal establishment for Aboriginal people.
The Crown resumed all land on the Island, compensating settlers with land on the mainland. Access to the Island during the prison era was restricted. For almost a century the Island served as a prison for Aboriginal people (except for a short period of closure between 1849 and 1855) during which some 3,700 Aboriginal men and boys, from many parts of the State, were imprisoned.
Between 1838 and 1931, it is reported that 369 Aboriginal prisoners died. While most deaths were caused by disease, it is reported that five prisoners were hanged. An Aboriginal cemetery is located within the Thomson Bay Settlement.
Over the prison period, the Aboriginal prisoners constructed a large number of buildings and other structures including the seawall, lighthouses and other heritage buildings, mostly under supervision of Henry Vincent who was Superintendent of the establishment for 20 years.
Most of the development took place in Thomson Bay, and of particular significance is the Quod that was the prison accommodation for the Aboriginal men. The Quod is now part of the Lodge, which is operated under a private lease as holiday accommodation until 2018.
Closure of the Aboriginal prison was recommended in 1902. It officially closed in 1904 although prisoners were used to build roads and other works on the Island until 1931. Closure of the prison turned the attention of the public and the Government to Rottnest Island's possibilities as a recreation destination.
Recreational
A tourist destination from the early 1900s...
From 1902 ferries carried tourists to Rottnest Island on Sundays. During these times visitors and prisoners were kept well apart.
The first public jetty was built in 1906 to the south of Thomson Bay Settlement, where the Army Jetty stands today. Until then passengers and cargo were brought ashore by a lighter. A tram track was laid from the Jetty to Thomson Bay Settlement and horse drawn trams were used to carry visitors and goods. The trams were later replaced by motor vehicles in 1925 and most of the tracks were removed and relocated to the Perth Zoo. Some small portions of the track still remain.
In 1907 a scheme for transforming Rottnest Island from a penal settlement to a recreation and holiday Island were drawn up by the Colonial Secretary's Department. As part of this scheme the Bickley area began to be modestly developed for public recreation. Timber and hessian camps, a store and a recreational hall were built overlooking Bickley Bay in the vicinity of where Kingstown Barracks stands today. A number of houses in the Thomson Bay Settlement were also made available for use, and the opening season was 1911.
The Prison and Boys' Reformatory were converted to hostel accommodation, completed in the 1913/1914 summer season. The Bickley camps were closed in 1911, and in 1913 it was proposed to shift the camp reserve to the Bathurst side of the Settlement. Thirty weatherboard camps were subsequently rebuilt at the Bathurst end of Thomson Bay.
More improvements were planned in 1917. A large tearoom and store were erected near the main jetty and wooden bungalows were also constructed close by and on the north side of the jetty.
The original limestone buildings of Rottnest Island were whitewashed and this created an extreme glare. To remove the glare, buildings were progressively painted with an ochre colour that was created by putting rusty nails in the white wash paint.
Recreational and holiday pursuits have continued on Rottnest Island from this time to the present day except for its closure in 1914 and again from 1940 to 1945 for military functions.
Military History
Rottnest Island has played a military role in both World War I and World War II and has also had post-war training functions, which are described below. If you enjoy Rottnest Island Military History, why not take one of our Guided Tours?
World War I
With the start of World War I the Department of Defence commandeered the Island for use as an internment and Prisoner of War camp from 1914 to the end of 1915. In September 1915, the camp held 989 persons, including 841 Austrian and German internees and 148 Prisoners of War. Recreational and holiday pursuits were re-established in December 1915.
Preparation for World War II
In response to increasing global tensions in the 1930s, the Australian government developed a three-year Defence Development Program that it commenced in 1933. In the Plan, Rottnest Island was identified as being critical to the defence of Fremantle as guns there could engage hostile ships well before they approached the range that would allow bombardment of Fremantle Port.
In 1934 the Western Australian Premier officially informed the Rottnest Island Board of Control of the Commonwealth's intentions for a defence program on Rottnest Island and in 1936 it purchased land at Bickley for this purpose and construction began later that year.
The fixtures on Rottnest Island were made up of the Oliver Hill Battery with two 9.2-inch guns and quarters at Oliver Hill; Bickley Battery with two 6-inch guns and quarters at Bickley; permanent Army Barracks at Kingstown (containing living accommodation for four warrant officers or sergeants and 72 rank and file personnel, cottages for commanders, officers mess, cottages for married non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and gunners, Army institutional buildings, small hospital, dry canteen, workshop, store, railway buildings, and supporting communication and observation structures); a three storey fortress and battery command post building at Signal Ridge; Port War Signal Station at Signal Ridge; observation posts and engine rooms.
Also constructed by the military at this time were six searchlight emplacements, magazine shell stores, powerhouse, directing station and a railway from the jetty to the 9.2 inch guns. Improvements to the jetty were also undertaken. When the Barracks was completed in September 1937 Rottnest Island was declared a permanent station for troops.
World War II
In June 1940 the Island was declared a prohibited area and all recreational activity ended. The declaration was intended to last for three months, but continued for five years until June 1945. During the war period, administrative fire command staff and a coastal artillery gunnery school occupied Rottnest Island. The guns were manned 24 hours a day.
In the mid-1940s, the focus of threat moved to Northern Australia, so the fixed defences at Rottnest Island were reduced. The 9.2-inch guns were put on a maintenance basis and only the 6-inch guns at Bickley remained manned. The period of intensive military activity on Rottnest Island ended with the guns never being fired at the enemy.
Post War
After the war, all military units were disbanded and the guns placed in long term storage. By April 1945 all Thomson Bay buildings had been vacated by the military with the exception of the bakehouse and garage. Approximately 200 Italian internees were sent to the Island for four months to carry out repairs and renovations.
In June 1945, the prohibition order on Rottnest Island was lifted but until October only people travelling on commercial vessels could visit the Island. Dismantling of the battery was finalised in March 1953. An artillery maintenance detachment remained on the Island until 1960.
In 1953, the Army decided that further use for Kingstown Barracks was no longer necessary. This changed in early 1955 when it was determined the Barracks would continue to be used for training purposes. Training at Kingstown Barracks recommenced in May 1955.
In 1962 it was determined that the use of coastal artillery in the defence of ports was out-moded and coastal artillery guns and ammunitions around the nation were declared for disposal. The 9.2-inch battery on Rottnest Island was saved from disposal because the high cost of removing and shipping the guns to the mainland exceeded their value as scrap metal.
In 1967, the Army returned most of its land holdings on Rottnest Island to the Western Australian Government, retaining Kingstown Barracks, the Bickley area and easements necessary to connect water to the Barracks. The Army's use of Kingstown Barracks declined gradually from the 1960s to the 1970s and then sharply from 1974, to the point in 1979 where it was utilised for only 43 days in the year. In 1984 the Army and the Rottnest Island Board of Control began negotiations for the Board to purchase the remaining Army land and buildings including Kingstown Barracks. This was formalised in an official closing ceremony in December 1984.
After successful trials using Kingstown Barracks for environmental education programs over the 1984/1985 summer season, the Board recommended to the Government that the Barracks be used as an environmental education centre.
Videos
To gain a further understanding about the military history on Rottnest Island, click on the following links to view the videos available on YouTube:
Discover what ‘off-duty’ life was like on Rottnest during WWII
Oral History by Alwyn Holder
Discover the types of coastal defences on Rottnest
Oral History by Alwyn Holder
Discover life as an Engineer on Rottnest during WWII
Oral History by Alwyn Holder
Explore inside Kingstown Barracks, Rottnest Island
Oral History by Les Smith
Rottnest Island World War II Coastal Defences
Courtesy of Mark Bush – Bushcraft