About
Reform School
Cockatoo Island became an Industrial School for Girls in 1871, caring for orphan children as well as a reformatory for delinquent girls. Anchored just off shore, the colony's orphan boys - as many as 500, were housed in an old hulk, Vernon. Here they were taught tailoring, sail making, carpentry and nautical skills.
Unfortunately for the children treatment was harsh, with little distinction between the delinquent and the orphaned. The girls were eventually moved to Parramatta in 1888, as were the boys in 1911.
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