Subscribe
This development saw the construction of a limited number of residential buildings, including dwellings that survive to this day and are now maintained as holiday accommodation by the Harbour Trust; namely, the Garden Riverview Apartment, Harbour View Apartments and Heritage Holiday Houses.
Constructed between 1915 and 1916, these dwellings were built in the Federation Arts and Crafts architecture style and many of their original features are still intact, including fireplaces, leadlight windows, picture rails and architraves.
The Garden Riverview Apartments are semi-detached single-storey cottages. Located on the upper island, they boast a bungalow aesthetic and back onto a garden with views across the harbour to Hunters Hill.
The Sergeant of Police lived in one of these dwellings while the other housed the assistant to the island’s Medical Officer, who also resided on site.
The duties of the island’s medical personnel included performing medical examinations, periodically, to assess staff fitness. They also tended to the injured and ill, including the families of personnel living on the island, and were on call to respond to emergencies.
Meanwhile, the dockyard employed its own police force. The Naval Dockyard Police, which numbered up to 20 officers, operated like a modern-day security service and their duties included preventing unauthorised island access, patrolling for emergencies like fires and securing the island’s stores. However, their jurisdiction was limited and didn’t extend to the mainland. For example, officers were authorised to carry out bag searches on dockyard workers only. Senior staff, including foremen, were exempt from this rule. Further, civilian residents and fellow officers didn’t require passes to take good on and off the island. If the Naval Dockyard Police were required to make enquiries ashore, they had to liaise with the NSW Police.
