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SOUTH WEST ROCKS LOCAL HISTORY

This page is designed to provide space for people of the Community to provide local history information about their community and to provide links to relevant history sites related to this community. The management of this site realises that this list may not be complete.

Trial Bay Gaol was commenced in 1877 as an experiment in penal reform. It was constructed of locally quarried pink and gray granite with the first wing being completed in 1886 and completed in 1890.

It was closed in 1903 but reopened in 1915 to hold internees from Germany as a result of World War I, where they were allowed out onto the beaches during the day but locked up at night.

Trial Bay Gaol now houses a museum that covers the history of the gaol and is well worth the visit when you are in the area.

Historical Photo from Trial Bay

My grandfather was a Warden there some time between November 1917 and his discharge on June 1919. I cannot give an exact date of the photo but it is within this time frame. He enlisted at Holdsworthy in Sydney as a "Concentration Camp Guard". His name was Benjamin Anderson b. 29 August 1899 in Launceston Tasmania. He is in the 4th row from the rear and is 6th from the left. I have no other names.
Faye Chapman


Smokey Cape Lighthouse was opened in 1891 to protect sailors from the rocky coastline in the area. The lighthouse also served to direct sailors towards the entrance to the Macleay River, located just to the north of the lighthouse.


If you know of a local history site that services this community but is not listed here, or would like to use this site to promote your local history, please Email us (using the button at the bottom of this page) and let us know the details, including the community to which you are referring.


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