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Like a Wicked Noah's Ark: The Nautical School Ships Vernon & Sobraon
Step back in time to 1860s Sydney, when ragged children populated the harbour city’s slums, picking pockets and scraping a living selling matches and watercress. Neglected youths formed the city’s gangs, thieving and assaulting the unwary. These ‘larrikins’ often ended up in gaol, and received a thorough criminal education from Faginesque professors of the art.
In 1867 a solution to this problem was found. Fitted out for the reception of New South Wales’ delinquent and abandoned boys, a Nautical School Ship was moored permanently within sight of Circular Quay on Sydney Harbour. The Colony’s prisons were drained of their young inmates, and they were herded together in their dozens – and later, hundreds – on board.
Like a Wicked Noah’s Ark is the full and close-up history of this ground-breaking experiment in juvenile reformation, which operated continuously until 1911 on the Vernon and Sobraon.
In 1867 a solution to this problem was found. Fitted out for the reception of New South Wales’ delinquent and abandoned boys, a Nautical School Ship was moored permanently within sight of Circular Quay on Sydney Harbour. The Colony’s prisons were drained of their young inmates, and they were herded together in their dozens – and later, hundreds – on board.
Like a Wicked Noah’s Ark is the full and close-up history of this ground-breaking experiment in juvenile reformation, which operated continuously until 1911 on the Vernon and Sobraon.
362 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
February 6, 2021
As a Sydney native and someone who has visited Cockatoo Island, I enjoyed reading this detailed history which uncovers the previously untold stories of the industrial school ships in Sydney Harbour. Captained by three different men in turn, the 'Vernon' and 'Sobraon' gave young boys from Sydney's streets a chance to find purpose and industry.
Despite tensions with the judicial system and public opinion, and a few notorious alumni which threatened to sully the institution's reputation, the superintendents' and officers' modus operandi was benevolent. Luke's balanced analysis of primary sources reveals an innovative disciplinary regime which turned idle and neglected young boys into grateful and capable men who looked back fondly on their time on the industrial school ship.
Despite tensions with the judicial system and public opinion, and a few notorious alumni which threatened to sully the institution's reputation, the superintendents' and officers' modus operandi was benevolent. Luke's balanced analysis of primary sources reveals an innovative disciplinary regime which turned idle and neglected young boys into grateful and capable men who looked back fondly on their time on the industrial school ship.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review