Recreation ground belonging to N.S.S. (Nautical School Ship) Sobraon

Between 1871 and 1911, Cockatoo Island was used to provide boarding and education for wayward or homeless boys and girls. Two years after the prison at Cockatoo Island closed in 1869, it reopened as an industrial training school and reformatory for girls and boys. The girls were housed in the buildings of the former penal establishment whereas the boys lived aboard a succession of ships moored off the island. One of these ships was named Sabraon and its youthful occupants were placed in a training scheme that equipped them nautical skills as well as an education in standard curriculum subjects.

Image courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales

Image Call Number: Government Printing Office (GPO) 1-12599