Years often elapse in the orderly and peaceable lives of Bermuda's inhabitants, without an instance of a violent breach of laws among them. The force of public opinion in such a small society has hitherto been sufficient for the maintenance of good order, and where there are few thieves and burglars, there is little necessity for patrols and watchmen . . . To let loose among such a set of sanguinary men, originally expelled from their own country for their crimes, and since hardened in an association of congregated villains, would be intolerable . . .

¿ C.F.E. Hollis Hallett, Forty Years of Convict Labour: Bermuda 1823-1863

Given the above views expressed in the House of Assembly in 1830 on convict labourers at Dockyard, the "Bermuda rule" for "guest workers" ¿ resurrected in another fashion in recent years ¿ seems early established ¿ "Send them home".

The world order is now reversed, for the modern guest worker exists in a society that has more than its fair share of "thieves and burglars", with the "necessity for patrols and watchmen" being an absolute.

Today, convicts cannot be transported, but even if freed, they may be confined to Bermuda, as some countries may deny access to those persons. The freedom of those with a record to transport themselves overseas may be further restricted with the tightening up of borders in times of terrorism.

In such circumstances, some could, heaven forbid, then point to the island as "an association of congregated villains", a situation created without any help from the wrongdoers of old at Dockyard.

The demand for labour at the new Bermuda Dockyard called for an influx of convicts, to make up for the considerable shortfall in the local workforce. In February 1824, HMS Antelope arrived with 300 convicts on board and was then "paid off", that is, decommissioned, and converted to a hulk.

Hulks were obsolete warships of the Royal Navy that were made into hostels for convicts, a practice begun in the later 1700s when British jails were overflowing with other congregations. Masts were usually removed and the deck roofed over and the ship converted into a barracks for convicts. The addition of a multitude of cockroaches and other vermin no doubt completed the accommodations.

By the mid-1840s, it could be reported: "the Yard basin is much hampered by the convict hulks being stationed inside, and a great accumulation of filth, from bones, ashes, etc., is constantly accruing from them".

In time, there were five hulks at Dockyard, the Dromedary, Coromandel,Weymouth, Tenedos and Medway.

Some 7,000 prisoners came through Bermuda over the 40 years of the Convict Establishment. A further 2,000 came, but died and are here buried. Only one, A Mr. Fahy, was ever allowed to stay in Bermuda, after his term of imprisonment.

By the late 1840s, the hulks were intolerable accommodation and thus the Royal Navy purchased Boaz and Watford Islands, so that barracks could be erected for the convicts. The Bermudians on these islands were displaced and the lands compulsorily purchased, another incident in the long list of governmental acquisitions of private property that culminated in the lands for the American bases in 1941.

The Convict Establishment was confined to the southern part of Boaz Island and it is there that the few material remains of their presence are to be found. Forming a section of the seawall that protects Boaz Island Village is a series of circular buildings that on first glance look like mediaeval fortifications.

Far from being offensive devices, these round "bastions" were some of the unique Convict Bathing Houses of Boaz and Ireland Islands, constructed to keep the prisoners within, rather than the enemy without. Unfortunately, with but one exception and that overgrown with trees, the Bathing Houses were capped over without record in the 1980s, when Boaz Island Village was built, mainly as housing for the Canadian Forces then operating a wireless station at Daniel's Head.

The "bastions" were hollow within, but connected to the sea by low-level slits in the masonry. Steps led down into what were in effect saltwater bathtubs, so built so the convicts could wash, without being tempted to swim away. A more elaborate Bathing House of this type existed until Hurricane Fabian at the northern end of Boaz Island and a very fine rectangular one on Ireland Island South is in imminent danger of collapse.

A few weeks ago, the Maritime Museum was given photographs from the mid-1920s of the Bathing Houses and the Cook House, also a "bastion", at the southern end of Boaz Island.

The sense that many have had for years that these buildings were fortifications is justified in these images, which show that they were built somewhat in the nature of a mediaeval castle.

Now missing, but appearing in the photographs are the embrasures of the curtain wall next to Bathing House "A"; the castle-like crenellations of the House itself; and the completely unknown crenellated tower rising from the southern side of Bathing House "A". Looking for the entire world like one of Henry VIII's coastal forts, such as Sandgate in Kent, these medieval works could have served no defensive function in the days of artillery fortifications of the mid-Victorian era.

They must therefore be seen as a type of garden folly that had been in vogue in Britain. We will perhaps always wonder at who was the delightful officer who turned the construction of convict bath tubs at Bermuda into a tour de force of mediaeval castle building, albeit as a bit of theatre or comedy.

A letter, also in the collection donated by Ann Palmer of Kent (whose her great-aunt lived at Boaz in the 1920s), written to Britain in 1931, states that "the Navy have taken over the whole of Boaz Island now and where we used to live is the quarters of the Ordnance Artificers from the Keep, Ireland Island. The old tower on the front lawn was pulled down, as it was considered dangerous".

Circumstantial evidence suggests that that was when the Tower on Bathing House "A" was reduced to the level that can be seen today. The Convict Bathing Houses are much in need of conservation and the area contains much trash, dead boats and detritus.

A group from the nearby Woody's Bar would like to clean up the area and should be given every encouragement to do so. The Convict Bathing Houses are a unique part of Bermuda's maritime heritage and they could be restored to their former glory as fantastical medieval castles.

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Dr. Edward Harris, MBE, JP, FSA, Bermudian, is the Executive Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum. Comments can be sent to drharrislogic.bm or by telephone to 799-5480.