heist · fremantle
The Catalpa Conspiracy (Fremantle)
A guided escape-heist through Fremantle: play an agent of the 1876 Catalpa rescue and lift six Irish Fenians out of the Establishment and onto a whaler bound for America — solving the real, audacious escape at the places it happened.
▶ PLAYThe case opens
April, 1876. Six Irish Fenians are held in the Establishment — Fremantle Prison, convict-built,
now World Heritage.
You serve a Mr James Collins, an American gentleman lately arrived with letters of introduction.
He is no businessman: he is John Breslin, and you are both here to steal six men out from under
the Crown and onto a whaler bound for America.
Read the ground. Assemble the plan. Then, and only then, give the signal.
The limestone walls of the Establishment. Inside: Darragh, Hogan, Harrington, Hassett, Cranston
and Wilson — six Fenians, convicts of the Crown.
The walls are sheer. But each morning the men march OUT — work parties beyond the gates, lightly
guarded. That is the only door that ever opens.
You mark the hour the parties pass the prison gate. That hour is your only window.
The route
The Establishment — six Fenians, only ever out for the morning work parties
Fremantle Prison
“The last convict ship to Western Australia, the Hougoumont, landed the Fenians here — the year convict transportation to WA ended. What year?”
“The Catalpa lifted a band of Irish Fenians out of this prison in 1876. How many men?”
“Crack the prisoners' code for what they planned: 5 · 19 · 3 · 1 · 16 · 5”
loading game…
“Line up six of your team against the limestone for a convict 'line-up' — numbers up, no smiling.”
loading game…
Cut the wire — the Perth–Albany telegraph, silenced on the day
Fremantle Town Hall
“Find the Town Hall. Your guide marks where the telegraph line to Perth once ran — the wire Desmond's men cut on the morning of the escape.”
⚑ Guide-confirmed at the location.
“An American 'businessman' moved through the town planning the rescue. What name did the agent John Breslin use?”
“Re-enact the morning they cut the telegraph to Perth — freeze mid-snip, whole team, wires in hand.”
loading game…
The old gaol and the Whalers Tunnel — the tempting dead end
Round House
“Find the Round House (1831), WA's oldest public building, and the mouth of the Whalers Tunnel beneath it — the tempting dead end the rescuers never used.”
⚑ Guide-confirmed at the location.
“Caesar cipher — and the key is under your feet: the shift is the number of SIDES this building has. Count them, then shift back that many: DAGZP TAGEQ”
loading game…
“Rebuild the scrambled 1928 photo of the Whalers Tunnel beneath the Round House — then find the spot.”
loading game…
The launch — the whaleboat to the Catalpa, and the Stars-and-Stripes standoff
Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour
“Frame the water where the whaleboat pulled for the Catalpa, waiting on the open sea. Whole team, eyes out past the swell.”
⚑ Photo task — your guide scores it on the spot.
“The whaler waited offshore under an American master who would soon dare a warship to fire. Name the captain.”
“The steamer Georgette gave chase — Captain Anthony raised a flag and warned that firing on his ship meant war. Whose flag?”
“Row, row! Mime the whaleboat dash to the Catalpa — whole crew pulling oars, faces straining.”
loading game…