Cadman's Cottage

This guide to Cadman's Cottage in Sydney follows John Cadman, a convict transported for stealing a horse who won a pardon and rose to command the government's harbour boat crews. You'll hear how this sandstone barracks, built around 1815 for those crews, became his home with his wife Elizabeth and her two stepdaughters until his death in 1845. It traces what the building did after Cadman left, sheltering the Water Police and later visiting seamen for nearly a century. Listen for how close the water once came to this doorway.