Melbourne Gaol
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| Australian Prisons | |
| Melbourne Gaol | |
| Location: | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Status: | Museum |
| Classification: | ? |
| Capacity: | ? |
| Opened: | 1860-1864 |
| Closed: | 1926 |
| Managed by: | ? |
Melbourne Gaol (more commonly known as The Old Melbourne Gaol) is a museum and former prison located in Russell Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Currently it consists of a bluestone building and courtyard and is located next to the old City Police Station and City Courts buildings (both now occupied by RMIT University). RMIT stands for Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and is renowned as the educator of engineers, draughtsmen and a variety of other top-quality craftsmen and women. It also runs its own public televisions station - Channel 31.
A land allotment of scrub to the North-East of the town was selected as Port Philip's first permanent gaol. It was modelled on Pentonville Prison, England, building of the first jail began during 1841 and gradually enlarged and changed until 1864. 1845 the walled end and the outside dirt track became Russell Street, Melbourne 3000. 1848 superintendent of the gaol was Samuel BARROW. Gold rush crimes from 1851 saw a need to enlarge the prison, the extension on the north side of the original was erected beginning 1852 and finished by 1858.
During the 1850s decade one woman hanged was ELIZABETH SCOTT along with 59 men. The 2nd jail was publicly tendered 25th May 1882 for a west wing extension to hold female prisoners and was won by British Prison engineer, Joshua JEBB
The bluestone walls with turret watchtowers were completed by 1864 and then demolished during the depression of the 1930s to create a sea retaining wall at St. Kilda; and then at Hampton which is also a beach-side suburb of Melbourne but now forms part of Brighton. It was later found to be laid with bricks that had the names and date of execution, a total of 14 bricks one of which was marked M.N 22.10.94 referring to Martha Needle who poisoned her husband, 3 children and brother-in-law, she was hanged on 22 October 1894. At St Kilda beach this retaining wall is the one that swimmers lay their backs to from the grass, it borders the raised walkway and sand of the beach-front with bluestone.
Housing for other guards were 17 smaller homes along Swanston Street as of 1860 and the Chief Warden’s house was a palatial 2-storey affair on the corner of Russell Street and facing Franklin Street of Melbourne 3000 built during the 1890s
The gaol was the setting for 136 hangings, the most infamous being that of bushranger born January 1855 Ned Kelly in 1880. The jail was closed in 1929 when Police stables were constructed.
By 1880 and 1924 it was a run-down structure; then parts of the Gaol were demolished. For a short time it was used as a Military prison during World War II. Later it was used as a storage facility for the Victoria Police Force whose headquarters were nearby in Russell Street.
The building is currently a museum rich in history and atmosphere, drawing thousands of tourists annually. The Gaol is open every day except Good Friday and Christmas, 9:30am-5:00pm. Special candlelight night tours can also be arranged and enhance the already spooky environment of the Gaol - reports of strange sights and sounds occur more often at night.
Melbourne Gaol is Victoria's oldest surviving penal establishment. It currently exhibits 19th century gaol life, including the death masks and memorabilia of some of Melbourne's most notorious criminals, including the death mask of Ned Kelly. At the age of 25 years, he was convicted of killing a police officer after a two-day trial. Edward "Ned" Kelly was executed 11 November 1880. A skull which is said to be Ned Kelly's was also on display for many years but thieves stole the skull in 1978 and it has never been recovered. It remains a mystery as to whether the skull actually was Kelly's in the first place. His body was buried within the gaol grounds as were all the condemned convicts, none were afforded a plot in a cemetery.
The tour guides delight in telling stories of ghosts, or photos being taken containing "ectoplasm" and the cells are small and quite scary. Melbourne Gaol also has a court house where one woman, "Elizabeth Scott" was sentenced to being hanged - the first woman to ever be hanged in at the Old Melbourne Gaol. 3 more followed later, however a number of men were hanged, around the figure of 164 males.
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