HM Prison Geelong

HM Prison Geelong was a maximum security Australia prison located on the corner of Myers Street and Swanston Street in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The prison was built in stages from 1849 to 1864. Its panopticon design is based on Pentonville Prison in England. The prison was officially closed in 1991 and prisoners were moved to the newly built HM Prison Barwon in Lara.

HM Prison Geelong
LocationGeelong, Victoria
Coordinates38°9′14″S 144°21′56″E
StatusClosed
Security classMaximum (male)
Capacity86
Opened1864
Closed1991
Managed byCorrections Victoria

History

The gaol was built by prisoners who slept on high security barges on Corio Bay during construction. The three-storey central block is cruciform with east and west wings serving as cells, the north wing as an administration block, and the southern wing as a kitchen, hospital and a tailoring workshop. The Australian Army used the prison as a detention barracks during, and for a few years after, World War II.

The government closed the gaol in 1991 and the site now operates as a museum. It is open to the public on Saturdays, Sundays and daily during public and school holidays. The gaol remains mostly unchanged. A gallows exhibit recreates the 1863 hanging of James Murphy, who battered Constable Daniel O'Boyle to death at the Warrnambool court house. He was the last person hanged at the gaol. Cell 47 is of special interest as it contains a mural painted on a wall by a prisoner, titled Window of Freedom.

The Gaol is now referred to as the "Old Geelong Gaol". Some believe the gaol may be haunted and several paranormal research groups have visited the site.[1]

Timeline
  • 1853–1865 Gaol for convicts and prisoners
  • 1865–1872 Industrial school for girls (street kids)
  • 1877–1940 Hospital gaol
  • 1940–1947 Army detention barracks during World War II
  • 1947–1958 Hospital gaol
  • 1958–1991 Training prison

Notable prisoners
  • Frank McCallum (alias Captain Melville) – Australian bushranger
  • James Murphy – killed a police officer at Warrnambool Court House
  • Mark "Chopper" Read
  • Angus Murray  – an associate of gangster Squizzy Taylor who escaped in 1923 only to be executed for his role in a murder in Melbourne shortly after. He was in cell 74 and the hole in the floor that was caused when he dropped a brick upon leaving still remains.

Executions
Name Year of birth Date of Execution Comments
George Roberts16 December 1854Poisoned George Scott
John Gunn9 November 1854Murder
James Ross22 April 1856Murder
Owen McQueeny20 October 1858Murder of Elizabeth Lowe "Green Tent Murder"
James Murphy6 November 1863Murder of policeman at Warrnambool Court House
Thomas Menard28 October 1865Murdered Irishman named Sweeney

Media
gollark: Well, the obvious solution is to attain access to a GTech™ orbital monitoring satellite and look.
gollark: (Palaiologos secretly maintains macron-c)
gollark: You're both Macron developers, for instance.
gollark: I guess you can just clone yourself *normally*.
gollark: Admittedly, getting a human-genome-sized sequence made might slightly cost all money.

See also

References
  1. Ghost Research International
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