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.
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 prison was used as an
Australian Army detention
barracks during
World War II.
The gaol was officially closed in
1991 and is now operated by the
Rotary Club of Geelong as a community project. 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 first to be
executed by
hanging at the gaol. Of special interest is cell 47 which contains a mural painted on a wall by a prisoner, titled
Window of Freedom.
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
*
Frank McCallum (alias Captain Melville) - Australian
bushranger*
James Murphy - first prisoner to be hanged in HM Prison Geelong in
1863*
Mark Brandon Read - alias Chopper
*
Everynight ... Everynight, a 1994 Australian film, filmed at the prison.
*
Marngoneet Correctional Centre, 300 bed prison in
Lara, Victoria, opened in 2006.
*
Pirra Girls' Home
