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 building now functions as a museum for the history of the prison.

HM Prison Geelong
From Myers Street in 2007
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. In 2021, buildings constructed in the 1970s were removed to restore the site to a more historic look.

Timeline
  • 1853–1865: Gaol for convicts and prisoners
  • 1865–1872: Industrial school for girls (typically those convicted of vagrancy)
  • 1877–1940: Hospital gaol
  • 1940–1947: Army detention barracks during World War II
  • 1947–1958: Hospital gaol
  • 1958–1991: Training prison
  • 2011–current: Guided tours.

Notable prisoners
  • Frank McCallum (alias Captain Melville) – Australian bushranger
  • 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 Date of Execution Crime
George Roberts16 December 1854Poisoned George Scott
John Gunn9 November 1854Murder
James Ross22 April 1856Murder
Owen McQueeny20 October 1858Murder of Elizabeth Lowe, aka the "Green Tent Murder"
James Murphy6 November 1863Murder of a policeman at Warrnambool Court House
Thomas Menard28 October 1865Murder of an Irishman named Sweeney

In media

The 1994 film Everynight ... Everynight was shot at the prison. In 2015, the prison also served as a location for Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race.

See also

References
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