Old Melbourne Gaol Virtual Tour
Students can explore all three levels of the Polly Woodside, a fine example of a merchant fleet sailing vessel from the late 19th Century.
When the Old Melbourne Gaol was built in the mid-1800s, it dominated the Melbourne skyline as a symbol of authority. Inside the Gaol, dangerous criminals were held alongside petty offenders, the homeless and the mentally ill.
Between 1842 and its closure in 1929 the gaol was the scene of 133 hangings including Australia’s most infamous citizen, the bushranger Ned Kelly. Today you can visit the Old Melbourne Gaol to find out was life was like for the men and women who lived and died here all those years ago.
Find out more about its history here.
Age Warning: The Old Melbourne Gaol is an original 19th Century prison and is an unsuitable environment for lower and mid primary levels to explore.
Things to find while exploring the Old Melbourne Gaol
Enter Cell 11 on the ground floor
Can you see the Silence Mask on the left?
This was a mask worn by prisoners on the ground floor. The mask prevented other prisoners from identifying them. They had to wear the mask at all times outside their cell and not talk to other prisoners. Prisoners began their time in Gaol in the 19th Century in this way. Inside their cell they had a Bible and were expected to spend time in solitary confinement considering their deeds and need to improve their ways.
Do you think this would help prisoners become better citizens?
Why do we have Gaols? How does a Gaol have a role in preventing crime?
Visit Cell 29, Ground Floor – Earnest Knox – 18 years Old.
Read the story of Earnest Knox who was hung for murder of a pawnbroker in 1894. He was 18 years old.
- What is a pawnbroker? Why were pawnbrokers often at risk of burglary?
- What has changed in terms of sentencing since 1894 for a serious crime such as murder?
- What has changed in terms of sentencing for crimes committed by young people and children?
Visit Cell K1 & Ned Kelly’s Death Mask on the Ground Floor
Ned Kelly was hung at the Old Melbourne Gaol on 11 November 1880.
Find out about the Kelly story.
- What crime was he sentenced to death for?
- When did he become a bushranger?
- Were bushrangers common in Ned Kelly’s time?
Ned Kelly shot two police officers at Stringybark Creek in 1878 yet some people regard Ned Kelly as a hero while others regard him as a murderer and thief.
Why do you think Ned Kelly has become a famous figure in Australian history?
Visit Cell 13 Top level – Group Cell
This is a large cell. Prisoners began their stay in Gaol in silence in solitary confinement in the ground floor cells. They would go to a group cell with other prisoners after a few months if they were well behaved.
This cell would have been cramped with as many as 9 prisoners. A single bucket would have been used as a common toilet. The cell would have smelt terrible and been cold in winter and become very hot in summer.
Despite the awful conditions of a group cell solitary confinement was regarded as a severe punishment. Why?
Look into Cell 21, Ground Floor – The Death Mask
What do you see?
These are Death Masks. They are plaster casts of the heads of prisoners who were executed at the Gaol in the 19th Doctors and scientists made the casts of prisoners because they believed in the science of phrenology.
Phrenology was the study of bumps and shapes on the human skull which were thought to indicate personality and behavioral disorders. This so called science was shown to be completely false in the late 19th Century.
What other things do you notice about the 19th Century Gaol system and punishment system that we no longer believe are true or acceptable?
What things do you think are the same?
Visit Cell 31 Ground Floor – Why is it different?
- What are the walls made from in this cell?
- Why do you think they are different from the stone walls?
- What evidence does this provide regarding the mental state of some of the prisoners who may have been locked up here?
Visit Cell 32 Middle Level – Governor Castieau’s Story
Read about Governor Castieau.
He raised his family in a fine residence inside the Gaol’s walls.
- What do you think a childhood growing up in the Gaol would have been like if you were one of his children?
- How would you feel about the Gaol if it were your family home?
Some accounts of prisoners
What do these accounts tell us about the sorts of prisoners sentenced to spend time in gaol in the 19th Century?
What do these accounts tell us about the role of the gaol in managing welfare?
VAGRANCY—Emma Loyd, alias Loveridge, was charged with being an idle, drunken and disorderly person. The amiable Emma, in a state of dishabille not altogether elegant, claimed the protection of the Bench, professing to have been perfectly regular in her habits, even to the extent of having paid a fine of five shillings regularly for some weeks past. Appearances not being in her favor, she was sentenced to a two months’ residence in the House of Correction.
– The Argus, 13 January 1851
Jane Monteith, a hideous looking old woman, was charged with threatening the life of Mrs. Madden. The latter said in the box that on Saturday the 14th the prisoner who resides in the same house as witness, began flourishing an axe in the back yard, and came into Mrs. Madden’s room and threw the fire out of the grate on the floor. Witness then sent for Constable Doyle and gave the prisoner in charge. The Bench were addressed by the prisoner in a rambling manner and Inspector Brown, who was present in court, said he thought she was mad and accordingly the Bench remanded her to gaol for medical treatment.
– North Melbourne Advertiser, 20 May 1887
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