HM Prison Beechworth, now known as Beechworth Gaol, was a medium security Australian prison located in

Beechworth Beechworth is a town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s. At the , Beechworth had a population of 3,290. Beechworth's many historical buildings are well pr ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Construction of the current structure was begun in 1859 and completed in 1864 at a cost of £47,000. The prison closed in 2004 and the site has been purchased by private developers. A replacement facility, the Beechworth Correctional Centre, was opened in January 2005.

History

HM Prison Beechworth was built on the site of Beechworth's first stockade. It was designed by Victoria's Public Works Department and constructed using local granite that was quaried with prison labour. Beechworth was one of nine

panopticon The panopticon is a design of institutional building with an inbuilt system of control, originated by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be ...

prisons built in Victoria. Construction began in 1857 and the prison opened in 1860, though was incomplete and only had single cells for 36 prisoners. The capacity doubled when the building was completed in 1864. Beechworth initially housed male and female prisoners. Female prisoners were assigned washing and needlework for government departments. Between 1865 and 1881, eight executions were carried out at the prison.

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 185411 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader, bank robber and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing armour of the Kelly gang, a suit of bulletproof ...

served six months at the prison in 1870-71 for assault. He was again held there during his committal trial for murder in 1880. Kelly's mother, Ellen and two associates of the Kelly family also served sentences at the prison the late 1870s for the attempted murder of Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick. Twenty suspected sympathisers of Kelly were held in 1879 in an attempt to limit support to the Kelly gang. The prison's iron gates were installed due to fears there may be attempts to break the sympathisers out of the prison. Between 1918 and 1925 the prison closed due to a lack of prisoners. It reopened as a reformatory for male recidivists between 1925 and 1951. In 1951 it became a training prison, focusing on rehabilitation and education. Beechworth Prison closed 2004. Gates of HM Prison Beechworth 2022

Notable prisoners

Joe Byrne Joseph Byrne (21 November 1856 – 28 June 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw and member of the Kelly gang, referred to as leader Ned Kelly's second in command. Byrne was born in country Victoria with an Irish Catholic background. He ...

Steve Hart Stephen Hart (13 February 1859 – 28 June 1880) was an Australian bushranger, a member of the Kelly gang. Biography In 1877, Hart was convicted of horse theft and illegal use of a horse and sentenced to 12 months hard labour in HM Pris ...

Aaron Sherritt Aaron Sherritt (August 1854 – 26 June 1880) was an associate of the gang of outlaws led by Ned Kelly in Victoria, Australia. Personal life Aaron Sherritt was born in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran in August 1854, to Irish migrants John and ...

* Carl Williams

Executions

References

{{VictorianPrisons 1864 establishments in Australia 2004 disestablishments in Australia

Beechworth Museums in Victoria (state) Prison museums in Australia