The Perth Gaol (often referred to as the Old Perth Gaol) was a

gaol A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cri ...

built in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, the state capital of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, between 1854 and 1856 to house convicts and other prisoners. It is located just west of

Beaufort Street Beaufort Street is a major road in the inner north-eastern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, connecting the Morley, Western Australia, Morley area to the Perth central business district. For most of its length, it is a single-carriageway, tw ...

. It operated until March 1888 when the last prisoner was transferred to

Fremantle Prison Fremantle Prison, sometimes referred to as Fremantle Gaol or Fremantle Jail, is a former Australian prison and World Heritage Site in Fremantle, Western Australia. The site includes the prison cellblocks, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, ...

. The main gaol building, minus the yards, stands today adjacent to the

Western Australian Museum The Western Australian Museum is a statutory body, statutory authority within the Culture and the Arts Portfolio, established under the ''Museum Act 1969''. The museum has six main sites. The state museum, WA Museum Boola Bardip, is located i ...

in Perth.

History

Prior to the construction of the Perth Gaol, the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just ''Swan River'', was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, an ...

had only the Round House in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

, the partially completed

(construction began in 1851 and completed in 1859) and a six-cell lock-up which had been built in about 1830 opposite

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and British Overseas Territories. The name is also used in some other countries. Government Houses in th ...

. With the growth of the city it was deemed that the latter was an inappropriate location for a gaol and it was demolished in 1855 (the site now occupied by The Deanery). A new site was selected by the Colonial Secretary, Charles Piesse and the Surveyor-General,

John Septimus Roe John Septimus Roe (8 May 1797 – 28 May 1878) was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, a member of Western Australia's legislative and executive councils for nearly 40 years, but also a participant in ...

and reserved on a rise on what is now near the intersection of Beaufort and Francis Streets. With the expanding population and with the importation of convicts in 1850 to provide a labour force for public works, there was a need for a facility to house inmates near the city. A proposal was submitted to Governor Charles Fitzgerald in December 1853 for such a facility comprising two floors with a basement. The project was approved but construction took longer than expected and substantial modifications to the original design were made while work progressed. The final building comprised a cruciform layout with cells, a chapel, gaolers' quarters and prisoners' yards. The design was by architect

Richard Roach Jewell Richard Roach Jewell (1810 in Barnstaple, Devon, England – 1891 in Perth, Western Australia) was an architect who designed many of the important public buildings in Perth during the latter half of the nineteenth century. He was employed to sup ...

, the city Chief of Works who had only recently arrived in the colony and who went on to also design a number of other public buildings in the city, including the

Barracks Arch The Barracks Arch is located on the corner of Malcolm and Elder Streets, at the western end of St Georges Terrace in Perth, Western Australia. The Barracks Designed by Richard Roach Jewell, the Barracks were originally built from 1863 to 1866 ...

and the

Perth Town Hall The Perth Town Hall, situated on the corner of Hay and Barrack streets in Perth, Western Australia, is the only town hall built by convicts in Australia. Upon completion it was the tallest structure in Perth. History Designed by Richard R ...

. The gaol was built using sub-contract labour with stone provided by convict labour. The stone was cut from

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

cliffs in Rocky Bay near

and floated up the Swan River on

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

s. The first stage cost £2220/15/10, equivalent to in . While construction was underway, the ''Enquirer'' newspaper appealed for provision of facilities for

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

s at the gaol. The first execution took place in 1855 in an execution yard on the south side of the site. After complaints, the sides of the gallows were enclosed to hide the executions from public gaze. The gallows remained until the gaol ceased operating in 1888. Colonial prisoners were mainly housed in the gaol from its opening, but in 1858, control transferred to the Imperial Convict Establishment which managed the convicts, and the colonial prisoners were transferred to

. Transportation of convicts ended in 1868 and in 1875 the gaol was handed back to the colonial government. In 1886 it was reported that the gaol was overcrowded with 128 prisoners and at times the inmate population had reached 150. Later that year the Convict Establishment was disbanded, leading to the imminent demise of the gaol. The last prisoner was transferred to Fremantle in about 1888 and it ceased being used as a gaol from that date. It was used briefly as the Perth courthouse before that returned to

Stirling Gardens Stirling Gardens is a small public park in Perth, Western Australia. Located on the corner of St Georges Terrace and Barrack Street, west of the Government House and north of the Supreme Court buildings, it contains a group of significant scul ...

, and for a few years it had occasional use by the police and other government departments.

Executions

Perth Museum

In 1891 the building was renamed to the Geological Museum and used to store Reverend Charles Nicolay's geological collection. In 1892 the building was renamed as the Perth Museum, storing the Swan River Mechanics' Institute museum collection as well as a collection of Aboriginal artifacts from the Police Department. At about the same time, the building was substantially modified with the roof lowered and the entire central cell block removed. A northern wing was built in 1895. Construction of the adjacent Jubilee Building commenced in 1897 and finished in 1899, which gave a new home to the museum, with the gaol continuing to be used until the present day as a museum annex for displays and storage. From 1968 until about 1976, major renovations of the gaol were undertaken including raising the roof to its original height and alignment. As few original plans were available, it was not attempted to return the building to its exact original configuration, however the exterior is now substantially restored. Fire doors were fitted with improved ground floor and first floor access for visitors. The building is now a part of the

Perth Cultural Centre The Perth Cultural Centre is an area of central Perth, Western Australia, near the James Street Mall. It is home to a number of cultural institutions including the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Western Australian Museum, State Library o ...

, which includes the

, the

Art Gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

, the

J S Battye Library The J S Battye Library (more properly known as the J. S. Battye Library of West Australian History) is an arm of the State Library of Western Australia. It stores much of the state's historical records and original publications including books, ...

and the

State Library of Western Australia The State Library of Western Australia is a research, education, reference and public lending library located in the Perth Cultural Centre in Perth, Western Australia. It is a portfolio agency of the Western Australia Department of Local Gover ...

History

Executions

Perth Museum

See also

References

Further reading