The Newcastle Gaol Museum is a prison museum on Clinton Street in Toodyay, Western Australia, founded in 1962. The museum records the history of the serial escapee Moondyne Joe[1] and his imprisonment in the "native cell".
Side of the complex with broken glass embedded into the top of the wall to discourage escape attempts
In the early days of settlement (1832) the military and the resident magistrate were stationed at York. Crimes at this time were mostly stealing of livestock.
In June 1840, Governor John Hutt created a special police force, known as the Native Police, to deal with native offenders, as distinct from the civil police, which dealt with "white" settlers. The new force was led by John Drummond, who had become friendly with the Noongar people and, with his Aboriginal troopers, made regular patrols around the district.
Samuel Pole Phillips was appointed as the local justice of the peace, to support the work of the resident magistrate. After the murder of Chidlow and Jones by a group of 40 Aboriginals, Govorner Hutt, in 1837, ordered a substantial barracks and stables to be built on the Toodyay townsite on lot R1. This was the first Government building for the town and was built by William Criddle in 1842.[2]
By 1854, Toodyay had a Mounted Police Force under Constable Gee, a Native Police Force under Constable James Betts, as well as the Pensioner Guards. A new lockup to serve as a gaol was built on the Toodyay townsite on lot R66 in Charles Street. It consisted of 12 cells, warder's quarters and an exercise yard with a high wall. The main offences among white settlers related to drunkenness, whether the offenders were "free" or "bonded".
In April 1851, the convict ship Pyrenees arrived,[3] which forced Governor Charles Fitzgerald to establish depots in country areas. For the Toodyay valley, Michael Clarkson became the Superintendent of the Toodyay Convict Hiring Depot. At first the convicts were housed at the Toodyay Barracks in the Toodyay townsite. The accompanying Pensioner Guards, ex military, who had been offered land as an incentive to come to the colony, acted as a special police force for emergencies. Those who came to the depot in Toodyay Valley were offered small land grants at the Toodyay townsite. These were worked out on a plan of the town but were later cancelled when the Pensioner Guards were moved to the new depot site, which was two miles further upstream. This is the present site of today's Toodyay, which was formerly called Newcastle.
Due to the economic recession the convict hiring depot was no longer needed. In 1860–61 it was decided to abandon the Toodyay townsite due to more floods in those years and the preceding ones, and to move to the centre of the depot site. The Mounted Police moved into the Commissariat Stables. The police sergeant, two constables and the lockup keeper were given cottages. One of the rooms was used for a courtroom.
The magistrate suggested a site for the new gaol between the Toodyay townsite and the depot. He made this suggestion on the grounds that drunks could be more easily transported from the local inns to the cells, as the Queens Head was the main inn at the time.
James Everett's inn was to suffer the same fate as the buildings in the Toodyay townsite, for a severe flood in 1862 put watermarks on the walls higher than ever before and cracked the walls. Durlacher insisted that the new gaol should have a courtroom. A small lockup at the depot was strengthened with fittings removed from the Toodyay townsite gaol/lockup. A record of this transaction exists, dated 1862.
Eventually the site chosen for the 1862 plan was lot 29 in Clinton Street, in the new town of Newcastle.
The plan for the Newcastle Gaol was Public Works Plan, PWD No 179. Timber from an old lockup from Bailup was used. Convict labour was used, although the work was supervised by a stonemason (ex convict) who was living in the area. He complained of having unskilled workers working with him and reported that the job was taking longer to do because of this.
Jewell's plan showed a timber lined security cell, which also has an iron bar for leg irons.
The existing gaol is much smaller than was originally planned. Durlacher did not get his courtroom. The proportions were planned on a square, with more living accommodation than exists at present. The gaol was eventually finished in 1864 and operational by 1865.[4]:216–218 The gaol continued as a state gaol until 1909.
In the 1930s, the building was used as a residence by the Dorizzi family. The sons slept in the cells. The boys joined the Australian army and in 1945, three of the brothers died at the hands of their enemy captors. One cell is now dedicated to them and to all local servicemen and women who did not return home.
After World War II for nearly 20 years the building slowly deteriorated until a restoration programme was undertaken in 1962, and the museum began.
Current use
Old Newcastle Gaol, inside before restoration commenced in 1962
In 1962, the gaol was restored as a museum by the Shire of Toodyay and the W.A. Tourist Bureau. Grants from the National Heritage Commission, matched by grants from the Shire of Toodyay have enabled the fabric of the building to be stabilized. The building is classified under the National Trust. The museum is now a recognised museum under the Museum Act, vested in the Shire of Toodyay. The Shire employs a professional museum curator who manages the gaol with the assistance of volunteers. The displays have constantly improved over the years and now include the Moondyne Joe Gallery and the "Native" Cell. The latter display contributed to a Heritage Council Award for Interpretation in 2013.
The main exhibition space features temporary displays, including from time to time a courtroom scene. Other areas feature artefacts relating to daily life in the settler era. At the rear is a display of early agricultural machinery while across the road is the restored 1891 Police Stable, the 1907 Police Lock-Up and a one-hundred-year-old shearing shed relocated from further afield. A number of horse-drawn appliances and carts can be viewed at this site.
In 1983 the museum received an award from the Museums Australia for Best Educational Programme.[5]
The stables opposite the gaol site were constructed in 1891 and remained in use until 1955. The present structure replaced a timber building erected on this site in 1860, which were destroyed by fire.[6] The present building is a single storey stone range with brick quoining and stone window dressings. It has a shallow pitched corrugated iron roof with gables. The façade facing the street is solid stonework with five small high level openings.[4]:224–225 Restoration of the building began in the 1970s and the stables are currently open as part of the Old Gaol Museum complex.[7]
Related Research Articles
Toodyay, known as Newcastle between 1860 and 1910, is a town on the Avon River in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 85 kilometres (53 mi) north-east of Perth on Ballardong Noongar land. The first European settlement occurred in the area in 1836. After flooding in the 1850s, the townsite was moved to its current location in the 1860s. It is connected by railway and road to Perth. During the 1860s, it was home to bushranger Moondyne Joe.
Joseph Bolitho Johns, better known as Moondyne Joe, was an English convict and Western Australia's best-known bushranger. Born into poor and relatively difficult circumstances, he became something of a petty criminal robber with a strong sense of self-determination. He is remembered as a person who had escaped multiple times from prison.
The Shire of Toodyay is a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, beyond the north-eastern limits of the Perth metropolitan area. The Shire covers an area of 1,694 square kilometres (654 sq mi), and its seat of government is the town of Toodyay.
The Pensioner Guards were English military personnel who served on convict transportation ships en route to the Swan River Colony between 1850 and 1868, and were given employment and grants of land on arrival. Their initial employment lasted for six months, or the duration of the voyage, whichever was the longer time. After this they became "pensioners" and had to serve 12 days per year as well as whenever called upon. They paraded annually in Perth at the Pensioner Barracks.
Kirk's (Pensioner) Cottage on Stirling Terrace in Toodyay, Western Australia was built between 1852 and 1856 by convict labour.
Hackett's (Pensioner) Cottage is located on Stirling Terrace in Toodyay, Western Australia and was built around 1855 by convict labour.
The Newcastle Police Stables on Clinton Street in Toodyay, Western Australia were constructed in 1891 and replaced the original timber stables erected on this site in 1860, which were destroyed by fire.
The town of Toodyay, Western Australia, was not always known by that name. Initially Toodyay was located in what is now West Toodyay before repeated flooding caused the town centre to migrate to the area around the Newcastle convict depot creating the town of Newcastle. After approximately 50 years of confusion the name of Newcastle was changed to Toodyay and the original Toodyay became known as West Toodyay.
West Toodyay was the original location of the town of Toodyay, Western Australia. It is situated in the Toodyay valley, 85 kilometres (53 mi) north east of Perth. The Toodyay valley, discovered by Ensign Robert Dale in 1831, was opened up for settlement in 1836. The original site for the town of Toodyay was determined in 1836 and its boundaries were finalized 1838. The first survey of the town was carried out in 1849. After several serious floods, the decision was made to move the town of Toodyay to higher ground. In 1860, the new town of Newcastle was established 3 miles (4.8 km) further upstream. Newcastle was renamed in 1910 to Toodyay, and the original site became known as West Toodyay.
Alfred Durlacher was the fifth resident magistrate to be appointed to Toodyay, Western Australia, serving between 1861 and 1865.
Owen Hackett (1809–1862) was one of a number of Enrolled Pensioner Guards (EPGs) that came to the Swan River Colony between 1850 and 1868. Their role was to guard and oversee the work of the prisoners transported to Western Australia.
Francis Kirk was one of a number of Enrolled Pensioner Guards (EPGs) who came to the Swan River Colony between 1850 and 1868, to guard and oversee the work of the prisoners transported to Western Australia.
John Acton Wroth (1830–1876) was a convict transportee to the Swan River Colony, and later a clerk and storekeeper in Toodyay, Western Australia. He kept a personal diary that recorded life on board the transport ship and his experiences at the country hiring depots of York and Toodyay. This diary is lodged in the archives of the State Library.
David Gailey (1807–1881) was one of a number of Enrolled Pensioner Guards (EPGs) who came to the Swan River Colony between 1850 and 1868. Their role was to guard and oversee the work of the prisoners transported to Western Australia.
The Toodyay Barracks and its stables, erected in 1842, were the first buildings constructed in the townsite of Toodyay, Western Australia. The Barracks were also the first government buildings within the Toodyay district. Situated on the left bank of the Avon River and a little upstream from the ford, the Barracks overlooked a long pool, which soon became known as the Barracks Pool. In the early 1840s, Toodyay Resident Magistrate John Scully had requested military protection as a means of controlling a problem with the local indigenous people. Governor John Hutt agreed at the time to temporarily station a mounted native policeman to keep order.
The Queen's Head was a hotel in West Toodyay in Western Australia in the latter half of the 19th century.
In 1851, the Toodyay Convict Hiring Depot was set up in the original township of Toodyay, now called West Toodyay. Temporary accommodation for the Enrolled Pensioner Guards was also constructed and surveys were carried out to enable more permanent accommodation to be built close by. The Enrolled Pensioner Guards were men who had either completed their duty of service or who had sustained injury while on active service. They had then volunteered as guards on the ships transporting convicts to Western Australia. Once the men were released from permanent duty, other duties of a peace keeping or military nature were expected of them. Many of these men became warders in charge of convicts.
Toodyay Gaol stood on lot R66, close to the first Convict Hiring Depot, in the original townsite of Toodyay, now known as West Toodyay, in Western Australia. Although generally referred to as a gaol, it was technically a lock-up, holding prisoners only until they were brought before the resident magistrate.
The Church of Sancta Maria was the first Catholic church built in the original townsite of Toodyay in Western Australia. It was consecrated in 1859, and served as church, priest's residence, and schoolhouse for the Toodyay Valley Catholic School. It later housed the Toodyay Valley government school.
Construction of the new Toodyay Convict Hiring Depot began in February 1852 and was completed by 1856. The depot was closed in 1872. The site chosen, Avon Location 110, was an area of Crown land measuring just over 45 acres (18 ha). It was situated approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) upstream from the site of the previous Toodyay Convict Hiring Depot (1851) located at the Toodyay townsite. The previous depot had only ever been a temporary arrangement born of necessity when accommodation was required at short notice. The new depot site was surveyed by Francis Thomas Gregory in 1852.
References
↑ Egger, Susie Ashworth, Rebecca Turner, Simone (2004). Western Australia (4th ed.). Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia: Lonely Planet. p.94. ISBN1740594592.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
