Site History - Old Melbourne Gaol

Site History - Old Melbourne Gaol. . The History of this Site, From 1843 1994, this precinct served as a key element in the administration and dispensing of Justice and Police operations in the central Melbourne area. It has also been partly used for Educational purposes from 1919., A Time Line of Justice and Police Activity and Educational Use on this Site, 1835 Earliest maps of Melbourne show this site as lightly wooded slopes overlooking the Yarra River., 1837 Gazetted a part of the site for a future Gaol., 1843 First Cell Block built on site now occupied by the former City Watch House. The ironstone was is the surviving section of the wall surrounding Melbourne's first permanent Gaol., 1853 Bluestone walls constructed between first and second cell block (now National Trust Old Melbourne Gaol Museum)., 1860 Two storey bluestone Gaol Hospital for men was built in the centre of this landscaped area (See separate plaque and site markers on lawn edge)., A "Dead House" or Morgue and a Jury Room also occupied parts of this site pre 1895., The northern section of lawn was once the Gaol Wardsmen's Yard. At the west end there is a paved area, once the Gaol Laundry which contained two brick coppers for washing gaol linen and prisoner's clothing., 1900 Ned Kelly was brought so the Gaol Hospital to recover from leg wounds received at his capture at Glenrowan, Victoria. Ned Kelly had to be 'fit to stand trail' in the Supreme Court, then situated nearby on the corner of Russell and La Trobe Streets., When being led from the first cell block to the gallows in the second cell block, Ned Kelly commented on the beautiful garden behind the Hospital. He was led through the small south doorway in the Gaol wall and then through the south door in the second cell block, immediately below the trapdoor and scaffold where he would be hanged., 1907-08 The First Cell Block was demolished and replaced by the City Watch House. Only the original 1845 ironstone wall and some footings of the original Gaol remain., 1918-24 Hanged prisoners were buried in the Hospital Compound. Their remains were later (1937) exhumed and reburied in a plot at Pentridge Gaol off Champ Street, Coburg., 1925 Gaol Hospital closed and Hospital Compound used to garage Victoria Police's new fleet of motor vehicles. Arch constructed in Russell Street gaol wall. Hospital used as offices of Police Transport Section., 1926 Police continued to use the second cell block as records store until about 1970., 1927 Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy opened new college on the site of the Gaol Superintendent's House and reused the entrance buildings and Chapel of the Old Melbourne Gaol., 1937 Hospital and east-west wall between Wardsmen's Yard and Hospital Compound were demolished and both areas were roofed over to create the Police vehicles garage, workshops, transport branch offices, drivers' and mechanics' separate mess and change rooms., 1942 Second Cell Block used to hold soldiers arrested while 'absent without leave' and foreign born residents considered a threat, while Australia was at war with their homelands., 1955 Windows inserted in east wall and northern gaol wall to improve amenity of Police offices in Police Garage. Vehicular exit created in 1925 section of gaol wall., 1997 Victorian Government sold the Police Garage, City Watch House and Magistrates Court to RMIT University., 1999-2002 RMIT University initiated an archaeological exploration of the Police Garage site, which revealed the existence of the footings of the Gaol Hospital and many other ground features, cess pits, the skeletons of six dogs and the remains of one hanged prisoner. His skeleton was exhumed and re-interred at Fawkner Memorial Cemetery., 2002-2003 The landscaping of RMIT's Alumni Courtyard was completed in December 2002 and the precinct was opened to the public for the first time on 31 March, 2003.