Back in jail

The Old Melbourne Gaol was the first extensive gaol complex in Victoria. The first Melbourne Gaol was built in Collins Street West in 1839-40, but was far too small. A second gaol was built in 1841-4, adjoining the then Supreme Court at the corner of Russell and La Trobe Streets, but this was entirely demolished early in the twentieth century when the Magistrate's Court complex was built.

What was officially a new wing, but really stage one of the third gaol, was built in 1852-4. It was of bluestone rather than sandstone, and had its own perimeter wall. This new design was based upon the Pentonville Model Prison and on the then current prison reform theories of the day. In spite of the amount of building and extension work performed on the Gaol, the complex was consistently overcrowded. It was extended in two stages in 1857-9, and the boundary wall was also extended in 1858-9.

The present north wing, comprising the entrance buildings, central hall and chapel was begun in 1860. In 1862-4 a western cell block, virtually a replica of the present east block, was built to house female prisoners, and the perimeter wall was finally completed in 1864. The west wing extended into what is now the RMIT site, and has since been demolished.

In a review of the penal system in 1870 it was recommended that the gaol be closed and the prisoners be moved to a more 'suitable' location. Between 1880 and 1924 the gaol was slowly rundown and portions of the original site demolished. The gaol was finally closed in 1929. It reopened briefly during the Second World War as a military prison for soldiers who were Absent Without Leave. Later it was a storage depot for the Victorian Police force.

Between 1842 and its closure in 1929 the gaol was the scene of 135 hangings including Australia's most infamous citizen, the bushranger Ned Kelly. Now a National Trust museum, its displays include death masks and histories of famous bushrangers and convicts.

Bushranger Melville's death mask






H.M. Pentridge was built in 1850 and officially closed in 1997and sold in 1999. Originally a stockade consisting of log huts, prisoners worked, slept and were fed in chains. Female prisoners were also at Pentridge until 1956 when Fairlea Female Prison was opened.


With the closure of the Melbourne Gaol in 1926 all executions in Victoria had been carried out in Pentridge. The last man hanged there was Ronald Ryan in 1967. Both Ronald Ryan and Ned Kelly were buried within the prison grounds. Its nickname in the prison environment was “The Bluestone College”. Now the prison is partly demolished and part of the site now new housing development. The façade though still remains.


The prison is off limits but some adventurous souls managed to break in, see their photos at http://www.forbidden-places.net/urban-exploration-h-m-melbourne-s-pentridge-prison