Search
Old Melbourne Gaol & Polly Woodside
 |
|
Polly Woodside
Built in Belfast in 1885, the three-masted cargo vessel was built to carry coal and nitrate between England and South America, sailing around the Cape Horn 16 times.
The ship took around six months to build and was made from iron, which had become the favoured material for ship builders since the 1830s.
The Barque was built for the W.J. Woodside Co. owned by William Woodside a ‘dynamic entrepreneur’ and was named after his wife Marian (Polly).
Sailing ships had ruled the seas and the transition to steam meant faster and more reliable travel. When the trade in coal/nitrate diminished the Polly Woodside discharged cargoes wherever they could be found. The ship was sold in 1904 and renamed Rona, eventually converted into a coal hulk to refuel steam ships in the Port of Melbourne.
In 1968, after being laid up at South Wharf the ship was handed over to the National Trust for the cost of 1 cent, while plans were drawn up for its preservation.
Polly Woodside is located at 21 South Wharf Promenade
Old Melbourne Gaol
For almost 80 years, the Melbourne Gaol was a place of punishment and execution, where men, women and children were incarcerated for crimes ranging from murder to vagrancy.
The Gaol’s most infamous inmate, bushranger Ned Kelly, spent the last few months at the Gaol before going to the gallows.
Construction on the Melbourne Gaol began in 1841, and within six years of its official opening the new Gaol was already overcrowded. The discovery of gold in 1851 triggered a huge increase in population, making law and order difficult to enforce. These factors together with poverty and lack of social welfare meant a larger gaol was urgently needed and expansion began. Completed in 1858, it is this block that remains today.
The Gaol complex continued to expand and by 1864 it spread over two city blocks and included labour and exercise yards, male and female hospitals, a chapel, a bath house and accommodation for staff.
Together with the City Watch House, which closed its doors in 1994, and the former Magistrates Court, the legal precinct offers a unique insight into the history of Victoria’s justice system.
Old Melbourne Gaol is located at 377 Russell St, Melbourne |
