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Old Melbourne Gaol
by Dianne Gardiner

In the past five years as Public Programs Manager at the Old Melbourne Gaol, I have been conducting research and exhibitions into the unsavoury history of the Gaol. Many people are fascinated by crime, murder and death - however, delving into the more explicit details of a crime can be quite confronting for a museum visitor. How to interpret these awful crimes to an incredibly diverse audience is most challenging.

At the Gaol there is no purpose-built area specifically for exhibitions. The size of individual cells and the historic nature of the building itself, simply limits what can be effectively presented - particularly when only 4 or 5 people can fit comfortably into a single cell. Consequently, the Old Melbourne Gaol uses mainly text-based exhibitions, some sound scapes and presently one video in a large cell on the third floor. The Gaol has a website and is linked to Australian Museums On Line (AMOL). There is also a specific website exploring the permanent exhibition on 'Women and Families in Prison'.

Guided tours are available daily for visitors, and all school groups are escorted by a trained teacher / museum guide. Translations of our visitor information regarding the Gaol are available in seven languages. The three-storey section of the Old Melbourne Gaol which remains and is now open to the public, was built in 1852. 136 hangings have taken place on the Gaol site, between 1842 and 1924. Most of the artefacts which remain, such as the 36 'Death Masks' of hanged men and women, relate to these hangings. There are a variety of records; newspaper articles and books available on those hanged.

I propose to discuss the approach taken to stories of the hangings and also to the exhibition on World War II, and the military prisoners detained at the Gaol. Finally, to look at the question of displaying the skulls of those hanged with particular reference to Ned Kelly.

The selection process for the panels about the people hanged always focussed on whether there was a 'Death Mask' available. Then, was it an interesting or provocative story, was there a photograph or sketch available of the person or other graphics associated with the story, what was the actual crime they had committed and finally was there an interesting cross-section and representation of people hanged over the eighty years? Twelve prisoners' stories were chosen, including 'Bob & Jack' (two Aborigines and the first people hanged on the site). Three panels feature the stories of the women who were hanged. People could be hanged for murder, shooting, burglary, arson, and rape.

Rape has always presented the greatest difficulty in interpretation. Especially the rape of a small child. To date this has not been dealt with in any interpretative panels. A large number of visitors to the Gaol are family groups with young children. There are also just on 20,000 school children visiting, mainly primary-age. It has been deemed an inappropriate subject to interpret. Parents and teachers probably would need some form of forward warning that they could encounter a difficult topic in the next cell. There are so many other stories to tell that the rape story would have to be exceptional in order to be dealt with. Such an exception has arisen. The story of Colin Ross, hanged in 1922 for the brutal murder and rape of a young schoolgirl in Gun Alley in the city. It was the first time in Australia that forensic evidence (the analysis of hair samples) was used to convict a person. Re-examination of the case and hair samples would indicate that Ross was innocent. Now there are artefacts, new forensic evidence, plus a link to the paintings of Charles Blackman and his 'Schoolgirls' series to mount a fascinating exhibition that would not focus on the crime but on all the furore surrounding the case both then and now.

In 1996, the Sheriff of Victoria loaned to the Gaol 'The Particulars of Execution' book and hangman's box with ropes etc. The book graphically details the hanging procedures and autopsies of everyone hanged from 1894 until Ronald Ryan in 1967. The contents of this book includes detailed descriptions of the physical reaction of the body to a hanging, whether the person was almost decapitated, strangled etc. Vivid and revealing autopsy reports are also recorded. Mostly this book remains closed with only transcripts of non-confronting hangings displayed. It is a truly horrible book to read, especially given that it is dealing with real people and the last moments of a human life. These artefacts became 'The Art of Hanging' exhibition. Media interviews and reviews of the exhibition suggested that the display of the book and hanging apparatus could be regarded as morbid and tasteless. My argument was that you cannot and should not deny your past nor do you have the right to sanitise the past. The Gaol is a morbid building. It does evoke a variety of responses in visitors. The fact of actually visiting a real 19th Century Gaol with real objects and artefacts such as 'The Particulars of Execution' book and nooses is very powerful when located in the place they are so closely related to and associated with.

1996 was the year of the tragic Port Arthur killings and there was talk of the reintroduction of Capital Punishment. It was stated that if there had been a referendum on Capital Punishment it would have passed. There are very few exhibitions on Capital Punishment. 'The Art of Hanging' looks at hangings from the point of view of the Sheriff, the prison Governors, the prison Clergy and the State. Historic research showed the process of hangings had a considerable effect on all those associated with it. In the exhibition, the effect on Governor Castieau in the 1870s (who witnessed seventeen hangings) is well documented in his diaries. The attitude of the Chaplains is also recorded. Hangings do not happen in isolation. Many government officials, gaol personnel and private individuals are involved in the process and are witnesses to an execution.

A school kit was produced for secondary schools, targeted at year 11 and 12 civics students. It discusses sanctions and capital punishment in relation to the criminals and those persons hanged at the Gaol. Guides are trained to be sensitive to the year levels and the requirements of schools. There is a diorama on the scaffold of Ned Kelly's hanging. Most visitors and school children know something of the Kelly hanging and his story is woven into the story of other hangings as well as describing the process required to hang a person.

Whenever a new and difficult topic is to be interpreted then the pros and cons are discussed with a wide cross section of people, including visitors. Their responses and reactions are noted and evaluated. After assessing these responses a decision is made as to whether it is too graphic, brutal or sordid a subject to interpret. The style of language used can most certainly modify the impact of the horror of a crime. The permanent interpretation at the Gaol has tried not to oversensationalise the stories. However the crimes and stories of the murderers are related in reasonable detail. Pictures and contemporary illustrations of the crimes are used when possible. It has been noted too that the impact of a story can be lessened by time.

Theatre is also used at the Gaol to interpret issues related to Capital Punishment. During the Night Performance an actor in the guise of the Warder Thomas Griffin takes a group of 30 people through the Gaol by candlelight. The story of the building of the Gaol during the Goldrushes and the philosophy of the model prison is explained. The final denouement takes place on the scaffold and Kelly's hanging is described. Also described is the hanging of the baby farmer Frances Knorr - her hangman committed suicide rather than hang a woman. Theatre can be an entertaining, different and dramatic way of interpreting an historic site. The Night Performance has been an outstanding interpretation tool. The aim was to reach an audience that would not normally visit a museum / historic site. They are lured in by the "Let's do something different" attitude. Over 5 years the Night Performance has gained an international reputation and over 25,000 people have seen the performance and discovered the unsavoury history of the Gaol through theatre .

The exhibition "Love, Leave and Larrikins" covers the period 1942-1945, during World War 2, when the Gaol was used as a military detention centre by the Army, Navy and Air Force for personnel who went absent without leave, drunk and disorderly, fighting Americans and other offences. Also Captain Detmers, the Captain of the German ship the Kormoran that sank HMAS Sydney was held at the Gaol for one month as punishment for escaping from his POW camp.

No documentation has been found relating to this period of use of the Gaol. A few elderly male visitors occasionally passed through the Gaol and mentioned they had been there during the war. We organised for one old man to tell his story to the Herald Sun newspaper. The article was to publicize the Gaol and to try to contact ex-military detainees who had been held at the Gaol during the war. There was a huge response as a result. I was able to speak to over 100 men and record a brief outline of their stories. From this emerged a picture of life in the Gaol under military authority. It had been a frightening experience for most of the men to find themselves locked up in a real prison, in a real cell. Usually they were put in temporary holding depots. For most of the men it was the first time in 50 years that they had spoken of their experiences to anyone. Such was their shame at being in a gaol and the associated social stigma.

Although a few found it an amusing experience, the interviews revealed an extremely brutal side to the experiences of many. The guards or military police (MPs) were on the whole hated and loathed. It was obvious that the stories of the cruelty meted out were true and not exaggerated, as similar stories were told again and again. In order to gain a balance and hear the other side, extensive attempts were made to contact former MPs. Only one man came forward. Luckily he had a great personality and could see the good and bad on both sides. The cruelty is not featured in the stories, rather the reason the men were AWL and arrested and their reactions to this forms the focus.

Two women who had worked in the office supplied a photo of administrative staff and some information. With these leads a military researcher was able to research the Absent Without Leave - AWL - issues and also verified the story of Captain Detmers and other POW prisoners held at the site. It emerged that Australia had the highest AWL rate of any Commonwealth country. 8-9000 men were missing at any one time - the equivalent of a battalion. Telling this side of war was not easy. The army in the 1940s was very concerned by this problem. They were trying to deter soldiers from the practice, and this in part explains the treatment of the men in the Gaol.

During pre-exhibition evaluation it emerged that older people were fascinated by this underside of the war experience. A ten-minute video was produced with five old soldiers describing their experiences and feelings about being in the Gaol. The video cell has been an outstandingly successful method of interpreting this difficult topic. Visitors learn from real people about Gaol routine, food, punishments and the guards. The men range from first offenders to a chronic AWL offender who describes his escape from the prison. Young backpackers through to older visitors enjoy these stories. In the same room is a large panel with photos of ten soldiers and a succinct description of their offence and gaol experiences.

The Army personnel at headquarters in Melbourne and the Army public relations team were extremely helpful and supportive. Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Hodgkinson launched the exhibition. Great sensitivity and care was needed throughout the exhibition process and even long afterwards. The video participants and others remain in contact and still call with their families and friends to visit 'their' cell. A number of the men with whom I was in contact have since died. It was very moving to have the family send onto me their stories or ring and ask me to send copies of their fathers' stories to them. It was often the first and only time the men had spoken to their wives and children about the war.

The final topic for consideration is the display of human skulls at the Gaol. When the Gaol was opened in 1970 four skulls were placed on display. One of the skulls was that of the bushranger Ned Kelly. His skull was subsequently stolen. The three remaining skulls were displayed in 1995 as part of a new exhibition on Phrenology. Descendants of the two women whose skulls are on display were delighted with the exhibition. No direct descendants remain of the third person whose skull is displayed as he murdered various wives and children. It was common practice at the Melbourne Gaol after a person was executed to decapitate them and make a plaster death mask. Often their brain was extracted and closely examined. The skulls of women and particularly gruesome murderers were also kept for examination. The vertebrae was either sketched or photographed from the late 1890s on in order to show a clean break had occurred. The photos and sketches are reproduced on display panels explaining the hanging process. Bodies were buried in the Gaol grounds. The Victorian government changed the law in 1853, after George Melville's wife exhibited her husband's body in her oyster shop window accompanied by a torrent of abuse against the conniving police force.

Bodies had to be interred inside the Gaol grounds. However in 1932, after the Gaol had closed, the burial area was built over and a furore broke out when the bodies were accidentally dug up. They were then moved to Pentridge Prison and re-buried. In Victoria, since the theft of the Kelly skull, there has been considerable speculation, controversy and discussion over the skull and burials. The records of the exact location and identity of the people buried both at the Gaol and at Pentridge has been lost, further adding to the controversy. Recently the man who stole the Kelly skull has come forward and said he has it buried in a box on his property in the north of Western Australia. He will not return it unless it is re-buried and given a Christian service. This would create an interesting precedent in Victoria if descendants of the other people executed requested the government to re-bury them and pay for it.

In 1998, a very vocal pressure group, the Australian Anarchists Association, mounted a campaign to have the skulls removed from public display because they thought the display of skulls was improper and offensive. Eventually they were taken off display. The National Trust was told it could make identical copies and display these instead. This was not done as the quotes for making reproductions were extremely costly.

Old Melbourne Gaol takes into consideration ICOM's (International Council of Museums) and Museums Australia's Code of Ethics in its displays. There are a number of precedents for the display of human remains in museums, churches and other locations is practiced around the world. Popes, nuns and priests bones are displayed in cathedrals, churches and catacombs throughout Europe. Mummies are displayed worldwide. Recently the Museum of London exhibited a collection of complete skeletons unearthed in archaeological digs in London. Museums in England and Europe display the amazingly preserved bodies of bog men and women. Some have been murdered or ritually killed. Japan has exhibited, framed, the tattooed skin of dead Japanese Mafia members. Skulls and body parts are displayed in many natural history and anatomy museums. The new Melbourne Museum plans to display body parts in its "Human Mind and Body" exhibition.

The display of human remains must be treated with appropriate respect. In Victoria the State Coroner's Office has final say over all matters to do with human remains. It is now necessary to clear the use of human remains in an exhibition with the Coroner's office. They may also need regular checks by the Department of Health. At all times it is necessary to consider who the audience is and the impact such displays may or may not have. Strategies should be devised to inform potential visitors about what they might expect to encounter within a display. The audience should be given the opportunity to self-select. Warnings could be placed before an exhibition especially if it is felt it could be distressful for children. One person should not conduct ethical considerations. Discussion is critical. The results of these deliberations should be documented and the rationale for any decision reached. Exhibition ethics should be an integral part of the exhibition process.

Over the ten years that the skulls were displayed at the Gaol approximately one million visitors saw them. Fewer than ten people per year complained. The skulls were displayed together with a collection of death masks as part of an explanation of the practice of phrenology. Guides described to visitors how, after a hanging, the brain was examined and weighed for signs of abnormality. Any so-called abnormalities would in turn have indicated a predisposition to criminality, so 19th century doctors and phrenologists believed.

In conclusion, I would like to briefly discuss the "Women & Families in Prison" exhibition. This deals with women murderers, infanticide, manslaughter, insanity, abortionists and 'wayward women'. Many of the exhibition panels were given to descendants of the women being discussed to proof read. The relatives were given the opportunity to comment on the panel and make changes. Often detailed discussions were held with the women's relatives. These discussions were extremely useful in gaining an insight into the family and the life that surrounded the woman and what may or may not have caused her to commit a crime. The idea behind the women's exhibition was to right the imbalance in the previous interpretation that is devoted mainly to men. One wing of the Gaol was for women (demolished in the 1920s) and their stories needed to be told. Also it was hoped to give a glimpse into ordinary crimes as well as the daily life of a prison. Tracing the development and changes in incarceration from the eighteenth century to the emergence of the new, modern practices is a fascinating story. Prison life often reflects what is happening in the larger society. When there are economic depressions and times of stress in a society, prison populations often swell and treatment can become harsh. There is a place for this history to be told. Gaols certainly epitomise the concept of an Unsavoury History.

Diane Gardiner
Old Melbourne Gaol, July 2000

Date published: August 2000