Berrima Gaol - then and now

The ‘Dharwal’ Aborigines once occupied the area we now know as Berrima. The name of the town coming from a word in their language meaning ‘to the south.’
Convicts in chains built the gaol out of local sandstone between 1834 and 1839; colonial architect Mortimer Lewis supervised the construction. In it’s early years Berrima Gaol was notorious as one of Australia’s worst. Conditions were harsh and the inmates spent the majority of their time in small cells in which the only source of light was through a small grate set in the door. Rolf Bordrewood (author of Robery Under Arms) was quoted as calling the gaol “the largest, most severe, the most dreaded of all the prisons in New South Wales.”
In 1842 bushranger Patrick (Paddy) Curran was the first man to be hung at Berrima, he and another bushranger, Jackey Jackey, burst into the home of Thomas And Mary Welsmore in Bungendore. Mr Welsmore was not at home Curran attempted to ‘ill treat’ the married woman. Jackey Jackey (who is known as the gentleman bushranger) defended Mrs Welsmore and then parted ways with Curran taking his horse. Curran was convicted of rape and murder and for this was sentenced to death.
Lucretia Dunkley was the only woman ever to be hung at Berrima. Together with servant and supposed lover Matin Beech she allegedly murdered her husband Henry Dunkley. Mr Dunkley was killed with an axe and buried at their farm in Gunning. Mrs Dunkley and Mr Beech died at the scaffold in 1843. The old courthouse has a mock-up of this trial, it is rumoured to be haunted by her ghost, along with others, if you believe such things.
The current gateway and walls were constructed from 1863 to 1868 the prison was also enlarged at this time. This renovation was to coinside with the standards described in the prison reform movement for a ‘model prison.’ However from 1866 it was intended that all prisoners spent one year in solitary confinement. These cells measured eight feet by five feet, some smaller. The ‘silent system’ was also introduced this dictated that an inmate was forbidden from speaking to anyone for the first nine months of their sentence.
A Royal Commission (Berrima Gaol Inquiry Commission) was held to investigate allegations of cruelty by prison authorities. The two practices mainly complained about were spreadeagling and the gag. The Royal Commission concluded, “ it must be admitted that the chaining of a man to the wall is a barbarous means of punishment; which should not be tolerated as a means of punishment, and there should be no necessity for resorting to it as a means of restraint.”
“We desire to see no further instance of the chaining of a prisoner to the wall of his cell and we beg to recommend that the ring bolts be removed.” The complaints were not actually up held.
In 1909 the goal was closed, the outbreak of fighting in Europe in (August) 1914 brought Australia into the Great War. Within a week of the declaration all German subjects in Australia were declared ‘enemy aliens’ and required to report to the government. In February 1915 the ‘enemy aliens’ were interned either by voluntary or enforced means. The Gaol was then reopened as Berrima (internment) Camp. The internees here lived in either stone gaol cells or additional barracks. They were permitted to move freely around the town within a two-mile radius of the gaol during the day.
The internees found Berrima to be a welcoming community and despite the anti-German diatribes being cast around by the mainstream media the residents of the town warmed to the internees who purchased bread and meat from local stores and rented houses for private use. The internees helped the locals rescue animals, fight bushfires and deal with unwanted snakes in the house. The Berrima Camp was closed in 1919 at the end of World War One. In World War Two the gaol was used to hold munitions.
In 1945 the internal buildings were demolished and after extensive alterations was reopened as the Berrima Training Centre, a low security prison. The inmates made woodwork items etc, which were sold in the Old Governor’s House.
In 2001 the gaol had it’s name changed again. It is now Berrima Correction Centre but this was not the only change to be made. After one hundred and sixty six years as a men’s prison Berrima became a woman’s prison, which can hold up to fifty-nine inmates. This change was due to the largest female prison in the state (Saltwater) being full. The inmates perform more than four hundred hours of work in the community a month. Approximately eighty six percent take educational courses such as literacy and numeracy or participate in various courses to do with life management, relapse prevention and health problems. Some of the inmates also do various arts and craft work which is sold in the Old Governor’s House on weekends and public holidays.
Berrima Gaol is Australia’s oldest operating prison it has been approx one hundred and seventy four years since the convicts began work on the gaol, and it’s colourful past is a reminder of how far we (as Australian’s) have come.


References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berrima_Correctional_Centre

http://www.berrimavillage.com.au/history_attractions.html

http://www.monaropioneers.com/wellsmoret.htm

http://scs.une.edu.au/Bushrangers/westwood.htm

http://www.warrenfahey.com/bushrangers.htm

http://www.smh.com.au/news/new-south-wales/berrima/2005/02/17/1108500192741.html

http://www.totaltravel.com.au/travel/nsw/southcoastnsw/shoahaven/attractions/heritage/berrima-gaol

http://upperlachlan.local-e.nsw.gov.au/about/1273/1399.html

http://www.heritageaustralia.com.au/search.php?state=NSW&region=103&view=2

http://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/07_subnav_01_2.cfm?itemid=2680108

http://research.forbessociety.org.au/index.php?option=com_jake&jrun=%2Fpeople%2Fview%2F1639
http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/662778