‘When completed, the building will be a handsome ornament to the town as well as a secure asylum for those who are unfortunate enough to deserve its doors being closed upon them.’ (Reporter from The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 1881.) Built between 1880 and 1881, Narrabri Gaol was constructed by a local […]
This simple tray made in the 1980s has the innocent look of a home craft project. But it was made by a prisoner at Maitland Gaol (in operation 1848-1998) where Australia’s most notorious and hardened criminals were locked away. Despite their crimes, many Maitland prisoners put their time inside to good use. To keep prisoners […]
In 1936, Morisset Psychiatric Hospital opened a new ward for the Criminally Insane, commonly referred to as the ‘Crim’ by staff. Patients of this maximum-security ward were men with mental illnesses which contributed to their offence or prevented their integration into the regular prison environment. By the 1970s, the most common diagnosis of patients was […]
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