Bathurst Correctional Centre, originally built as Bathurst Gaol in 1888, is a prison for men and women located in the city of Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, and operated by the Department of Communities and Justice. Bathurst holds inmates sentenced under State or Australian criminal law, along with a small number of remand prisoners.

The prison is made up of three sections: a medium-security and remand facility for male inmates, a minimum-security facility for male inmates, and a new maximum-security facility for male inmates, opened in 2020. A small number of female inmates are housed within a separate compound on the grounds of the medium-security area.

History

Correction facilities were first established in the Bathurst town centre in circa 1830, as the Bathurst Gaol, adjacent to the Bathurst Court House, also designed by Barnet. As sanitary conditions at the town watch house deteriorated, a new jail was built to Barnet's designs. The old jail was demolished in 1889.

The jail was proclaimed on 7 June 1888, and built at a cost of just over 102,000 pounds. The hand-carved sandstone gate at the new jail featured an ornate sculptured lion's head holding a key that is a Victorian symbol designed to impress wrongdoers with the immense power and dignity of the law. Legend has it that when the key falls from the lion's mouth, the prisoner are allowed to go free. The new building which contained 308 cells and "commodious workshops" was complete and partly occupied in 1888. This was one of a number of jails rebuilt or enlarged in this period, the purpose of which was to commence the program of 'restricted association' of prison inmates. The Governor of the Bathurst jail reported on restricted association as follows:

The jail generally accommodated prisoners where they "were deemed amenable to reformative influences" up until 1970 where the jail was reclassified as a maximum security prison. The hangings at the old or new jails included:

  • Monday 3 December 1866, an individual known as Spider, following a conviction for rape, and sentenced to death.
  • 27 May 1868, a double execution occurred for separate offenders who were escorted to the gallows before the executioner Bull.
  • Wednesday morning, 29 November 1893, Herbert Edward 'Bertie' Glasson, following a double–almost quadruple—murder at 2:30 am on 24 September 1893 at Carcoar of the City Bank manager, and a 24-year-old visitor, injuring the manager's wife and baby. Glasson was the first hanging in the new 1888 jail.

By December 1894, executioner Bull had been replaced by Howard and his assistant Goldrick, who undertook the second hanging in the new jail. The last executions were of Sydney Twelve members Frank Franz and Roland Nicholas Kennedy on Wednesday 20 December 1916 for the murder of a police constable. The death penalty for all offences in New South Wales was removed in 1985.

Riots

The Bathurst riots and Bathurst batterings were a series of violent disturbances and reprisals that occurred at the jail in October 1970 and February 1974. The second outbreak of violence led to the partial destruction and temporary closure of the prison, and ultimately to a Royal Commission into the State's prison system.

The 1980 film Stir is based on the 1974 riots at the prison.

Name change

Between 1992 and 1993, the name of Bathurst Gaol was changed to Bathurst Correctional Centre. Inmates can also do general ground, horticulture, cleaning and building maintenance work on and outside the complex.

CSI also operates the Girrawaa Creative Centre, which was established in 1998. It employs around 15 Indigenous inmates at a time. The program is aimed at developing inmates' artistic skills while creating Aboriginal artefacts for sale. Pieces such as boomerangs, paintings, coasters, clapsticks and didgeridoos are produced for sale to the public directly from the gallery, online, to government agencies, and to wholesalers.

Notable prisoners

  • Rodney Adler disgraced Australian businessman and former company director
  • Jim McNeil (James Thomas McNeil) – violent criminal who became better known as the 'prison playwright'
  • Bob Merritt, Aboriginal writer, who wrote the play The Cake Man in the prison
  • Michael Murdoch, convicted in the murder of Anita Cobby

References

Citations

Sources

; Attribution

  • Bathurst Correctional Centre webpage - part of the Corrective Services NSW