Winkel's behind bars

 Saturday afternoon found me very restless. Kyle and I attended an early morning program and breakfast with Analee and her Young Women's group at the Shrine of Remembrance. After that, Analee spent the rest of the day with a friend and we didn't see her until that evening. Kyle had some work to get done which left me to entertain the boys, something I wasn't very happy about since I feel like that is my role during the week. So I refused to stay at home. I decided I wanted to go see the Old Melbourne Gaol and if the boys didn't want to go with me, then I was going to go by myself. Once I read the description off the gaol's website to the boys, Kyle decided he wanted to go as well. He could finish his work later that evening. So we hopped on the tram. The top picture is a shot of the back of the gaol and the courtyard that was the view for the prisoners on that side of the gaol. What a dismal looking building.

 This is the entrance to the gaol. It used to be the guardhouse.

 This is a shot from the top floor of cells. There were three levels and some of the private offices were on the top level. Each office was about the size of four individual cells.

 If Kyle were a prisoner, he would have to watch his head and turn sideways to enter the cell. Jacob is sitting on the floor behind him pretending to be a downcast prisoner.

 This is the inside of a cell. It is a bit longer than shown in the picture.

 Jacob is looking through the food service door in a cell. The boys had a good time going in and out of cells trying to imagine what it must have been like.

 Sam on the stool with a goofy face and Jacob pretending to be a sleeping prisoner.

 Not every prisoner was sentenced to death, but those that were had a death mask made after their hanging. Both men and women were hanged, some for crimes they insisted they did not commit, and other for crimes very horrible. One woman was hanged for killing her husband and two small daughters. She had met another man, and tried to kill his brother by giving him rat poison in his drink, and almost succeeded in killing her fiance when she was discovered and imprisoned.

 The infamous Ned Kelly was imprisoned and hanged in this gaol. He is still spoken about with admiration and awe even though he became a murder. The armor he wore in his last stand before being captured is on display in the State Library. Jacob and Sam tried on a replica of the armor. Jacob said it was hard to hear with the helmet on, and everything echoed when he spoke.

 There was a production of the life and arrest of Ned Kelly. Kyle got us seats right up front and when the actors needed three volunteers from the audience to be the constable, Dan Kelly, and Katie Kelly, Jacob was chosen to be Dan Kelly. It was a great performance. No photography was allowed during the performance so I wasn't able to get a picture of Jacob portraying Dan Kelly.

 These are the two actors that played Ned Kelly and his mother. They also switched to different roles once or twice. Kyle is wearing the helmet of Ned Kelly.

 This is the actual beam that Ned Kelly, among many others, was hanged from. It was moved to the gaol to be on display when it closed down. The last hanging from this beam was in 1965. Australia does not have the death penalty anymore.

 Our tickets to the gaol also gave us entrance to the watch house. It was in operation for a long time after the gaol closed, and it was where all prisoners were held while waiting to see the magistrate, who decided how long your sentence would be. Quite a few other people were lined up outside when the female officer opened the door and immediately went into the role of police officer. She made us line up and march into the watch house.

 When we got inside she separated the men from the women, and since Analee was not with us I was by myself across from my boys. The officer told us that when she asked us a question we were to respond with a  loud, "Yes, sargent" or "No, sargent." Kyle didn't hear her correctly, and when the officer asked a question and he responded with a loud, "Yes, sir!" she came and stood right in front of him and said, "Do I look like a "sir"? It was very funny and everyone laughed.

 We were then put into different rooms for a night experience, the men in one room and the women in another. There were 20 women so we were split up. This picture of four women were only a small part of the group in my night cell. There were seven more of us. There was one unflushable toilet, and the lights were turned off for a few minutes to give us an idea of what it was like.

 Then we were shown into the exercise yard. Benches in the middle and hardly any room to really move around. The prisoners were held there between the hours of 7:30 and 4:00. Complete and utter boredom. The cage that Kyle is standing in front of is where those prisoners who were in danger of being harmed by the other prisoners were kept for their safety.

 A shot of the exercise yard. This was the men's yard, and it was covered from the sun. The women's yard was open to the sun, but the women's cells were directly connected to the yard and they could go back and forth as they wanted. The women's yard also had a shower facility but after looking at it, I don't know that I would be willing to use it. The officer told us that the worst fights between prisoners took place in the women's yard. For anyone who has seen a "girl fight" you know that can easily be the truth.

 This is a night holding cell. Not much room at all. Definitely meant to be unpleasant.

 Then of course was the padded room. It was smelly.

 We took the opportunity to have mug shots taken. The light in the room was very poor and there were other people waiting to take their own mug shots so our pictures did not turn out well.

 However, our family was able to take a photo behind bars and I love this one. I look funny because I was saying something when the camera went off. The boys all look great. The Melbourne Gaol was a great spot to visit. The story of Ned Kelly makes me want to read more about him, and it is too bad that the movie is not one to recommend.