Locked Up With History

In December 1873, 25-year-old Elizabeth Woolcock walked to the portable gallows in the laneway of the Adelaide Gaol wearing a simple white frock and carrying a posy of flowers. She was to be judicially executed for the supposed murder of her husband Thomas Woolcock in the mining area of Moonta, South Australia. But was she actually guilty? Elizabeth's life was one of lifelong trauma, her life touc...

Cecilia Curtain is one our prisoners at Geelong Gaol, being incarcerated there in 1893 as part of one of her many sentences. She has always fascinated me with her eye patch over her right eye, wondering what had happened to her to cause such an injury. I will tell you what I think during the podcast. Cecilia's story relates to a couple of other crimes that made headlines at the time of their occur...

At the height of the Victorian Gold Rush, a bold plan was made by a group of bushrangers to hold up the Private Gold Escort carrying its bounty to the Melbourne Treasury from the McIvor goldfields in 1853. The robbery and subsequent trial ended in the sentence of death for three men and caused another man to suicide. One man ended up in the window of his wife's shop! The body of bushranger Geo...

Angus Murray was the last man to be executed on the gallows of Old Melbourne Goal in 1924. His life began in Adelaide and would see him incarcerated in 4 states - South Australia, Western Australia NSW and Victoria. He became a master thief, a conman and a bigamist.   Murray's last job after his audacious escape from the Geelong Gaol would see him at the end of a noose for the murder of bank...

Christmas is supposed to be the season of giving and family and presents. But it is not everyone's favourite time of year. A quick look through the newspapers of the day revealed no less than 16 murders and 2 attempted murders here in Victoria, Australia.  And I am sure there are many more interstate and overseas. This episode is a brief overview of some of those stories. Locked up with Histo...

The Hassett family have their origins in Birdhill, Ireland and is just one of the families with links to the Geelong Gaol.  Over a period of 40 years, at least 4 members of the family have been prisoners of the Geelong Gaol. It was initially thought this story was of one prisoner who took his own life. But further research showed a family story that linked back to the Geelong Gaol over consec...

In 1889, two wily old convicts named Frederick Clarke and Christopher Farrell made the most infamous escape in Geelong Gaol history.  Overpowering a warder in the middle of the night they used a skeleton key to make good their escape over the wall. Join Deb from the Geelong Gaol Museum and Twisted History to hear the full story of this great escape! Locked up with History - https://www.locked...

In this episode we head back to earlier and perhaps simpler times to 1854 and Little Bourke street in Melbourne.  Luke and Mary Lucas had immigrated to Australia in 1849 with hopes of a better life.   But by November 1854, both Mary and Luke would be dead leaving three children as orphans. What happened to cause Luke to take up an iron bar against his wife resulting in Mary's murder and...

What drove a man to murder his neighbours wife and his very own son and leave his wife in a pool of blood clinging to life. James Ross would be executed for his crimes at the Geelong Gaol, becoming the first regional execution following the passing of the Private Executions Bill, taking executions from the public streets to behind the Gaol walls. Join Deb from the Geelong Gaol Museum and Twisted H...

The story of Edward Fuller and his sister in law Ellen is one of jealousy, infedility and murder.   The events of May 1869 in a small house in Noble Street, Chilwell led to the death of one man and set in play a series of events that led to the entire Fuller family ending up behind the walls of the Geelong Gaol, some as prisoners and some as inmates of the Myers Street Industrial School. What...

In this episode we have a look into the life and crimes of one of the more cheekier escapes from the Geelong Gaol.   John McHenry or James Clark as he was originally known grew up in the streets of Shoreditch in London.  Before coming to Australia he would see the inside of some of the most notorios prisons in England. McHenry was transported to WA before eventually making his way to Vic...

In October 1863, Elijah Dixon alias Charles Alfred Dives took an axe and murdered his wife and two small daughters just outside Ballarat.  The couple's two sons were left alive. What made a husband and father take this course of action - what is jealousy over his belief his wife was being intimate with other men or was it a case of insanity. Within two years of the murder only one member of t...

On August 21st, 1918 in a tenement in a low class area of Carlton, the body of Roma Smith was found brutally murdered with her throat cut so severly it broke one of her vertebrae. To this day, the perpertrator of this murder has not been found.  Who was it that left this young woman dead in her own bed. After listening to this episode on your favourite platform, join us over on the website of...

In this episode, we look at the first and only public execution in Geelong.  Before the passing of the Act for the Execution of Criminals which took executions behind the Gaol walls, the judicial death of criminals were a public event seen to be a deterrent to those following a similar path. John Gunn and George Roberts were led to their deaths at Gallows Flat on the morning of the 9th Novemb...

In 1853, Trooper John Goldman shot his superior Corporal William Harvey in his tent at Buningyong following an altercation with a local shopkeeper over some boxes.  Harvey died 24 hours later and Goldman disappeared for 9 months before being arrested. Goldman was convicted of wilful murder and was sentenced to death.  It was to be the first public execution in the town of Geelong. But ma...

In 1865, two prisoners were let out of the cooks cells to make their way to the kitchens to cook for the rest of the prisoners.  But these two men had other ideas - for one man it would result in him never returning to the Geelong Gaol.  For the other his freedom was shortlived.  This is the story of the escape of William Thompson and Thomas Reynolds. Locked up with History - www.lo...

For over 170 years, the old Geelong Gaol has overlooked the township of Geelong.  It has been a place of incarceration of men, women and children during its 138 years of operational history.  Some of the roles it has been used may surprise you!  In this episode we revisit the history, the building and some the uses it has had! Join Deb from the Geelong Gaol Museum/Twisted History te...

So you have come across Locked Up With History amongst your podcast offerings?!   Welcome!   But who are we, why are we doing with this podcast, why would you want to listen to me!  Join Deb in this episode for all these answers and much more including what you can expect from future podcasts. Once you have listened to the podcast, join us in the Locked up with History Facebook grou...

Locked Up With History is our brand new podcast brought to you by the team at Geelong Gaol Museum and Twisted History.   In this episode we give you a brief overview of some of the topics we will be exploring in upcoming episodes with topics such as the History of the Geelong Gaol, The Near Death of John Goldman, the exploits of Frederick Deeming and ghosts and paranormal investigations. &nbs...