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Historic
Berrima Gaol 8
September 1942 Narrandera Argus and Riverina Advertiser Convict
Days Recalled |
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Berrima Gaol, one of the most historic
structures in the Commonwealth and through whose portals there passed
many of Australia's mast daring bushrangers and murderers, was recently
completely gutted by a fire which broke out in the sentry tower. The structure was already housing some
valuable Commonwealth and State property, and had just under gone
further renovation to prepare it for the reception of additional valuable
documents and treasures from Canberra and Sydney. This work, it is believed, ran
into some hundreds of pounds. The men in occupation when the fire
broke out had time only to throw their belongings clear before the whole
of the interior of the building was ablaze, and they then turned their
attention to a great deal of valuable material which was stored on the
ground floor. Some of the men experienced
narrow escapes, as molten lead and displaced slates showered down
from the top floor. They were struck by pieces of falling masonry,
but kept to their task and saved the whole of the Government property
on the premises. Its
Grim History The gaol was
commenced in 1834 and completed by convict labour in 1839 from
sandstone quarried by convicts who worked in iron chains. The stone structure and portion
of the roof are the only sections that now remain to remind the visitor of
disciplinary standards in the early penal settlement days, and later, of the gang
of bushrangers and murderers who marched to the gallows. Once
Busy Town Berrima in those days was one of the
busiest towns in the State, and one of the most important marketing and
posting stages that dotted the great southern road from Sydney, with
its dozens of roadside Inns and hotels to welcome the traveller. The
First Trial The first trial of note to take place in
the court house, adjoining the gaol premises, was that of Parry Curran, who
came before the Chief Justice, Sir James Dowling, in October, 1841, and
was sentenced to death. The second man executed at the gaol
was Lynch, who on being led to the gallows, admitted to 15 murders, his
final act before capture being the wiping out of a whole family of five persons. Lucretia Dunkly was executed for the murder of a wealthy
guest in a small roadside hotel she owned on the Goulburn road,
which is better known as "The Three Legs o' Man." Dunkly's skull is
preserved in the Australian Museum. Others to meet, their end at the hand
of the hangman were Martin Beech and Henry Atkins, the last on the
record. Escaped
Through Drainpipe During the history of the gaol only two
men ever escaped from custody once they had passed through the iron
grille, guarding the entrance. Their names are Cummins and Southgate,
both men planning to make their escape together. Taking a desperate chance, they
lifted the huge stone that gave them access to the drainage system that
had its outlet in the bank of the Berrima River four hundred yards distant.
They crawled through the pipe,
and made a clear getaway, but were recaptured at Bathurst two weeks
later. Walls
Still Stands Firm From the outside, the visitor will not
notice much amiss about the old relic, which many people living in Berrima
and the surrounding district would like to see demolished, excepting
that the familiar slate roof has disappeared from two of the wings and
partly from the third. The gaol walls stand cold and
lifeless, the perfectly squared sandstone standing as firm and solid as the
day the flags were shaped from the nearby quarries. Down below, the solitary confinement
cells, and the dark cell, almost tell their own story to the visitor, whose
curiosity takes him there, so he might gain some knowledge of the treatment
meted out to outlaws in the early penal settlement days of the
colony |
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