45-614: HM Prison Beechworth , now known as Beechworth Gaol , was a medium security Australian prison located in Beechworth , Victoria , Australia . Construction of the current structure was begun in 1859 and completed in 1864 at a cost of £47,000. The prison closed in 2004 and the site has been purchased by private developers. A replacement facility, the Beechworth Correctional Centre , was opened in January 2005. HM Prison Beechworth
90-501: A groom and quarters at Broadoaks on Gingell Street. After the South Australian explorer, John McDouall Stuart had reached the centre of Australia, the South Australian parliament offered a reward of £2,000 for the promotion of an expedition to cross the continent from the south to north, generally following Stuart's route. He also partnered with another explorer who wanted to discover things about Australia. In June 1860, Burke
135-414: A lack of prisoners. It reopened as a reformatory for male recidivists between 1925 and 1951. In 1951 it became a training prison, focusing on rehabilitation and education. Beechworth Prison closed 2004. Beechworth, Victoria Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia , famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s. At
180-414: A pan of gold from the area weighing 14 pounds (6.4 kg). Another lucky party cleared some 50 pounds (23 kg) of gold in a week. And so began a rush into this remote region. During the first election campaign in 1855, one candidate, Daniel Cameron , rode a horse shod with solid gold horseshoes. The extravagance of this event is still commemorated as the logo for Beechworth is a golden horseshoe. At
225-685: A place now called Burke's Waterhole on Cooper Creek in South Australia. The exact date of Burke's death is uncertain but has generally been accepted to be 28 June 1861. King survived with the help of Aborigines until he was rescued in September by Alfred William Howitt . Howitt buried Burke and Wills before returning to Melbourne. In 1862 Howitt returned to Cooper Creek and disinterred Burke and Wills' bodies, taking them first to Adelaide and then by steamer to Melbourne where they were laid in state for two weeks. On 23 January 1863, Burke and Wills received
270-631: A range of industries including, a tannery, jewellers, boot makers, a brewery, blacksmiths, livestock sale yards. It had schools, a convent, hotels, a prison with imposing stone walls, a hospital, a mental hospital, court house, police barracks, stage coach companies and a powder magazine. In its golden days, men and women arrived from the United States, United Kingdom and China. At its peak, Beechworth town had over 3,100 residents. Surrounding areas and mining camps sprang up as thousands of miners rushed into areas such as Spring Creek, Reedy Creek, Silver Creek,
315-423: A treasure of local histories, theses, material on bushrangers, police, Chinese, riots, the coming and going of the railway and novels set in the district. Robert O%27Hara Burke Robert O'Hara Burke (6 May 1821 – c. 28 June 1861) was an Irish soldier and police officer who achieved fame as an Australian explorer. He was the leader of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition , which
360-639: A while were daily issues. The papers circulated far and wide throughout the district and the colony of Victoria.(O'Brien) Both papers represented the views of their respective readerships sometimes to the exclusion of all others.(O'Brien) Even today, these old papers are an important historical research tool as most editions from the early 1850 survive and are micro-filmed and are available at the Burke Museum and most state and national libraries throughout Australia. These two local papers provide rich primary sources for many historians of Beechworth and its surrounds, plus
405-612: Is about 25 metres long. It has five lanes and it is not very deep. It has an electric barbecue and also has a canteen with cold drinks and snacks. The Beechworth Wanderers Cricket Club currently play in the Wangaratta & District Cricket Association and have teams in A., A Reserve, B & C Grade, plus Under 16's, 14's and 12's. Considering the present nature of the town, a surprising range and variety of books exist on Beechworth town, its adjoining goldfield camps, its surrounds and its heady goldfield days. These include numerous histories,
450-485: Is thus more reminiscent of that in central Victoria. As one of the higher towns in the state, snowfall can be expected most years, sometimes falling in moderate to heavy amounts. Rainfall records are found as early as 1858, but temperature readings did not commence until 1908. In its golden heyday Beechworth boasted two influential newspapers: The Ovens and Murray Advertiser and The Constitution and Mining Intelligencer . These papers engaged in fierce competition and for
495-472: The 2021 census , Beechworth had a population of 3,290. Beechworth's many historical buildings are well preserved and the town has re-invented itself and evolved into a popular tourist destination and growing wine-producing centre. Beechworth Parish and Township plans were prepared, named and certified by George D. Smythe after he had left the family estate near Liverpool in 1828, then again near Launceston, Tasmania , in 1838. Originally used for grazing by
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#1732844799818540-742: The Beechworth Bakery , Beechworth Honey , brewery, the lolly shop and night tours, restaurants and wineries. The town is one end point of the Murray to the Mountains Rail Trail . The music video for famous singer/actor Jason Donovan 's 1989 hit " Too Many Broken Hearts " was filmed in Beechworth. The town has an Australian Rules football team ( Beechworth Football Club ) competing in the Tallangatta & District Football League . Golfers play at
585-459: The Ovens and Murray Advertiser newspaper. Ironically, in the 1890s a narrow gauge system did eventuate nearby, running from Wangaratta to Whitfield. Finally a broad gauge railway arrived at Beechworth in September 1876, but by that stage the town and its gold production was waning. The rail line was closed in 1977 and dismantled, after 101 years of service. During its boom times, Beechworth town boasted
630-405: The 1870s was the one-time Livery Stable owner, later the 'Dog Officer', at some other time the 'Pound Officer' and another time shire revenue officer, John Phelan. Phelan was a continual litigant, correspondent to the newspapers and advertiser. His official and officious escapades were mockingly reported in the local paper. Robert O'Hara Burke , leader of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition
675-670: The Beechworth Golf Club on Balaclava Road. A dedicated cross-country and downhill mountain biking track, the Beechworth Mountain Bike Park, is maintained by the Beechworth Chain Gang Mountain Bike Club. Beechworth skate park is located close to the Beechworth pool. It has three bowls: one big, one medium and one small. Beechworth also has a swimming complex consisting of three pools of varying sizes for babies, kids and adults. The adult pool
720-457: The Chinese goldminers around Beechworth and throughout Victoria's north-eastern region created social unrest and these are recorded in O'Brien's; Woods'; and Cronin's works below. The Beechworth Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990. Like many Australian country towns associated with the early goldfields, Beechworth had its share of colourful characters and villains. Among the infamous during
765-767: The Hungarian Hussars. He spent most of his time in the Imperial Austrian Army posted to northern Italy and in April 1847 was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. Towards the end of 1847 he suffered health problems and went to Recoaro spa in northern Italy, then Gräfenberg (now Lázně Jeseník ) and finally Aachen before resigning from the Austrian army in June 1848 after charges against him relating to debts and absence without leave were dropped. After returning to Ireland in 1848, he joined
810-700: The Irish Constabulary (later the Royal Irish Constabulary ). He did his cadet training at Phoenix Park Depot in Dublin between November 1849 and January 1850, was promoted to 3rd Class Sub-Inspector and was stationed in County Kildare . At the end of 1850, he transferred to the Mounted Police in Dublin . Burke migrated to Australia in 1853. He left Queenstown , County Cork on 24 November 1852 on
855-593: The Kelly Gang historians.(See: Woods (1985); McMahon (2000); Lane (1978); McQuilton (1979); Jones (1995); McWaters (2002); O'Brien (2005); and Wild & McMahon (2006)) The Ovens and Murray Advertiser still survives as a local paper. Beechworth is a popular tourist destination. Attractions include Ned Kelly-themed displays at the old court house and the Ned Kelly Weekend, a recreation of the Kelly legend. It commemorates
900-402: The Kelly family also served sentences at the prison the late 1870s for the attempted murder of Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick. Twenty suspected sympathisers of Kelly were held in 1879 in an attempt to limit support to the Kelly gang. The prison's iron gates were installed due to fears they may be attempts to break the sympathisers out of the prison. Between 1918 and 1925 the prison closed due to
945-578: The Nine Mile Creek and the Woolshed increasing the population on the Ovens to around 22,000. The Chinese were not allowed to live in Beechworth town and resided on the outskirts. Numerous controls, regulations and licence checks were enforced on the Chinese miners (see: Woods; also McWaters; also O'Brien; and Cronin). Beechworth Cemetery has a large preserved section of early Chinese miners/pioneers. The presence of
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#1732844799818990-606: The S.S. Rodney which was carrying 342 convicts. He arrived in Hobart , Tasmania on 12 February 1853 and promptly sailed for Melbourne . On 1 April 1853, he joined the recently established Victoria police force . Initially, he worked as Acting Inspector under the Chief Commissioner William Henry Fancourt Mitchell in the Parish of Jika Jika in the northern suburbs of Melbourne , but on 1 November 1853 he
1035-539: The anniversary of the outlaw's committal hearing held in the historic Beechworth Courthouse from August 6 to 11, 1880. Other popular draws to the area are its many annual festivals, including the famous Golden Horseshoes Festival Easter Parade through the centre of town, the Burke Museum, Forests Commission museum, waterfalls, Gun Powder Magazine, Newtown Bridge (Stone Bridge), Tail Race (Mining Race), Spring Creek Water Falls, Spring Creek Gorge, Beechworth Lunatic Asylum ghost tours, lakes, historic buildings, goldfields, walks,
1080-673: The battle of Giurgevo became the first British officer killed in the Crimean war . Burke entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in May 1835. In December 1836 he failed his probationary exam and went to Belgium to further his education. In 1841, at the age of twenty he entered the Austrian army and in August 1842 was promoted to Second Lieutenant in the Prince Regent's 7th Reuss Regiment of
1125-427: The building was completed in 1864. Beechworth initially housed male and female prisoners. Female prisoners were assigned washing and needlework for government departments. Between 1865 and 1881, eight executions were carried out at the prison. Ned Kelly served six months at the prison in 1870-71 for assault. He was again held there during his committal trial for murder in 1880. Kelly's mother, Ellen and two associates of
1170-572: The district and displays dating back to the gold discoveries, early Chinese miners and workings of the 1850s. Isaac Isaacs was Australia's first native-born Governor-General , appointed in 1931. The Isaacs family moved from Yackandandah to Beechworth in 1867 to help their son to gain a better quality education, first enrolling him in the Common school then in the Beechworth Grammar School. He became dux in his first year. In his second year he
1215-498: The rendezvous point on 21 April 1861, 9 hours after the rest of the party had given up waiting and left, leaving a note and some food, as they had not been relieved by the party supposed to be returning from Menindee. They attempted to reach Mount Hopeless , the furthest outpost of pastoral settlement in South Australia, which was closer than Menindee, but failed and returned to Cooper Creek. While waiting for rescue Wills died of exhaustion and starvation. Soon after, Burke also died, at
1260-483: The settler David Reid, the area was also sometimes known as Mayday Hills until 1853. The Post Office opened on 1 May 1853 as Spring Creek and was renamed Beechworth on 1 January 1854. One Indigenous name for the area of unknown origin and language is Baarmutha. Between 1852 and 1857, Beechworth was a gold-producing region and centre of government; however, its power, wealth and influence were short-lived. According to Carole Woods, an early party of prospectors retrieved
1305-588: The time he arrived in Liverpool in June, peace had been declared and the war ended. Burke re-boarded the Marco Polo and returned to Victoria, arriving in Melbourne on 2 December 1856. He resumed his posting at Beechworth and from there attended the "Buckland Valley" riots near Bright against the Chinese gold miners in 1857. In November 1858 he was transferred to Castlemaine as Police Superintendent on £550 p.a. plus
1350-435: The time, Beechworth was far removed from the centre of colonial administration in Melbourne both in distance and time taken to travel. The local debates around the potential railway into Beechworth encompassed a broad gauge ( 5 ft 3 in / 1,600 mm ) option or a narrow gauge ( 2 ft 6 in / 762 mm ) system, between Wangaratta and Beechworth and these debates and options appeared in
1395-429: The town of Normanton now stands, on 9 February 1861. Flooding rains and swamps meant they never saw the open ocean. Already weakened by starvation and exposure, their progress on the return journey was slow and hampered by the tropical monsoon downpours of the wet season. Gray died four days before they reached the rendezvous at Cooper Creek. The other three rested for a day when they buried him. They eventually reached
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1440-602: The witnesses to the Kelly hanging (p. viii). Castieau was an early member of Melbourne's Garrick Club . Born in 1897, died in 1983. Sportsman, businessman and sports administrator. Born in 1886, died in 1962. Judge. At the southernmost end of the South West Slopes , Beechworth has a cool climate much of the year. On account of its western longitude, summer warmth is inconsistent, often punctuated by cold fronts and cool changes (unlike in north-eastern Victoria proper where summers are relatively stable). Beechworth's climate
1485-511: Was also a lawyer and represented Ovens , the local electorate, from 1894 to 1902, but died insolvent and embroiled in matrimonial problems. The outlaw Ned Kelly had many links to Beechworth – he spent time in HM Prison Beechworth and fought a famous boxing bout with Isaiah "Wild" Wright in the back of a local hotel. Aaron Sherritt and Joe Byrne of the Kelly Gang came from the Woolshed goldmining camp, outside of Beechworth town. It
1530-558: Was appointed a magistrate, was promoted to Police Inspector, and was posted to Carlsruhe . On 31 December 1853, he was promoted to District Inspector of the Ovens District and early in 1854 he moved to Beechworth to relieve Inspector John Giles Price . After the unfortunate death of his brother, James Thomas, in the Crimean War , Burke decided to enlist. He left Australia on the S.S. Marco Polo on 25 March 1856 for England, but, by
1575-548: Was appointed to lead the Victorian Exploring Expedition with William John Wills , his third-in-command, as surveyor and astronomical observer. The expedition left Melbourne on Monday, 20 August 1860 with a total of 19 men, 27 camels and 23 horses. They reached Menindee on 23 September 1860 where several people resigned, including the second-in-command, George James Landells and the medical officer, Dr. Hermann Beckler. Cooper Creek , 400 miles further on,
1620-556: Was born here and she went on to run Melbourne's largest bookshop and haven for the literati in Bourke Street in the 1930s. George B. Kerferd (1836–1889), a longtime resident of Beechworth, became a Premier of Victoria and was a major participant in ensuring Beechworth had a railway connection to Melbourne. Castieau (1831–1885) was the Prison Governor at Beechworth from 1856 to 1869. The prison, famous for its huge granite walls
1665-580: Was born in St Clerans, near the village of Craughwell , County Galway , Ireland in May 1821. He was the second of three sons of James Hardiman Burke (1788 – January 1854), an officer in the British army 7th Royal Fusiliers , and Anne Louisa Burke née O'Hara (married 1817, d.1844). Robert O'Hara was one of seven children: James Thomas Burke was a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers , and on 7 July 1854 at
1710-450: Was built on the site of Beechworth's first stockade. It was designed by Victoria's Public Works Department and constructed using local granite that was quaried with prison labour. Beechworth was one of nine panopticon prisons built in Victoria. Construction began in 1857 and the prison opened in 1860, though was incomplete and only had single cells for 36 prisoners. The capacity doubled when
1755-551: Was employed part-time as an assistant teacher at the school, and took up after school tutoring of fellow students. In September 1870, when Isaacs was just 15 years old, he passed his examination as a pupil teacher and taught at the school from then until 1873. Isaacs was next employed as an assistant teacher at the Beechworth State School, the successor to the Common school. From 1875 Isaacs moved to Melbourne for work and to undertake law studies. His connection to Beechworth
1800-611: Was in Beechworth gaol that twenty-one men, suspected Kelly Gang supporters, relatives and other sympathisers were held without trial or evidence for over three months, by the Chief Commissioner of Police Captain Standish, under the Outlawry Act . James William Ingram and his father ran a sizable book business in Beechworth trading as James Ingram & Son. It was founded in 1855 and continued until 1898. Henrietta Ingram (became Bird)
1845-564: Was known as "Castieau's castle". As the Governor of the Melbourne gaol in 1880 he was an official witness to the hanging of Ned Kelly. His diaries were later published (2004) as The Difficulties of My Position . In this book a drawing from the Australian Sketcher , 14 August 1880 shows Castieau sitting with Ned Kelly during his remand (p. 278) and also a photo of his signature as one of
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1890-550: Was re-established when he was elected as the member for Bogong in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from May 1892 until May 1893 and between June 1893 and May 1901. Isaacs further represented Beechworth and surrounding areas when he was elected to the first Federal Parliament in 1901 to the seat of Indi . He served until 1906 when he was appointed to the High Court . His little-known brother John Alfred Isaacs
1935-503: Was reached on 11 November 1860 by the advance group, the remainder being intended to catch up. After a break, Burke decided to make a dash to the Gulf of Carpentaria , leaving on 16 December 1860. William Brahe was left in charge of the remaining party. The small team of Burke, William Wills, John King and Charley Gray reached the mangroves on the estuary of the Flinders River , near where
1980-517: Was stationed in Beechworth as Senior Inspector of Police from 1854 to 1857. Policeman John Sadleir, one of the Kelly Gang pursuers, was also stationed in Beechworth during its early days.(Harvey) The Burke Museum is located in Loch Street and holds primary materials on Beechworth and the surrounding district's past. Source materials include newspapers, photos, artefacts, clothing, paintings, exhibitions, published local histories and unpublished theses on
2025-454: Was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled areas of Victoria to the Gulf of Carpentaria . The expedition party was well equipped, but Burke was not experienced in bushcraft. A Commission of Inquiry held by the Government of Victoria to investigate the failure of the expedition was a censure of Burke's judgement. Burke
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