The prisoner graffiti that lines the walls of the Albert County Gaol was discovered unexpectedly in 2008 after having been hidden for well over 75 years, and what was uncovered shows that the movie depictions of a prisoner tallying the days until freedom may not have been that far from the truth! Built in 1845, the gaol closed its doors in 1955, and is today available for viewing here in Albert County as part of the Museum’s 8 building complex.
The gaol was typical of its time, filled to capacity with debtors and small-time offenders. As a means of protection from the more serious criminals that sometimes passed through the gaol, prisoners were often permitted pocketknives. With these, in addition to pencil, ink and even the charred wood from the stoves that provided heat, prisoner’s were able to leave their mark on the only canvas they had: the walls.
The now exposed walls reveal names of those who had been incarcerated, digits marking time, and dates as early as 1871. There are poems and comments on prisoners’ plights: “George Riley in for kissing a girl in September 1902 and walked out soon afterwards,” as well as a life-size sketch of a handle-bar moustached gentleman with devil horns, thought to be a sheriff of the time. One corner of the debtor’s cell was even made to look like the lobby of a hotel, with a welcome sign and the words, “God bless our commercial hotel.” Most notably, amongst the murals of graffiti and carved into the window sill are initials believed to belong to Tom Collins, a thrice tried murderer who was once held in the cells and hung on the property following his final conviction.
