The inglorious history of Wellington Gaol
Research by Assistant Lecturer in Criminology, Rebekah Bowling (Kāi Tahu), and Emeritus Professor John Pratt, explores the early history and cultural meaning of one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s first prisons.
In 1844, a replica of London’s infamous Pentonville prison was erected in Wellington. Standing at the top of Mount Cook until 1931, Wellington’s smaller replica tied the settlers and the colony to British colonial power and identity.
The original Pentonville was hailed as the ultimate effort in prisoner confinement when it was completed in 1842. It was designed so each prisoner could be kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours per day, with each cell set up with heating and toilet facilities to make this possible. Solitary confinement was considered the best way to allow prisoners to reflect and contemplate their behaviour and reform—although it was more likely to lead to insanity.
With Australia acting as Britain’s penal colony, many prisons there were also built to mimic Pentonville. However, plans were also made for a similar prison in Wellington—surprising both because New Zealand was viewed far differently to Australia, with its “convict stain”, and because the original designs aimed to accommodate 385 prisoners, when at the time Wellington had a total population of about only 3000 people.
The prison was supposed to loom from the top of Mount Cook, reminding colony residents of the power of Britain. The reality was much different. The prison was never built to full size, leading to cramped and unsanitary conditions, and (possibly as a result) most prisoners spent their days in hard labour outside the prison, instead of in confinement. The daily ‘walk of shame’ of prisoners out to perform labour became a hated but regular part of colonial life.
The prison remained in use until 1900 (as well as a short stint housing conscientious objectors during World War 1), before being demolished in 1931.
Despite the prison’s short and difficult history, its construction and demolition reveal a lot about the development of the British colony in New Zealand.
Records show that crime was quite rare in the early days of the colony, aside from some arrests for drunkenness or minor theft. This trend continued throughout most of the 1800s. Purely based on this, there should have been no reason to build a prison, particularly one of the scale and history of a Pentonville replica.
However, there were other reasons for building the prison. One was to reassure newly arrived settlers that they were still in ‘civilisation’, particularly British civilisation. The presence of the prison was supposed to symbolise the development and protection of a civilised and virtuous society. Instead, the prison was overcrowded and unsanitary, with prisoners often sick or injured. Attempts to reform the prison continually failed.
Eventually, it was suggested that prison labour camps built in more remote areas of the country would be better suited. These camps would be far enough away to avoid non-prisoners seeing the ‘walk of shame’ while allowing prison labour to continue. This marked a step for New Zealand away from a colony and towards a modern society, rejecting both the British style of punishment and the presence of the gaol and symbol of British authority in the centre of Wellington.
The prison could also be used, when necessary, to enforce the British way of life onto Māori and assimilate them into British culture. Māori justice systems were completely different to the British system, with Māori seeing the British method of confinement as culturally incomprehensible and shameful. The continual enforcement of the British system of punishment onto Māori—including the imprisonment of 93 members of the Māori resistance at Parihaka—played a significant role in crushing Māori resistance to colonisation, causing dispossession, cultural dislocation, and marginalisation.
As the colony developed, residents also became more opposed to having ‘convicts’ among them. Initially, people felt sympathy for the convicts forced to march out and perform hard labour, but over time people instead felt threatened by convicts being so close to the city and to the people who lived there. Having convicts amongst the city made people feel uncivilised and like they were too close to the former convict colony of Australia, instead of a ‘civilised’ society.
New Zealand colonial society had used the prison to build and begin the colony and enforce the British way of life, but as that foundation was solidly established and New Zealand moved onto the next stage of its identity, a prison was no longer needed in Wellington. It had fulfilled its purpose and so, in 1931, the prison building was demolished.