On Monday 29th of July, the 5/6’s went to the Old Treasury Building and the Old Melbourne Gaol. At 8.30 we all walked down to Hartwell Train Station to catch the train. We got off at Parliment station and walked to the Treasury Building. We saw a replica of the biggest gold nugget in the world. Our guide told us about the history of the Building and then she walked us around and explained what all the rooms were used for. We learnt that all the gold was kept under the building and that Parliment workers still have meetings there. We also saw household items that people used in the olden days. After we left the Treasury Building we walked to a park and ate our lunch. Zac, Max, Will, Ben and I played a game of hide and seek once we had finished eating.
After lunch we walked around the city to the Old Melbourne Gaol. We had a tour around the gaol and saw Ned Kelly’s Death Mask. We got go into the Gaol cells and see information about all sorts of different things. We saw the platform where people got hanged and we also saw the whipping triangle. The most times you can get whipped at once is 50. You get whipped with a whip called the cat of nine tails. We learnt that boys were the only people that were allowed to get physically punished and the women’s worst punishment was getting locked in a pitch black room for up to a week.
We also learnt about Smith and Stornton and how they attempted to escape from te Old Melbourne Gaol. They went to the toilet together and they went into the pit where all the waste is kept until it is picked up by a truck and taken away. First Smith made a run for it when the truck came but he got caught. Then Storton went and run away. Someone tried to tackle him down but he slithered out of the tackle. He ran away, changed his name to Summerville, lived a normal life until he robbed a bank a put into a Pentridge Prison. Coincidently, one of the guards that used to work at the Old Melbourne Gaol had moved to work at Pentridge Prison. He recognised Summerville and thought that he was Stornton and sent some guards up from Old Melbourne Gaol to confirm it. They confirmed it and he got put back in the Old Melbourne Gaol and received severe punishment.
On our way back to the Train Station we stopped at the State Library of Victoria to see Ned Kelly’s real armour and gun. It was really cool. We also saw Harry Power’s pistol.
It was a really enjoyable excursion and I really enjoyed it.
Old Melbourne Gaol on PhotoPeach