The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]
District Gaol
District Gaol.
The Lyttelton Gaol was established in the early days of the colony, the original building having been erected in 1851. The present buildings, which occupy a large block of land with a frontage on Oxford Street, were built by free labour with the assistance of the prisoners. They are constructed of solid concrete; the portion confining the prisoners is surrounded by a high wall of masonry, and presents a less forbidding appearance than many of the other gaols of the colony. Lyttelton Gaol may be termed an industrial centre, for the whole of the clothing and all the boots required by the prison staffs and prisoners throughout the various centres of the colony are manufactured at it. In addition to this, there are workshops where the prisoners are taught useful trades, in which many of them become experts. A number of the prisoners are employed on the reclamation works at Lyttelton. The gaol is provided with 149 cells for males and 29 cells for females. During the year 1901, 667 male and 162 female prisoners were admitted, while the number discharged was 637 males, and 164 females. Crime demanding capital punishment has been infrequent in Canterbury, as only five men have suffered the extreme penalty of the law, the first execution having taken place in 1868, and the last in 1901. The prisoners rise at 5.30 in summer and 6.30 in winter, and are locked up at 4.30 p.m. during the winter and 5.30 p.m. during the summer months. The health of the prisoners has been unusually good, the daily sick average for 1901 being only 1.11 for males and .72 for females. Mr. M. Cleary is governor of the gaol, Mr T. Bell the principal warder, Mr. J. Joyce the clerk, and the matron is Miss Black.
Mr. M. M. Cleary.