Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

District Gaol

District Gaol.

Mount Eden Gaol, as it is commonly called, though its official title is “Auckland Gaol,” occupies a section of sixty-two acres at the foot of the mountain on its northern side. An area of about four acres is enclosed by a wall of most solid masonry, averaging about 18 feet 6 inches in height,
Mount Eden Gaol.

Mount Eden Gaol.

page 183 and built in 1872 by free labour, at the expense of the Auckland Provincial Government. A part of the unenclosed land is leased by the Colonial Ammunition Company, for their cartridge factory, and the Auckland City Council use another large portion for the employment of old and otherwise incapable workers. The gaol itself was built by prison labour. The older portion contains eighty-one cells, and the fine new addition provides eighty-six cells, making a total of 167. The average number of prisoners for 1899 was 154 males and 15 females. The officials number twenty-five, of whom two are women. Five male officials are stationed at the auxiliary prison at Fort Cautley, North Head. Mr. F. E. Severne is the gaoler, and the principal warders are Messrs Ironside and Chilton, while Mr. Rutherford is foreman of works, and Mrs. Maher is matron. During the year 1899 the admissions totalled 773 males and 207 females, and the discharged 777 and 205 males and females respectively. The daily sick average is: for males 3.07, and for females .35, the sickeness being mainly due to delirium tremens. Within the gaol walls are the mounds of ten who have suffered the extreme penalty of the law. 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. All the apartments are lofty and thoroughly well ventilated, the kitchen being especially large and airy.
Mr. Francis Egerton Severne, the Governor of the Auckland Gaol and Probation Officer for the Auckland District, was born in Derby, England, in 1841, and is the son of Mr. Francis Severne, barrister-at-law of that city. He was educated by private tuition in Pembrokeshire, Wales, and came to this Colony in 1864 per “Queen of the Deep,” landing at Auckland. Early in 1865 he went to Hokitika and for a time tried farming at Mangowal. He then returned to Auckland, and ultimately joined the prison service as warder in 1872, and until 1883 was a clerk in the Auckland prison. Receiving the appointment of governor of Nelson gaol, Mr. Severne remained at that post for eight years, when he was transferred to Napier; and he was appointed Governor of Auckland Gaol on the 1st of February, 1900. Mr. Severne was married in 1866 to the daughter of Mr. J. J. Robinson, an English solicitor, and has a daughter and four sons. The eldest son, Mr. F. L. Severne, is in the office of the chief inspector of schools in Wellington; the second, Mr. G. E. Severne, is in the office of the inspector or telegraphs, Auckland; the third is in the Bank of New Zealand at Napier; and the youngest is fourth master at the Napier High school.

Mrs. Fanny Maher, Matron of Auckland Gaol, was born in Derry, Ireland, in 1855, and is a daughter of Mr. McAlary, of that town, where she was educated. She came out to the Colony in 1874 in the ship “La Hogue,” landing at Wellington. After three years in the service of the Government in the Wellington Asylum, she was married to Mr. Thomas Maher, and in 1883 joined the prison service at Addington. Two years later she became matron of Wellington Gaol, and held the same position in Dunedin from 1893 till August 1896, when she was removed to Auckland.