Executions in the State of Victoria.
606 people were condemned to death in Victoria, Between 1842 and 1975, 45 were female.
From those condemned only 186 prisoners were executed in Victoria by the Victorian authorities, PLUS one American Army service man was hanged for Australian murders during WW2 by the American Army authorities at Pentridge.
Of the 186 prisoners executed in Victoria by the Victorian authorities 5 were Female.
6 Men were hanged at Geelong, 4 of those 6 were hanged at Gallows flat about 200 metres from the gaol building in Myers st.
133 of the 186 were at Old Melbourne Gaol, including 4 of the 5 Females, the first female to be hanged in Victoria was Elizabeth Scott at the OMG, after the OMG closed in 1924 the trap door and hanging beam were moved to Pentridge Prison, and 11 more executed on the gallows in D division at Pentridge in Melbourne. The trap door and hanging beam were installed by prisoner David Bennett, he was the first to be hanged at Pentridge on the very gallows he installed.
All Capital punishment Executions in Victoria, by the Victorian authorities, were carried out by hanging only.
The American Army service man who was executed by the American authorities, was hanged, and also given an injection.
Victoria was the site of the last judicial execution in Australia, Victoria abolished capital punishment in 1975.
1841 :
The first Supreme Court opens in Melbourne
1842 :
20 Jan Melbourne's first public execution, The prisoners were two Aboriginal men known as Bob and Jack, who had been accused of murdering two whalers in the colony's Westernport district. Unable to give evidence in their own defence, or to call Aboriginal witnesses, they were found guilty by the settler jury. Hang men John Davis and John Styleman . The hanging took place outside the Old Melbourne Gaol on the crest of the hill, the gallows was two posts in the ground and the hanging beam between them. There were planks of wood, hinged at one end for the prisoners to stand on. The planks were held up at the other end by a pile of rubble. The idea was a rope was to be pulled which moved the rubble and that released the plank, however the plank jammed on the rubble and the two prisoners started to choke, a bystander could see the problem and un jammed the plank, and the two prisoners hanged .
28 June Melbourne's Second Public Execution was a gang of Bushrangers known as the Plenty River Gang.
Charles Ellis (alias Yanky Jack), Martin Fogarty , Daniel Gepps (Jepps) and Jack Williams , were raiding farm houses and robbing people around the Dandenong area, when it become to hot there they moved over to the Plenty River area. They made a raid on Campbell Hunters house on the Plenty river. They made a mistake and stayed to have breakfast, and the Law caught up with them. Gang member Jack Williams was shot dead by Oliver Gourlay, after a hand to hand fight. After the gun battle that lasted one hour , Ellis, Fogarty and Jepps surrendered, all 3 hung on the hill beside the Old Melbourne Gaol north of Melbourne, all 4 buried together.
05 Sept Mel "Roger" a Aborigine executed after tried and found guilty. The hanging took place outside the Old Melbourne Gaol on the crest of the hill,
1845 :
01Jan Melbourne Gaol's first cell block officially opened in Russel St, with 59 men, 9 women.
1847 :
27 Jan Mel Jeremiah Connell executed after tried and found guilty.
30 April Mel Bobby and Ptolemy aborigine's executed after tried and found guilty
29 Nov Mel John Healey executed after tried and found guilty
1848 :
01 Aug Mel Augustus Dauncey (dancey) executed after tried and found guilty
1851 :
01 July: The State of Victoria named after Queen Victoria became separate from New South Wales.
18 Oct Mel Patrick Kennedy executed after tried and found guilty.
1852:
22 May Mel James Barlow executed after tried and found guilty
03 Nov Mel John Richie (Ritchie, Riches) executed after tried and found guilty
1853 :
04 April Mel George whitfield Pinkerton executed after tried and found guilty.
11 July Mel Aaron Durrant executed after tried and found guilty
23 August Mel John Smith and Henry Turner executed after tried and found guilty
03 October Mel: Bushrangers William Atkins, George Wilson and George Melville (not to be confused with Captain Melville), were hanged for gold escort Robbery. George Melville's wife displayed his body in their oyster shop in the front window in Bourke street Melbourne, his body being displayed could have lead to the bodies of later executed felons being buried within the prison from 1865.
24 October: Bushrangers Henry Bradley and Patrick O'Connor hanged in Melbourne for murder and robbery, a brief but bloody career
25 Oct Mel Michael Finnessy (fennessy, Finesy) and Alexander Ram executed after tried and found guilty
23 Nov Mel John (joseph) Smith executed after tried and found guilty
27 Dec Mel Joseph West executed after tried and found guilty.
1854 :
28 March Mel James Button (bulton) executed after tried and found guilty.
25 April Mel David Magee executed after tried and found guilty.
23 May Mel William Thoroughgood executed after tried and found guilty
24 Sept Mel John Hughes executed after tried and found guilty.
09 Nov Geelong John Gunn executed after tried and found guilty.
09 Nov Geelong John Roberts executed after tried and found guilty.
24 Nov Mel Luke Lucas executed after tried and found guilty.
1855 :
25 July Mel James McAllister executed after tried and found guilty
24 Nov Mel James Condon, John Dixon and Alfred Henry Jackson executed after tried and found guilty
1856 :
22 April Geelong James Ross ( Griffiths) executed after tried and found guilty
1857:
11 March Mel Chu-a-luk (Chic-A-Luk) and William Twigham (twiggem, laxton) executed after tried and found guilty
16 March Mel James Cornick executed after tried and found guilty
27 April Mel Fredrick Turner executed after tried and found guilty
28 April: Mel Thomas Williams , Henry Smith (Brennan) and Thomas Maloney and Richard Bryant executed after tried and found guilty for murder
29 April Mel Thomas (francis) Brannigan , William Brown, Richard Bryant executed after tried and found guilty
30 April Mel John Chesley (chisley) executed after tried and found guilty
01 June Mel James Woodlock executed after tried and found guilty
02 September Mel Chong Sigh and Hing Tzan executed after tried and found guilty
06 Nov Mel John Mason executed after tried and found guilty
1858 :
01 March Mel Edward brown and William Jones executed after tried and found guilty
16 March Mel George Robinson executed after tried and found guilty
19 March Mel John Nelson (AKA Edward Cardana, Michael Farrara) executed after tried and found guilty
20 Oct Geelong Owen McQueeney executed after tried and found guilty
06 Nov Mel Samuel Gibbs and George Thompson executed after tried and found guilty
26 Nov Mel Edward Hitchcock executed after tried and found guilty
29 Nov Mel Christian von Sie executed after tried and found guilty
1859 :
11 April Mel Thomas Ryan executed after tried and found guilty
12 July Mel William Armstrong and George Chamberlain hanged for murder, after tried and found guilty
18 July Mel Chew a' Key was tried and found guilty, he suicided, Not executed
26 July Mel Richard Rowley executed after tried and found guilty
17 Nov Mel William Siddons executed after tried and found guilty
21 Nov Mel Henry Brown executed after tried and found guilty
1860 :
06 July Mel George Waines executed after tried and found guilty
20 Aug Mel Edward Fenlow executed after tried and found guilty
03 Sept Mel John Mcdonald executed after tried and found guilty
1861 :
22 April Mel William Smith executed after tried and found guilty
11 July Mel Henry Cooley executed after tried and found guilty
05 Aug Mel Nathaniel horatio Ruby executed after tried and found guilty
20 Sept Mel Martin Rice executed after tried and found guilty
31 Oct Mel Thomas Sanders executed after tried and found guilty
1862 :
29 December Mel Samuel Pollett executed after tried and found guilty
1863 :
19 February Mel Thomas McGee executed after tried and found guilty
06 November Geelong James Murphy executed after tried and found guilty
11 November Mel Julian Cross and David Gedge and first woman Elizabeth Scott executed after tried and found guilty
01 December Mel James Barrett executed after tried and found guilty
1864 :
29 Feb Ballarat Alexander Davis executed after tried and found guilty
03 Aug Mel Christopher Harrison , William Carver and Samuel Woods (Young) executed after tried and found guilty
1865
05 April Mel John Stacey executed after tried and found guilty, (on new gallows as seen today)
04 May Mel Joseph Brown executed after tried and found guilty
06 July Mel Peter Dotsalaere (Dotsulario) executed after tried and found guilty
21 August Castlemaine David Young executed after tried and found guilty
28 Oct Geelong Thomas Menard executed after tried and found guilty
06 Nov 1865 The first bushranger to be hanged at Beechworth prison, Patrick Sheehan for murder of man called Kennedy at Yackandandah
1866 :
10 March Castlemaine Long Poy executed after tried and found guilty
19 March Ballarat James Jones executed after tried and found guilty
29 Nov Mel Robert Bourke (Burke, Cluskey) executed after tried and found guilty
1867 :
16 April Ballarat Denis Murphy executed after tried and found guilty
04 May Beechworth John Kelly executed after tried and found guilty
31 July Castlemaine William H Terry executed after tried and found guilty
07 Aug Ballarat Joseph Ballan (Ballum) and George Searle executed after tried and found guilty
1868 :
31 March Mel Bernard Cunningham , & Joseph Whelan executed after tried and found guilty
14 August Castlemaine John Hogan executed after tried and found guilty
1869 :
31 March Mel Michael Flanagan executed after tried and found guilty
03 August Mel James Ritson executed after tried and found guilty
11 Nov James Smith hung at Beechworth Gaol
1870 :
23 May Castlemaine Ah Pew executed after tried and found guilty
04 August Mel Patrick Smith executed after tried and found guilty
15 August Ararat Andrew Vair, first there, executed after tried and found guilty
30 August Mel James Cusick executed after tried and found guilty
14 Nov Mel James Seery (Sury) (Sery) (Serry) executed after tried and found guilty
1871 :
04 Nov James Quinn hanged at Beechworth Gaol executed after tried and found guilty
04 December Mel Patrick Geary (John Geary) executed after tried and found guilty
1872 :
14 May Mel Edward Feeney executed after tried and found guilty
20 May Castlemaine James Wilkie executed after tried and found guilty
1873 :
11 March Castlemaine Samuel Wright executed after tried and found guilty
12 May: James Smith and Thomas Brady were hanged at Beechworth,
20 May Castlemaine Pierre Barbun (Borhuu) executed after tried and found guilty
11 August Ballarat James Wallace executed after tried and found guilty
1875 :
09 August Castlemaine Ah Kat executed after tried and found guilty
30 August Mel An Gaa executed after tried and found guilty
04 Oct Mel Henry Howard executed after tried and found guilty
06 Dec Mel John Weechurch (Weachurch) executed after tried and found guilty
1876
22 May Castlemaine John Duffus executed after tried and found guilty
21 August Ballarat James Ash (Ashe) executed after tried and found guilty
11 Dec Mel Basilo Bondietto executed after tried and found guilty
1877 :
14 March Mel William Hastings executed after tried and found guilty
09 June Beechworth Thomas Hogan executed after tried and found guilty
1880 :
11 November : Ned Kelly is hanged in the Old Melbourne Gaol, The hangman was Elijah Upjohn , his first hanging,
Ned was the first Australian born European to be hanged in Victoria, Maximilian kreitmayer made a death mask, a group of Doctors beheaded Ned and removed his organs, and buried on the grounds.
1881 :
06 June Beechworth Robert Rohan (Smith) executed after tried and found guilty
1883 :
25 September Ararat Robert francis Burns executed after tried and found guilty
1884 :
08 May Ararat Henry Morgan executed after tried and found guilty
21 August Mel James Hawthorn executed after tried and found guilty
24 October Mel William O'Brien executed after tried and found guilty
1885 :
15 May Mel William Barnes executed after tried and found guilty
03 September Ballarat Charles Busby (Baker) executed after tried and found guilty
27 November Bendigo Edward Hunter executed after tried and found guilty
1886
07 January Mel Freeland Morrell executed after tried and found guilty
1888 :
08 Nov Mel George Syme executed after tried and found guilty
1889 :
18 March Bendigo William Harrison executed after tried and found guilty
16 September Mel Filipi Cartin Castillio executed after tried and found guilty
16 October Mel Robert Landells executed after tried and found guilty
1891 :
16 March Mel John Thomas Phelan executed after tried and found guilty
23 March Mel John Wilson executed after tried and found guilty
20 April Ballarat Cornelious Bourke executed after tried and found guilty
27 April Mel Fatta Chand executed after tried and found guilty
11 May Ballarat John Wilson executed after tried and found guilty
18 May Ballarat James Johnston executed after tried and found guilty
24 August Mel William Colston executed after tried and found guilty
1892 :
23 May Mel Fredrick Deeming executed after tried and found guilty
1893 :
28 August Mel John Conder executed after tried and found guilty
1894
15 Jan Mel Frances Knorr (female) executed after tried and found guilty
19 March Mel Ernest Knox executed after tried and found guilty, his skull was stolen
20 August Mel Fredrick Jordan executed after tried and found guilty
22 October Mel Martha Needle (female) executed after tried and found guilty
12 Nov Ballarat Elijah Cockroft executed after tried and found guilty
1895:
01 July Mel Arthur Buck executed after tried and found guilty
04 Nov Mel Emma Williams (female) executed after tried and found guilty, drowned her son
1896:
13 Jan Mel Charles Henry Strange executed after tried and found guilty
1897:
13 September Bendigo Charles j Hall executed after tried and found guilty
1898 :
21 Nov Mel Alfred Archer executed after tried and found guilty
1900 :
26 March Mel William Robert Jones executed after tried and found guilty
1902 :
14 April Mel Albert Edward McNamara executed after tried and found guilty
20 October Mel August Tisler executed after tried and found guilty
1904:
08 September Mel James Williams executed after tried and found guilty
1908 :
29 June Ballarat Charles Deutschmann executed after tried and found guilty
1912:
29 Feb Mel Joseph Victor Pfeiffer executed after tried and found guilty
1916:
24 Jan Mel John Jackson executed after tried and found guilty
18 Sept Mel Antonio Picconi(e) executed after tried and found guilty
1918 :
29 Jan Mel Albert Edward Budd executed after tried and found guilty
15 April Mel Arthur Geoffrey Oldring (G Blunderfield) executed after tried and found guilty
1922 :
24 April Mel Colin Campbell Ross executed after tried and found guilty
1924 :
14 April Mel Angus Murray (birth name Donnelly) executed after tried and found guilty, last at OMG
JULY: The
last prisoner left the Melbourne Gaol and was relocated to Pentridge. From 1842
until its closure in 1924, the Melbourne Gaol hosted the hangings of 135 people
- four of them women. Although the vast majority had been found guilty of murder, people
were also executed for shooting, robbery, rape and arson. The bodies of 51 executed prisoners were interred within the gaol's
perimeter wall. Earthworks undertaken in 1929 uncovered some of bodies, the
authorities assumed they would have been dissolved by the quicklime with which they
had been covered. Members of the public removed bones, including some
assumed to belong to Ned Kelly, and returned them only under threat of legal
action. The remains of 46 prisoners were removed to Pentridge,
5 from the courtyard removed also, the last one in 2002.
1932:
26 September Pentridge David Bennett executed after tried and found guilty, he installed the gallows, first hanged.
1936 :
01 June Pentridge Arnold Sodeman executed after tried and found guilty
22 June Pentridge Edward Cornelius executed after tried and found guilty
1939
23 January Pentridge Thomas william Johnson executed after tried and found guilty
17 April Pentridge George Green executed after tried and found guilty
1941
22 December Pentridge Alfred Bye executed after tried and found guilty
1942 :
09 November Pentridge Edward Joseph Leonski executed after tried and found guilty, USA serviceman
1951:
19 Feb Pentridge Jean Lee (last female), Robert Clayton and Norman Andrews executed after tried and found guilty
1967
Last execution in Victoria - 3 February Ronald Ryan, After the closure of the
Old Melbourne Gaol in
1924, the scaffold hanging beam, which is a huge 150 KG Oregon beam
and trapdoor was dismantled and relocated at Pentridge Gaol
and was used for its
executions, ending with the hanging of Ronald Ryan in 1967, the last
man to be hanged in Victoria. After the abolition of capital
punishment in 1975, the beam and scaffold were taken down and put
into storage.
2000:
10 November : The trap door and the huge Oregon beam, which was used for executions first at Old Melbourne Gaol and then at Pentridge Gaol, was reinstated at the Old Melbourne Gaol on 10 November 2000, just in time for the 120th anniversary of Ned Kelly's hanging on 11 November 2000.