This large square building made of thick solid bluestone was originally built by William and George LANGHORNE. The Port Phillip Herald 12 May 1840 announced the LANGHORNE Bros. begged “to inform the mercantile interests of Melbourne, and the settlers of Australia Felix that their extensive wool stores at Williamstown are now completed for the reception of wool.” However, by November 1841 the brothers were filing for bankruptcy.
Thirteen years later, on September 8, 1853, the building was acquired by the Government, the Gazette of September 7 proclaiming, ‘The Lieutenant Governor proclaims and declares the certain pieces or parcels of land lying and being in Williamstown, having a frontage to Nelson Place of 132 feet, with a depth of 313 feet, with all erections thereon, to be a marine stockade or prison house of correction and penal establishment.’
By the 1850’s, the wool store/prison had become notorious for its association with the murder of John Giles Price(1808-1857), who was appointed Inspector General of penal establishments in Victoria in January 1854. He was renowned for his tyrannical rule at Norfolk Island from 1846 to January 1853 and this rule extended to Williamstown. Seated at his table in the old wool store, he would ladle out punishments to the tune of 30 lashes for such trivial offences as falling asleep in church. This hatred of him culminated in his brutal death, attacked by convicts from the Hobson’s Bay prison hulks in March 1857. Price’s battered body was conveyed to the stockade and slung to the roof beam to avoid the attention of rats and pending the arrival of the coroner for the inquest. Fifteen convicts were committed for trial and seven were hanged for the murder.
Inside this archaic building, stood massive square stone pillars to which convicts used to be chained. Cells were constructed on both storeys and the solid stone stairs showed signs of constant wear. Iron bars to the windows were made by a local Williamstown blacksmith. In 1941 the original rafters and flooring were still in position, but the roof, which was originally thatch, was now iron.
This ancient building at Nelson Place, Williamstown, once a wool store, convict stockade & brewery was demolished in 1950.
Interestingly, physical objects held by the State Library of Victoria include leather boot parts and a piece of wood from the penal stockade at Williamstown, a black and white postcard of the building itself (above right) and a photocopy of a letter of sympathy to Mrs. Price following her husband’s murder.
Sources:
slv.vic.au
The Sun News Pictorial 5 April 1941 p24
Williamstown Advertiser (Vic: 1875 – 1954) Fri 27 Feb 1953 Page 1
Australin Dictionary of Biography online
Contributed by Dianne Wheeler PPPG Member No 1505
‘No. 1 Nelson’s Place, Williams Town. June 1840’.
“A very early view of Williams Town, Port Phillip … It shows most of the settlement’s first primitive buildings, which fronted Nelson Place. The old building shown in the foreground was a boarding house … behind it is shown the local depot of the Carlton and United Brewery … the larger building at the rear was built by the Langhorne brothers for the purposes of a wool store. The later pencilled note on the back of the drawing refers to William H. Elsum, author of “The history of Williamstown: from its first settlement to a city 1834-1934 where the drawing is and captioned “An early sketch in Nelson Parade.” Elsum does not give any provenance information, although the note on the reverse would imply that the drawing was lent to him for inclusion in his publication.”
Source: https://douglasstewart.com.au/product/port-phillip-no-1-nelsons-place-williams-town-june-1840/
Photograph of Williamstown wool store built by the Langhorne brothers in 1840
photo source: slv.vic.gov.au
Inscribed on verso: 16-5-1941