Find me here:
  The Paranormal Guide
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Atlas
  • Glossary

Fannie Bay Gaol

4/1/2014

Comments

 
Picture
Fannie Bay Gaol was built to deal with the ways that prisoners were housed and dealt with in the Northern Territory.

The ghost stories began after the 1952 execution (from gallows built in the infirmary) of Jerry Coci and Jonus Novotny, who had murdered a taxi driver.


Her Majesty's Gaol and Labour Prison at Fannie Bay

PictureEarly aerial view of Fannie Bay Gaol
Prior to late 1883, prison detention facilities in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, were viewed as a bit of a joke. Prisoners were seen freely walking the streets around the old detention camp doing as they pleased. The prisoners saw it as more of a place for refuge where one could be guaranteed shelter and a bite to eat. Favouritism and ill enforced discipline was also common practice with the public feeling that the prisoners were getting more of a holiday camp than punishment.

It was very apparent that a new place for incarceration needed to be built.

PictureThe 'playpen'
On the 20th September, 1883, Her Majesty's Gaol and Labour Prison at Fannie Bay was opened and the prisoners recieved. This Gaol ran more as a place of punishment with fully trained guards and hard labour. The original structures comprised of two blocks of sixteen stone cells plus a washhouse and kitchen. It was the most expensive building built in Darwin at the time.

The infirmary was added in 1887 and in the 1920's a new structure was built for female prisoners complete with garden. Later seperate sections were built for aboriginal prisoners and those only held on remand. Finally in the 1950's Maximum security wings and a guard tower were built. A block for children prisoners was also built and was later used for housing refugees.

Executions

PictureGallows in the infirmary
Fannie Bay Gaol has eleven documented executions but some people believe there were another sixty that did not make it into the books (or whose documents were lost). Executions were mostly carried out on gallows constructed out in the prison yard.

In 1952 new gallows were built at one end of the infirmary. - a pit was dug into the ground and simple brick walls were built either side to hold the wooden beam. A set of steps were located under the trapdoor so the body could be brought back out once death had been established. The condemned themselves were held in wire cages at the other end of the infirmary prior to execution. On the 8th of August that same year Jerry Coci and Jonus Novotny (sometime Nopoty), Romanian immigrants were hanged for the murder of a taxi driver. These were the last two executions to be carried out in Darwin.

After the executions, prisoners and officials did not like to be in the building after dark. The accomodation of prisoners within the building were met with resistance as people had seen and heard the ghosts of Coci and Novotny.

Ghosts

PictureExternal view of the infirmary showing the grave markers of Jerry Coci and Jonus Novotny
Fannie Bay Gaol closed it's doors the 1st of September, 1979, and later reopened as a museum. Since the time of it's opening to the public as a tourism attraction, many people have experienced the paranormal within it's walls. Doors opening and closing, seemingly on their own, the sound of fingers being run over the corrugated iron fences and walls take place right in front of the observer and the feeling of being touched in the cells. Some people get the feeling of being watched for the duration of their stay and the sensation of bodies pressed up against them to the point of near suffocation.

It is the infirmary that harbors the greatest of emotions. Anger, depression and fear have been reported by visitors but to my knowledge there has not been any incidences of the two executed been seen since the gaol was shut to prisoners.

It would also seem that all of the reported phenomena is more on a residual level, is not interactive. Perhaps the haunting is just the residual energies of the history itself?


Ashley Hall 2014
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

    The Paranormal Guide Articles

    Here you will find all of the articles written for The Paranormal Guide on all things paranormal, strange, dark, macabre, weird, strange and bizarre!

    All photos with the blog posts remain the property of their respectful owners. If one of your photos is featured here without attribution please leave a comment on the blog and full credit will be given.

    Categories

    All
    Bizarre Experiments
    Conspiracy
    Cryptozoology
    Cursed And Haunted Objects
    Curses Demons And Exorcisms
    Earth Mysteries
    Fakes Frauds And Hoaxes
    Ghosts And Hauntings
    Ghosts Ghouls And Demons
    Interesting And Inspiring People
    Investigations
    Miracles
    My Paranormal
    Paranormal Photos
    Paranormal Vocabulary
    Phobias And Philias
    Post Mortem Practices
    Psychics Predictions And Seers
    Questions And Discussions
    Reviews
    Spirituality And Miracles
    Spirituality And Miracles
    Strange And Macabre Places
    Strange And Tragic Deaths
    This Week In Dark History
    Tragedy
    True Crime And Punishment
    Ufos And Aliens
    Unsolved Mysteries
    Urban Legend Superstition And Folklore
    Weird Odd And Bizarre


    Ashley Hall -
    The Paranormal Guide

    Ashley Hall explores The Paranormal, True Crime, Strange Deaths, Dark History, The Weird, The Strange and The Bizarre! Fact or Fiction? You decide!

    Picture

    Contributors

    Picture
    Matty Sweeney
    Picture
    Peet Banks
    Picture
    Nic Hume

    Picture
    Check out The Paranormal Guide Podcast and join three paranormal investigators and researchers for honest and raw discussions on all things paranormal, strange, dark and macabre HERE!

    Archives

    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    Please note that dates are from when the article was originally made.
    The Paranormal Guide does have posts all the way up to the current date.


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.