Local Reformed Notables of History
Number 247 was originally a police lock-up. Oral tradition has it that the building was used to incarcerate inebriates from the trains. Others maintain that prisoners were held in the lock-up either overnight en route to Maitland from places farther north or, alternatively, prisoners from Armidale Gaol bound for Maitland were held in the lock-up waiting for the train to come in. Whatever the explanation the relationship between the lock-up and the railway demonstrates the enormous significance of the railway to a nineteenth century community. - John Ferry (2006:23)
Thomas Dwyer Crime: Vagrancy. 9th December 1873
Thomas Dwyer missed out on a stay in The Reformatory (as it wasn’t built yet). He was a “very old man” who was “exceedingly deaf” and apparently “too blind to perceive men with any distinction”. On 9th December 1873, Thomas was found to have £3 and a letter explaining he wished to reach Sydney for admission to St Benedicts Hospital and needed £3 for expenses of the journey. The letter had been written by shearers from Rangers Valley who assisted poor old Thomas. Thomas was imprisoned from 9th December 1873 - 5th January 1874 when measures were finally taken to forward him to Sydney.
Agnes O’Leary Crime: Witness to a murder. 21st December 1908
Agnes O Leary’s only crime was being a witness to a murder. We trust she was comfortable during her stay in the lock-up as the magistrate explicitly requested she be sent there instead of gaol and “well looked after”.
“Communists” 24th November, 1931
Whilst evidence is lacking in whether The Reformatory was involved in ideological crimes and treason, it’s interesting to see how such things were dealt with at a local level. In 1931, a group of “communists” refused to sing the anthem at a local event and received a “dunking”. This was reported as “between 400 and 600 people attempting to throw the communists into the creek.” Sing, communists. Sing.
Crime and Punishment
The reasons for spending a night in the lock-up often were often related to drunkenness, obscene language or crimes of theft on the train journey to Armidale. In 1887:
obscene language and drunkenness: 10s or 24hours in lock-up
second offence: 15s or 36 hours in lock-up
third offence: 20s or 48 hours in lock-up
In November 1928, wheat meal biscuits, a felt hat, lead pencils, sugar and a fountain pen were stolen from a sleeper carriage en route to Armidale which had the offender spending one month in Tamworth jail.