In the heart of Darlinghurst once stood Darlinghurst Gaol, one of the most significant prisons

6 Mar 2026 · 2 min

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The video narrates the history of Darlinghurst Gaol in Sydney, detailing its design by colonial architect Francis Greenway in 1821, delayed opening in 1841, and physical features such as a 7‑metre sandstone wall, central chapel, and six cell blocks originally meant for 420 inmates but housing up to 700 by 1900. It describes the gaol’s role in public executions—79 hangings until 1907, with timber gallows at the Forbes Street gate drawing crowds, the last public execution in 1858, and a shift to discreet gallows thereafter as Sydney sought a more refined image. Notable events include the 1880 hanging of bushranger Captain Moonlight and poet Henry Lawson’s nickname “Starvinghurst Gaol” for its meagre rations. The gaol closed in 1914 after the opening of Long Bay Gaol, was repurposed as East Sydney Technical College in 1921, and now houses the National Art School.

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Did you know that if you were in Sydney in the 1840s, you could have witnessed a public execution? I'm outside the former Darlinghurst Gaol where 79 executions occurred right up until 1907. So the gaol was originally designed and built in 1821 by colonial architect Francis Greenway. However, it took until 1841 for the first inmates to arrive due to financial pressures. It is bounded by a 7-metre-high thick sandstone wall with a grand circular chapel in the centre of the complex. Around the chapel stand 6 rectangular cell blocks. Although only designed for 420 people, the jail held 700 inmates by 1900. Anyone from murderers, bushrangers, drunks, or even people who hadn't paid their fines were locked up here. During exciting public executions, a set of timber gallows were erected just inside the Forbes Street gate. There'd be a crowd of hundreds of people gathered in the street, and they would cheer when the executioner would come out of his small house in the jail complex, walk up on top of the gallows, and start the hangings. This was seen as a social occasion, and newspapers would report in gruesome detail everything about the execution. So the last public execution happened in 1858, and then a new set of gallows were installed in a much more discreet corner of the jail, out of the public eye. Public hangings were seen as an uncivilised thing of the past, and officials wanted to change Sydney's image from a rough colonial settlement to a sophisticated city. One of the most famous hangings was that of bushranger Captain Moonlight in 1880. After spending time in the jail, the Australian poet Henry Lawson nicknamed it Starvinghurst Gaol due to the meagre rations prisoners were given. So the jail closed in 1914 when a new, larger state penitentiary was built. This is now Long Bay Gaol in Matraville. In 1921, Darlinghurst Gaol became East Sydney Technical College, and it's now the National Art School.