Kids' Audio Guide: Scene inside Newgate Prison

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Scene inside Newgate Prison

A group of ragged men and children sit around, legs shackled, in a dreary stone structure.

[Scene inside Newgate Prison], 1812 by Francis Greenway

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DAPHNE_190923.mp3

Transcript

The smell of rum and smoke fills the air, the chatting of prisoners continues as usual while some play cards and others eat.

I was pulled to this painting because of the people, even the children are in chains and to see that desperate look on their faces. It makes me feel sad and happy, happy for the fact that I don't live back then when kids could be put in prison for the smallest things but sad and sorry for all the people and especially for all the poor little kids. It would be a harsh childhood surrounded by dodgy people.

Francis Greenway’s “Scene inside of Newgate prison” was painted in 1812. Francis was convicted of forgery and arrived in NSW in 1814. While awaiting his trial in Newgate prison, Francis completed two paintings. Francis Greenway was an architect and designed the St James church, which is just down the street from here. As you would expect from Francis, the church is made from brick and partly made from sandstone.

Francis was from a family of stonemasons and so if you look at the painting you can see every crack and crevice and the subtle change in the colour of the stone. In the painting you can look back like a 3D model, see behind the doors and windows further back into the rooms behind, like you were standing there in the painting. Imagine the smelly, dark, cold, cramped cells behind those walls.

Some of the prisoners seem well dressed, but most are in rags and barefoot. The difference in clothing is only because of one thing, you’re poor or you're rich. The guard is in red in the right-hand corner is actually a convict, if you look carefully you can see a chain connected to his ankle.

Curators/Speakers

Daphne