Inside: A Brief History of the Adelaide Gaol
Australian History Local History Young Adult Non-Fiction True Crime Criminology Penology Photography/Illustrated Reference
Inside: A Brief History of the Adelaide Gaol is the only stand-alone pictorial guide that walks readers through Australia’s longest continuously operating prison—South Australia’s 164-year-old Adelaide Gaol—without ever having to set foot inside. Author and former Gaol education officer Sue Scheiffers distils two centuries of hangings, escapes, riots and reform into an engaging 2002 paperback that young adults and history buffs alike can finish in one sitting, yet return to again and again for its wealth of rarely-seen photographs, architectural plans and prisoner records. Every page is illustrated, turning what could be a dry textbook into a vivid armchair tour of the stone-walled corridors, gallows room and “Hanging Tower” that most visitors never reach.
Collectors value this out-of-print edition because it was sold only within the Gaol gift shop and never reprinted; copies in “very good” condition—clean pages, tight binding, no inscriptions—are already scarce. Unlike general true-crime compilations, Scheiffers’ narrative is sanctioned by the South Australian government and draws on official archives, giving readers verified details about infamous inmates such as Elizabeth Woolcock and the last man hanged in South Australia, as well as the daily routines of warders and their families who lived on site. The result is a concise but authoritative reference that local historians, genealogists and criminology students cite repeatedly.
For travellers, teachers and heritage enthusiasts, owning this book is like keeping a pocket-sized time-capsule of one of Australia’s most haunted and photographed 19th-century penal sites. It doubles as a self-guided tour manual: each image is cross-referenced to existing cell numbers and yards, so readers can match the page to the present-day location during an actual visit or explore virtually from home. With heritage tourism to the Adelaide Gaol growing and the 2023 closure of several adjoining buildings heightening public interest, demand for Scheiffers’ illustrated history continues to rise—making a well-preserved copy a smart, search-friendly investment for anyone passionate about Australian prison history, local Adelaide stories or true-crime collectibles.
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