How NZ’s first jail tells a complex story of colonial identity

New Zealand’s first prison was a simple, symmetrical four-room wooden building, built in 1840 at Okiato in the Bay of Islands, not far from present-day Russell.

But its history – especially the parts that have been forgotten – tells us a lot about how we frame our colonial past, especially in relation to architecture.

Typically, the earliest non-Māori buildings in New Zealand have been depicted as having a direct lineage with imperial Britain. As one of our earliest architectural histories (written by Christchurch architect Paul Pascoe and published in the centenary of 1940) said: “Our architecture is derived from England.”

But as my Recent research I found, that’s not the whole story. In fact, it obscures another important aspect of New Zealand’s early development, which reveals how the evolving colony wanted to see itself.

“Little more than just huts”

When was the first prison built? Okiyato It was the administrative capital of the colony, close to kurorarika, Which conservative William Hobson Renamed Russell.

The building consists of two windowless cells, with a central kitchen and a back room for the jailer. It was located in a square surrounded by a three-meter-high wooden wall, built by men from the area Regiment 80 At a cost of £420.

Architectural historian John Stackpole (1919-2018) described it as one of a series of buildings that were ‘little more than mere cottages’, and on the surface it did not appear to be very special. There was no Victorian grandeur that would be typical of civilian buildings, and they were not built of brick or stone as English prisons were at the time.

And there was a reason for that. The prison was designed in the office of the New South Wales Colonial Architect. As such, it was a direct import from the Australian convict system.

Most New Zealanders probably thought of their country at the time as a British colony. But before it could become its own distinct colony, Britain expanded the boundaries of the New South Wales colony to include New Zealand.

This arrangement lasted for about a year, but was often forgotten or overlooked. This is partly because major efforts have been made to distance New Zealand from the “stigma” of convicts in Australian penal colonies.

Australian designs

There is further confusion about the designer of the prison. The architect is usually credited William Mason (1810-1897), who worked in the office of the Colonial Architect in New South Wales before arriving in New Zealand.

Mason is famous for buildings such as Government House In Auckland (1856), Church of All Saints In North Dunedin (1865) and Stock Exchange building In Dunedin (1868, demolished in 1969).

But the design of Okiato Prison was not Mason’s. It was actually a standard plan he designed Ambrose Hallinalso from the Colonial Architect’s Office.

Hallin’s time as colonial architect from 1832 to 1835 coincided with the government’s policy of territorial expansion in New South Wales, which included building more judicial and criminal infrastructure.

This policy required the design of what Australian prison historian James Kerr called the “master plan.” This was adapted throughout the state as a watch house, jail, and prison for more than half a century.

An example of this is Goulburn Plains designwhich included a weatherboard court extending over the palisade surrounding its wooden prison. Another version added a jailer’s room behind the kitchen fireplace. This was the design that Mason built at Okiato.

How and when history is told

The forgotten influence of the Office of the Colonial Architect of New South Wales on New Zealand’s earliest prison architecture is certainly partly related to the building’s apparently primitive nature.

Simple wooden buildings fit the pioneering frontier myth of transience and impermanent architecture. This contrasted with the sophisticated skills already evident in Aotearoa in the 1840s, including Māori expertise and the craftsmanship of British and American shipwrights.

But it may also be about how we tell the history of our colonial architecture. Consistent with Paul Pascoe’s assertion that domestic architecture was ‘derived from England’, our early prison buildings were probably measured against English prison architecture and found inadequate.

But the prison at Okiato was not a one-off, but a deliberately designed structure that connected the emerging colonies of New South Wales and New Zealand in ways that help us understand our early European history.

Unfortunately, it no longer exists. Ten months later, Hobson left Okiato and established a new capital at Tamaki Makurau-Auckland. References to the prison indicate that it was in operation until approximately 1844.

Okiato Prison may not have figured prominently in New Zealand’s architectural history, but its origin story is still instructive. It’s a healthy reminder that history has a complex relationship with “truth,” so we need to constantly revisit it.

This article was republished from Conversation Under Creative Commons license. Read Original article.