Friday 2 September 2016
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RELIC: Paul Aszenbrenner and Deb Robinson with the ball and chain which is suspected to be part of one of Geelong Gaol’s great escapes. 158756
Picture: LOUISA JONES
Ball-and-chain link with great escape gaol on 8 October 1889. “This wasn’t the first time they’d escaped,” Ms Robinson said. “Both of them would die in the gaol as very old men - Clarke in 1895 and Farrell in 1904.” Ms Robinson said both were in their 60s when they escaped Geelong Gaol, which housed sick or elderly prisoners. “These are two of our favourite escapees. They were shifty old buggers - they knew how to play the system. “They look like kindly old grandfathers - you wouldn’t think of them as hardened criminals.” Farrell was in gaol for attempting to shoot a police
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A rusted ball and chain found in Bannockburn could be a clue in one of Geelong Gaol’s greatest escapes, according to an historian. The historic prison restraint was likely tethered to the leg of one of two convicts during their daring escape in the late 1880s, said Geelong Gaol historian Deb Robinson. “It’s very clearly a ball and chain used in the penal system,” she said. “I don’t think it could be anything else.” Described as “Geelong’s hardest convicts”, Frederick Clarke and Christopher Farrell fled the
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officer and Clarke was convicted of breaking and entering, Ms Robinson said. Clarke, who worked in gaol as a blacksmith, melted coins to make a skeleton key, Ms Robinson said. “He was able to commit the guard’s key to memory. “He was a very crafty old man, this one.” Clarke called for a glass of water to begin the escape. As the only warden on duty fetched the drink Clark unlocked his and Farrell’s cells before returning to his own. Continued page 5
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