Yance Nelson: Swedish Man In Australia's Gaol

Yance Nelson was born in 1862 in Sweden and arrived in Australia in 1879. 

He became #272 in Parramatta Gaol 
Date of photo: 20 May 1881
Sentenced: 9 Feb 1883
Crime: Larceny
Term: 12 mo Hard Labor
He was a bricklayer

The following records are his court records and his transport record to the gaol.

I also found a record for him leaving New York City in 23 Nov 1885 to go back to Australia. Why he would want to do that is beyond me, unless he had a wife there, which I never found.

Here's some history about the gaol he served time in.

Court Yard

Front gate

Front gate

Psychiatric Center  

Doesn't look like much fun to me, dark and dreary.

The Parramatta Correctional Centre, a former Australian medium security prison for males, was in operation between 1798 and 2011. Located in North Parramatta, New South Wales, the centre was initially called Parramatta Gaol until its name was changed to Parramatta Correctional Centre in 1992. When in operation, the centre was managed by Corrective Services NSW, an agency of the Department of Attorney General and Justice of the Government of New South Wales. Immediately prior to its closure, the centre detained short term sentenced and remand inmates, operated as a transient centre, and was the periodic detention centre for metropolitan Sydney.

Designed by George Barney and Mortimer Lewis, the complex is listed on the Register of the National Estate and the New South Wales State Heritage Register as a site of State significance.

Correctional facilities were first established in Parramatta in 1798, being "a strong logged gaol of 100 feet in length, with separate cells for the prisoners ... and paled around with very high fence", housing eight prisoners. In 1799, a fire destroyed this facility and it was rebuilt in 1802 on the same site (now occupied by Riverside Theatres).

The current Parramatta Correctional Centre was the third gaol to be built in Parramatta and was completed in 1842. The original design was submitted by Mortimer Lewis for Governor Bourke in 1835, however the buildings were commenced to a design by Captain George Barney, the Commanding Royal Engineer. When the first building was completed in 1842 by (James) Houison and Payten, Thomas Duke Allen was installed as the gaoler, with his wife Martha acting as matron for the female prisoners.

Between 1842 and 1861, a number of improvements were made to conditions within the prison, but major extensions were not undertaken until 1862. As a result of the population boom caused by the gold rushes, both Victoria and New South Wales were forced to expand their penal facilities between 1858 and 1865. During this time, the perimeter wall of the original gaol was extended to enclose a portion of land equal in size to the existing allotment. In August 1863 as the wall was nearing completion, William Coles, the first clerk of works for the Colonial Architect, initiated a substantial works programme in both the original and new areas of the gaol. This included demolition of the portion of wall separating the new and old sections of the gaol and the construction of various workshops, a cookhouse and extra cells in existing wings, as well as the installation of new utilities including underground water tanks.

Three further extensions of the gaol perimeter wall were carried out during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Within the new enclosure, three cell wings were slowly built between 1883 and 1889, largely with prison labour. Owing to overcrowding of the observation ward at Darlinghurst Gaol part of one of these wings was set aside for prisoners who had been deemed insane. In 1899, a 32 unit radial exercise yard was constructed in the space formed on three sides by the recently constructed wings. At this time the cells were also converted from associated cells to single cells, under the influence of comptroller general, William Frederick Neitenstein.

The period from the end of the nineteenth century to WWI was devoted to the improvement of auxiliary facilities - industrial, spiritual and hygenic. In 1906 - 1908, a chapel was constructed within the prison walls while sewerage and ablutions blocks were upgraded.

Due to declining entries into the penal system, the gaol was disestablished on 15 September, 1918 and the property given over to the inspector of mental hospitals. At this time the western sandstone perimeter walls were demolished and much of the equipment and internal fittings removed. By 1927 however, with an increase in demand on the system, the gaol was rehabilitated and was re-established in 1927. Notably, this rehabilitation involved the conversion of the single cells back to associated cells. Parramatta became a centre for re-training and rehabilitation.

The 1940's began a period of official mistreatment of nineteenth century institutional establishments and a number of unsympathetic buildings were approved for construction. In the 1970's, the Parramatta Linen Service, a large auditorium and an extension to the gatehouse were built. This period also saw the opening of periodic detention centres for males and females.

A new development scheme completed in 1993 included a pedestrian and large vehicle entry off Dunlop Street and new adjacent buildings for reception, administration and visiting facilities. These new designs attempted to match the form and scale of the original precinct, with hipped roofs and bricks which complemented the sandstone.

The centre closed briefly between 3 September 1997 and 1998.

In 2004, there were calls for the centre to be closed after two inmates escaped by scaling the prison wall using ladders without being seen by guards.

In July 2011, Corrective Services NSW announced that the Parramatta Correctional Centre would close, which took effect on 9 October 2011. State Property Management Authority administered the site until 2015, and has now been returned to the Deerubin Local Aboriginal Lands Council as part of a historic lands grant. 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I did not find any further information for Yance, he just disappears, there isn't even a tree for him on Ancestry so I made him one. Maybe someday a family member looking for him will find it.