Prison Regulations




56

and Acts respectively contained, do hereby make the following regulations for the purposes herein-before recited, and do publish the same to be in force within the Province of Southland.

As witness the hand of His Excellency Sir
George Grey, Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty’s Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, at the Government House, as Wellington, this ninth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.

H. W. Stafford.

Prisons.

  1. Coercive labour is the consequence of crime. The first duty of the prisoner is obedience, which will be most rigorously enforced. Prisoners, while undergoing a just punishment for their offences, must bear in mind that it is the desire of those to whom they are entrusted to see them redeem a better position, and that consequently while undergoing penal discipline, they will be afforded an opportunity of showing, by industry and orderly and regular behaviour, that they have acquired such sense of the duties owing to society, and of the obedience due to the laws, as will qualify them at the close of their term of imprisonment to enter on a new career with a fair prospect of being able to make their way as honest and useful members of society.

  2. One uniform system of discipline will prevail. Prisoners of less average intellect will not on that account be more vigorously dealt with than others; but men of a restless disposition will be placed at such description of labour as requires the closest and most unvarying attention, and will be kept least in association where possible.

  3. All prisoners on entering the gaol shall be searched in the presence of an officer, and all articles taken from them shall be entered in a book kept for the purpose, with the signature of the officer who has charge of them, and of the prisoner from whom they are received.

  4. They will then be required to thoroughly wash themselves before they put on the prison clothing, etc., and if sentenced for a longer period than one week their hair will be cut short, and their whiskers and beard shaved.

  5. A list of their clothes, with all money and other property taken from them, will be entered in a book kept for the purpose, with the signature of the officer and the prisoner, and shall be preserved for identification.

  6. Every prisoner is to be kept steadily and constantly at labour. The description of such labour will be permitted until the gaoler shall have completed at least one-third of his sentence with good conduct; when any of them may be selected by the gaoler to act as wardsmen, cooks, or in other such offices.

  7. Complaints by Prisoners.

    They are to pay implicit obedience to all lawful commands they may receive, and they are, on all occasions, to pay proper respect to all persons placed in authority over them.

  8. They are at all times and in all places to conduct themselves with order and quietude, and silence must be strictly observed when marching to and from their place of labour. At no time is any conversation to be permitted beyond what is necessary.

  9. Prisoners having any matters to represent or complaint of must address themselves to the gaoler, whose duty it will be to see justice done to them. They are not however precluded from addressing themselves to the visiting Justices; but they should remember that for making idle or frivolous complaints they will render themselves liable to punishment.

  10. They must answer on all occasions clean in person and in dress. Clothing and bedding will be marked with a number, and this willful loss or damage of any of those articles will be visited with severe punishment.

  11. They shall attend Divine service with the denomination to which they belong at the appointed times, and shall behave themselves with due propriety.

  12. The religious denomination of each prisoner is to be determined by his own statement upon his reception into the prison; and no prisoner is to be allowed to hold intercourse with a clergyman of a different denomination unless extraordinary circumstances should require it, such as immediate prospect of death.

  13. The Sunday shall be kept holy, and as a day of rest. Whenever a clergyman does not attend the prison on that day, prayers will be read by the gaoler.

  14. Prisoners of the Jewish denomination will not be compelled to labour on their Sabbath, but may be employed on any necessary duty on a Sunday.

  15. Each prisoner will be provided with a Bible and Prayer Book, approved by the Religious Denomination to which he belongs, and books of a secular character will also be provided for instruction. The defacing or damaging of any book will be visited with severe punishment.

  16. Prisoners behaving in a refractory manner will be brought before a visiting Justice, who will inflict such lawful punishment as the case may demand. They will on all such occasions be placed in separate confinement to await trial, if necessary in irons.

  17. They are not to have in their possession any articles of food, clothing, &c., except such as shall have been issued to them, and sanctioned by the medical officer or gaoler. All articles of luxury, such as tobacco, are strictly prohibited.

  18. Gambling, dancing, swearing, fighting, singing, and loud conversation, are strictly prohibited.

  19. Prisoners must not leave their place of work without authority.

  20. Any person sleeping out of his own berth will be punished for misconduct.

  21. Prisoners upon reception may write one letter, afterwards they will not be allowed to send or receive letters oftener than once in three months, except through the gaoler, who will inspect them and exercise his own discretion as to their delivery; and they must not hold any communication whatever with any person without his authority. They may however, if well conducted, be permitted to see their friends on the first Saturday in each quarter.

  22. All letters addressed to a friend of the prisoner will be examined as to necessity, and punished for misconduct.

  23. A copy of these regulations shall be suspended in each ward, and shall be read to the prisoners as required.



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Online Sources for this page:

VUW Te Waharoa PDF Southland Provincial Gazette 1867, No 11





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⚖️ Regulations for Prisons and Convicts (continued from previous page)

⚖️ Justice & Law Enforcement
9 April 1867
Prisons, Convicts, Regulations, Discipline, Punishment
  • Sir George Grey, Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty’s Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies
  • H. W. Stafford