Deborah Prison Hulk: prison profile
VIC | Decommissioned | Australian Prison Directory
Source-linked profile checked 2026-11-12. Dates and capacities below describe the stated source period, not necessarily today’s available beds or prisoner population.
About this facility
A separate Victorian prison hulk, initially associated with the detention of seamen. After a period of disuse it also housed a child institution from 1864. Its public-prison designation was revoked in 1869, reinstated while moored off Sandridge in 1871, and finally revoked in March 1878. These legal changes do not establish uninterrupted adult-prison occupation.
Classification: Historical prison hulk with a separate juvenile reformatory/industrial-school phase; modern security categories not assigned retrospectively
One record per named vessel. Shared anchorages, relocations, later non-penal use and the collective “Victorian prison hulks” are not additional facilities.
Contact details
Address: Historic moorings in Hobsons Bay, including off Williamstown and later Sandridge (Port Melbourne), VIC; no current prison street address
No current dedicated contact verified.
No operating prison or dedicated visitor contact; historical vessel moorings are not present-day prison addresses.
The original 1855 notice twice gives the first prison proclamation as 1 February 1853; the later 1869 revocation recites 2 February. This record explicitly follows the earlier 1855 wording, rather than treating the exact day as universally agreed. The formal prison-designation periods and the juvenile institutional phase overlap in historical accounts. This record preserves the vessel identity without equating all residents with adult prisoners. The 1885 disposal of the vessel is not its prison closure.
Opening, closure and history
Opening: 1853-02-01 — Initial public-prison proclamation as expressly recited in the 1855 boundary notice
Closing: 1878-03-04 — Final revocation of the public-prison proclamation; gazetted 8 March
1855: Prisoners moved to Lysander and Deborah fell into disuse, according to the historical study
1864: Child-institution/reformatory use began; not treated as continuous adult-prison operation
1869-02-11: Public-prison designation revoked; gazetted 19 February
1871-06-14: Reproclaimed a public prison while lying off Sandridge; gazetted 17 June
Capacity
Capacity has not yet been independently verified.
Deaths in custody: totals and limitations
No complete facility-level series is established here for suicide, medical or natural causes, homicide, other causes, Aboriginal deaths or combined Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths. Missing data does not mean zero deaths. Selected cases below, where available, are not lifetime or reporting-period totals. “Murder” is a legal conclusion and is not substituted for a source’s classification.
Photograph
No verified licensed photograph is installed in this profile. No stock or generated image is presented as a photograph of this prison.
Sources
Using this profile
Confirm visiting arrangements and current contacts with the corrections department or heritage operator. Heritage visitor contacts are not operational prison contacts. General information only, not legal advice.
This directory includes prison complexes and components and is not a complete Australian operational or historical census. Component capacities must not be added to their parent complex a second time.
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