President 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 distinct floating prison in Hobsons Bay, occupied from December 1852. It initially imposed severe isolation and restraint on long-sentence prisoners. Archival administrative coverage ends in 1858, while a later Gazette proclamation formally ended its legal use as a public prison in August 1860.
Classification: Historical punishment hulk; 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 off Williamstown, Hobsons Bay 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.
PROV’s agency span [1852–1858] and the 20 August 1860 legal discontinuation describe different evidence. Do not silently replace one with the other.
Opening, closure and history
Opening: 1852-12-15 — Prisoners first occupied the hulk
Closing: 1860-08-20 — Proclamation discontinued the vessel as a public prison; published 24 August
1853-02-01: Public-prison proclamation recited in the 1860 discontinuation notice
Capacity
84 prisoners: Historical prisoner capacity reported in the PROV agency history. Reference date: 1853. Scope: President hulk during its 1853 punitive regime. Historical capacity, not admissions, punishment episodes or modern beds.
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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