Candelabrum

Silver-plated three-branch candelabrum decorated with vine leaves, c.1880s. Engraved: “Presented by the Officers of H.M. Gaol, Melbourne, to Peter Dwyer, Esqr., Governor, on his removal to Pentridge.”

Peter Dwyer (1826–1913) arrived in Victoria in 1852 and worked in the Victorian Gaols Department from the 1850s. He served at several country and metropolitan gaols, became Governor of Melbourne Gaol in the early 1880s, and was appointed Governor of the Penal Establishment at Pentridge on 13 May 1889. He died in July 1913 at Riddells Creek, Victoria.

A report of the presentation appeared in The Age on 14 May 1889.

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The Age, Tue 14 May 1889 reported:

“Colonel Bull, the lately appointed governor of the Melbourne Gaol, took over the charge of the establishment yesterday, and was given the keys by Mr. Peter Dwyer, the retiring governor.

The prisoners were all marshalled in the yard of the gaol on the occasion. To them the colonel addressed a few words, expressing the hope that they would continue to behave themselves as well as they had done formerly.

He added that he would endeavor, whilst carrying out proper discipline, to see that they were always treated with fairness.” (*