Tom Glover’s Rare Glimpse of Pentridge Prison’s Brass Band
- pentridgemuseum
- May 17
- 2 min read
 A few weeks ago, I received an email from Philip Glover, a grandson of Australian cartoonist Tom Glover (1891-1938) who had come across an original cartoon connected to Pentridge Prison and its brass band. Philip had been researching his grandfather’s work and was hoping to uncover where and when the cartoon had originally been published. Over the following weeks, Philip carried out extensive research with assistance from the Australian Cartoonists’ Association, the National Library of Australia, and the State Library of Victoria. The cartoon was eventually traced to The Sun (Sydney), published on 19 June 1935 on page 13 under the title They Take Their Time from the Judge. The drawing appears to have been inspired by reports about Beechworth Gaol prisoners receiving musical instruments, prompting Chief Warder J. Bowen to boast that Pentridge had the finest prison music programme and brass band in the state. The discovery was particularly significant because visual material relating to the Pentridge Prison Brass Band is extremely rare. So far, not one photograph of the band has been located. Not long before Philip contacted me, in November 2025, I had attended a talk by librarian and secondary school instrumental music teacher Jeremy de Korte on prison and community brass bands, hosted by Coburg Historical Society, where I learned that Pentridge reportedly had the fourth prison brass band in the world. Seeing Tom Glover’s humorous cartoon featuring prison brass instruments therefore felt like an extraordinary discovery. Jeremy was equally excited by the find and later updated his blog with the cartoon — well worth a read for anyone interested in the history of prison and community brass bands. The exchange highlighted the importance of family archives, community research, and collaboration in uncovering overlooked parts of Pentridge’s history. In the apparent absence of surviving photographs of the prison band, Tom Glover’s 1935 cartoon may be the only known visual depiction of the group found to date. LINKS
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Philip Glover has kindly allowed his grandfather’s cartoon to be added to the Pentridge Prison Online Museum collection. I particularly enjoyed the personal connection with Philip and appreciated that he included me in his research journey. It was a pleasure to follow the discovery process together and to see his grandfather’s work connected back to the history of Pentridge.  |
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