Online Exhibit: Oxford County Gaol

The Oxford County Archives has launched a new online exhibit which covers the history of the County Gaol. 

By Liz Dommasch, County Archivist

Over the summer, Archives staff worked hard to pull together a new online exhibit on the Oxford County Gaol, which is now available on our website.

Built in 1854, the Oxford County Gaol was the fifth jail built in the Province of Ontario, behind Picton, Belleville, Goderich and London. Operational for 122 years, it was closed by the Province in 1977, when it was felt that a more modern central location would be preferable for the sake of prisoners in the region. With the closure, concerns were raised over the future of the building, which led the County to preserve and renovate the jail in the early 1980s into office space for the Oxford County Board of Health. It now houses the Woodstock location of Southwestern Public Health.

The new online exhibit highlights not only the history and architectural of the building, but it also provides a fascinating insight into the day to day administration of the jail and what it was like for prisoners housed there within its walls. In addition, the exhibit provides information on the inmates themselves (which include men, women and children) by highlighting some of the more interesting prisoners and the crimes they committed. It also delves into the five hangings that occurred between 1862 and 1954, which included one woman, Lizzie Tilford in 1935, as well as the case of Timothy Topping, who was scheduled to hang at the Gaol but never made it to the gallows.

The exhibit also includes a searchable index of prisoners from 1869-1925, based on the Return of Prisoners Lists (Quarterly Reports submitted by the County Sheriff to the Province). This list can be searched by name or crime and shows how long a prisoner was house at the jail and when. It’s interesting to see what crimes were committed, as they varied from the most severe such as murder, rape, and assault to the quirky, such as a thirty day sentence, in 1876, for illegally practicing as a psychic, and a three day sentence in 1921 for cruelty to chickens.

We hope you enjoy exploring the various sections of the exhibit! For further information on the gaol and to access the original records associated with it, please contact Archives Staff.