Print, Photographic
Guelph Museums
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| Nom de l'objet : | Print, Photographic |
| Titre : | Trade Shop at the Ontario Reformatory |
| Catégorie de l'objet : | 8: Communication Artifact |
| Sous-catégorie de l'objet : | Documentary Artifact |
| Médium : | Photographic Paper |
| Numéro d'accession : | 2004.14.17 |
| Culture : | Canadian |
| Date de début de production : | 1912 |
| Date de fin de production : | 1917 |
| Date absolue : | circa 1915 |
| Description : | Black and white photograph mounted on grey mat board of the trade shop under construction at the reformatory. The building is stone structure with large windows. There is some scaffolding in front of the building and there is a large pile of stone on the ground in front of the building. |
| Commentaires : | At the turn of the 20th century there was a trend to reform the provincial prison system by moving prisons out of the cities and getting prisoners out into the country and "back on the land". In 1907, Provincial Secretary W. J. Hanna suggested moving the Toronto city prison to the country and over the next few years the legislature adopted the idea and an area just outside of Guelph was chosen as the ideal location. The site just two miles outside of the City (in 1909) had good agricultural land, a large supply of stone, suitable for manufacture of lime and the construction of roads and buildings, lots of sand and gravel, close to the railway, close to a city to minimize costs of transporting prisoners, and a site that had good drinking water. The reformatory was designed by architect John Lyle of Toronto and construction of the building was started in 1910 and 14 inmates and 2 officers were quartered in one of the farm houses to start working the land and as more accomodations were built, more inmates arrived. The reformatory is located on 830 acres of land. The central prison building was laid out very differently from other prisons in that all of the cells face directly outside, to maximize the amount of sunshine and fresh air in each cell. Each cell building had three floors with 13 cells on each floor. The Dormitory buildings also have three floors with 3 dormitories on each floor. A dormitory has accomodation for 22-25 men and also had toilet facilities. The Administration building, Connecting Link, Guard Tower and Machine Shop are all built of limestone quarried on the premises. The other buildings are all built of reinforced concrete tile which were the first of this type of tile made in Ontario and they were made by the inmates made from cement and stone and sand found on the premises. All sash, frames, doors and trims were made by inmates in the workshops. During the construction a totla of 275-300 inmates were employed in building operations, farming and gardening, dairy, and the development of the grounds. The Provincial Secretary had laid down a policy that as much as possible all goods consumed on the premises should be manufactured on the premises, so a Woolen Mill, Machine Shop, Broom Shop, Tailor Shop, Woodworking Shop, Creamery, Lime Kiln, Hydrator, Plaster Plant, Ston Crusher, Abattoir and Clay Plant were operated on site. In 1911 when the building first opened, the prison housed inmates who deemed criminally insane. From September 1917 to November 1920, the reformatory became known as Speedwell Military Hospital and it was a convalescent home for Canadian soldiers who had been wounded or disabled during WWI. By 1919 the hospital held 900 disabled veterans and about half were bed ridden while the other half were being rehabilitated by learning new trades like woodworking, mechanics and horticulture. There was also a ward for soldiers who had tuberculosis. This ward was kept unheated, as this was the believed method of treatment at the time. During the time that the reformatory was a hospital, many renovations took place to make it look less like a prison. It took about eight months for the transformation to take place. The hospital closed in 1920 and one of the precipitating factors was a strike by the 18 nurses on staff who were outraged at the firing of one of their colleagues. There were also complaints about the conditions of the Tuberculosis wards and within a few months, the hospital closed. The building became a reformatory again and has been through many things. In 1962 an attempted riot by prisoners was stopped with tear gas. In 1973 the first female corrections officer was hired and in 1974 a corrections officer was stabbed twice in the chest and hit over the head in an escape attempt. Renovations were also done in that year, knocking down some of the walls. In 1975, staff underwent training in behaviour modification techniques and the first neuropsychiatric clinic in the province opened at the Reformatory. In 1975 a program was also developped in which inmates raised money for foster children and they also started working with developmentally challenged children. In 1977 First Nations inmates developed the Native Sons programme for social, cultural and religious ceremonies. In 1978 , an Ontario Ombudsman's report stated that the Guelph facility was overcrowded and understaffed with dungeon like detention cells. Inmates supported a national protest and refused to eat lunch as they were concerned over inadequate medical and psychiatric care, por quality food and lack of fire protection. In 1979 a riot erupted involving 140 prisoners, most of them drunk from liquor made with kitchen peelings smuggled into the cells. Damage was estimated at $37,000 and seven men escaped. In 1979, the reform atory's problems weren't over as 300 OPSEU correctyional officers went on a short but illegal strike. In 1982 the union warned that offiers morale was dangerously low and that conditions were too lenient in the prison resulting 40 - 45 breakouts a year. In 1996 the Ontario government announced that the jail would close due to costs and the jail closed in 2001. |
| Fonctions : | This photo shows the trade shop that also housed 170 inmates on the seconde floor and had the dining rooms and kitchen on the first floor. This photo belonged to Garnet Smallacombe who was the painting foreman at the Ontario Reformatory from 1912 until1917. Garnet was born on Easter sunday (no date) 1878 in Hensall, ON. Garnet started working in the printing industry after leaving school, by working as a typesetter for the Hensall Observer. In his twenties he took up the painting trade and in 1912 he moved from Hensall to Guelph to become the painting foreman for the Ontario Reformatory.Garnet left the Reformatory in 1917 to work for A. T. Pass before starting up his own painting business in 1925. Garnet was still painting at the age of 75 in 1955. Garnet married Florence Howard of Guelph in 1912 and they lived at 30 Powell St. W. and raised two children, Gordon and Orilla. Orilla later became Mrs. George Pitcher.The trade shop housed 170 inmates on the 2nd floor and had the dining rooms and kitchen on the first floor.The Reformatory was designed by architect John Lyle of Toronto and construction of the building was started in 1910. |
| Unité de mesure linéaire : | cm |
| Établissement : |
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| Ville de l'établissement : | Guelph |
| Province de l'établissement : | Ontario |
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