Author uncovers forgotten history of Halifax prison

Rockhead Prison opened in the 1860s. (Source: Stephen Archibald)

Is a prison a person? Most people would say no, but in Katie Ingram’s newest telling of the history of a forgotten Halifax institution, a prison takes on human characteristics.

“It dates back to when I was writing my first book about the Halifax Explosion,” Ingram said. “A good friend said you have to start with a person. That stuck in the back of my head.

“Maybe I have to personify (the prison), make it seem like it’s this person who did all this work.”

Ingram introduces Rockhead Prison, the former imposing building in the north end of Halifax, as a person who has weathered constant changes, short supplies and endless criticism as part of her job.

“People bad mouthed it all the time,” she said. “If I used that and gave it this personality, people are going to connect to it more and the stories of the people there.”

Ingram traces the history of the prison from its construction to its demolition in her new book “The Undesirables,” which will be released later this month. The book stems from an article Ingram wrote about prisons in 2017.

“Rockhead stuck with me,” she said.

Located on Gottingen and Leeds streets (at a site now occupied by the Nova Scotia Community College), the Rockhead Prison opened in 1860 in response to the city’s bridewell, a correctional institution with a rough reputation.

“They wanted to build a better place,” Ingram said.

Despite those lofty ideals, Ingram said Rockhead earned a poor reputation as well for its lack of proper ventilation and even its shortage of proper utensils for prisoners to use for their food.

As part of her research, she managed to talk with a former prison guard at Rockhead, which closed its doors in the late 1960s, and they told her some prisoners still used buckets instead of bathroom facilities.

“It seems like they didn’t allot a lot of funds to it,” she said.

Ingram, who consulted with archives and newspapers for her research, said she discovered several stories of people who tried to escape the prison, including someone who tried to pole vault over the wall using a wheelbarrow.

Little remains of Rockhead Prison now as its demolition and the march of time have removed every trace of its daunting façade. Ingram hopes her book will be able to preserve the legacy of an institution that loomed over the city for more than a century.

“I hope readers see a part of Halifax’s history that was important for 100 years,” she said. “I hope they find the history of it interesting but I hope they see how Halifax has changed because of development. You wouldn’t be able to tell a prison was there.”

“The Undesirables” will be released on Sept. 30 through Pottersfield Press. Ingram will have a book launch at the University of King’s College’s New Academic Building at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 4.

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