Edward Mayne, the first Commissioner for Lands to be based in Tamworth, established the first lock-up in 1840, situated where the Woolworths Eastpoint supermarket is now located.

He was responsible for maintaining law-and-order over a huge area to the north, overseeing a police force, and was replaced in due course by Frances Allman and later Roderick Mitchell.

The Australian Agricultural Company, which had arrived at Calala in 1834, established their own lock-up west of the river in the Gipps-Ebsworth Street area, near where the first Courthouse was later built and not far from the Company hospital in Ebsworth Street.

Notorious bushrangers Bradish and Branigan would have been held in this lock-up following their capture in June, 1844. James Johnston was one of the first AA Company lock-up keepers.

Mentioned in the recent TIMES article on Early Tamworth Postal Services as our first postman, James came to Australia in 1838 on the "Coromandel" as an assisted migrant.

During the voyage from Ireland he served as a warder of convicts, which may well have equipped him as the lock-up keeper for the AA Company.

Also mentioned previously is the fact that James became a "jack-of-all-trades", working as a chief constable (Murrurundi) and later in Tamworth as a shoe-repairer and then an auctioneer, before filling his postman role.

In 1859 a new lock-up was built on a block of land where Billabong Clubhouse is now situated near the PCYC, the latter being the site of Tamworth's second (1861) Courthouse.

The Watch-House / Lock-up was made from timber slabs with stone foundations and contained four rooms, including two cells (12 feet by 9 feet), a keeper's room and a bedroom. Within a year there had been two breakouts and another narrowly averted. The number of cells was gradually increased to five over the years.

The first of five hangings in Tamworth took place in the Gaol/Courthouse vicinity on June 18, 1876, that of Somerton farmer Michael Connolly, convicted of murdering his wife.

Work commenced on the current Johnston Street Gaol (now Tamworth Correctional Centre) in 1879, and it opened its doors (so to speak!) on March 10, 1881.

Within 6 months of opening the new Gaol had 47 inmates with a staff of 6, the present capacity being around 80.

The Gaol was closed in 1943, being taken over by the Army as a Detention Centre, supplementing their lock-up facility at Scully Park.

In 1948 the complex was reconstituted as the Institute for Boys/Tamworth, referred to unofficially as "The Boy's Home".

Ages of the inmates ranged from 15 to 18. In 1970 a total of 65 boys passed through the Institute.

The subsequent unfortunate adult history of many of the inmates must question how effective the correctional aspect of the Institution was.

A general feeling was that the word "institution" was obnoxious, and in 1976 the name was changed to Endeavour House.

The originally tough, spartan youth institution was closed in early 1990.

After some local community opposition, the present refurbished Tamworth Correctional Centre was opened on the same site, with 66 places being filled.

The centre has filled this role through to the present day.