Charles Fossard, a French immigrant living in Australia at the time of his crime, is not only one of the oldest prisoners ever, but Fossard also holds the records for longest prison sentence ever served. Fossard was locked up in the J Ward of Ararat Lunatic Asylum for nearly 71 years before he died at the age of 92. In 1903, Fossard was convicted for killing a man named William Ford in his own home in Skye, Australia. Initially, Fossard was only charged with vagrancy when he was picked up by police 30 miles from the scene of the crime — the police were able to track Fossard down because he had stolen Ford’s boots, which had a unique sole pattern.
Once housed in some of the world’s most notorious prisons, the prisoners could never have thought that their forbidding homes would one day become tourist attractions. These prisons were either home to famous prisoners, well-known from literature, or synonymous with cruelty, which gives them a macabre interest for visitors. Whatever the reasons, many such places are now firmly on the tourist map. t’s America’s best-known federal prison and was its first maximum security prison. Famous inmates include Al Capone and Robert “Birdman” Stroud.
