Cooking cauldron
Board of Ordnance, 1846
The watery stew eaten by convicts at Hyde Park Barracks was boiled in giant communal cast iron pots like this one, into which the cooks threw the meat rations and any available vegetables such as cabbage, potato, onions or turnips. This pot, which can hold a few hundred litres of soup or stew, bears the year 1845, the broad arrow, and ‘B.O.’ for Board of Ordnance, the government department that issued all supplies to the convict establishments.
Barracks men were allocated to ‘mess’ groups of six, who ate together. One man from each mess organised the ration. Depending on how many men were in the Barracks at any time, there were between 100 and 250 mess groups. Observers known as ‘delegates’ were stationed in the kitchen to make sure convict cooks allocated the rations fairly. Although it was against the rules, convicts often bartered their rationed food for other things they wanted.
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Convict Sydney
Objects
These convict-era objects and archaeological artefacts found at Hyde Park Barracks and The Mint (Rum Hospital) are among the rarest and most personal artefacts to have survived from Australia’s early convict period
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Bible & Prayer Book
The name and the date 1837 written inside the covers tell us they once belonged to an English brass founder named Thomas Bagnall
Convict Sydney
Jaw harp
This iron jaw harp was found by archaeologists at Hyde Park Barracks alongside other convict-era objects
Convict Sydney
Clock-winding crank
This sturdy crank was used for many years to wind the Hyde Park Barracks clock
Convict Sydney
Hack barrow
Convict brickmakers working at the Brickfields (now Haymarket) used hack barrows like this one, stacking 20 or 30 wet bricks on the timber palings along the top, for transporting them from the moulding table to the ‘hack’ yard for drying
Convict Sydney
Cupping glasses & scarificator
These cupping glasses are of the type that was used in the treatment of convict patients at the General ‘Rum’ Hospital
Convict Sydney
Brass stamp
Between 1830 and 1848, the superintendent’s office operated from the Hyde Park Barracks, where this stamp was most likely used, on official documents and ledgers
Convict Sydney
Convict gaming tokens
These bone, ceramic, and wooden gaming tokens appear to have been hand-carved by convicts from rubbish scraps and animal bones saved from their meals
Convict Sydney
What was convict assignment?
‘Assignment’ meant that a convict worked for a private landowner
Convict Sydney
Clay tobacco pipe
There were 1500 fragments of convict-era clay tobacco pipes recovered by archaeologists from Hyde Park Barracks
Convict Sydney
Clay tobacco pipes, repaired
Known as steamers to the convicts, these tobacco pipes have been repaired with resin and twine where their fragile stems broke