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Hyde Park Barracks Museum. Photograph (c) Patrick Bingham Hall
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Around 50,000 convict men and boys passed through the barracks between 1819 and 1848. Most had been charged with property crimes in British courts and served terms of life, 7 or 14 years transportation. Typically, their lives were governed by rigid rules, discipline and hard, monotonous work although for some, good conduct or useful skills brought rewards, indulgences and positions of responsibility.

Barracks convicts were mustered daily and marched to worksites around town. In gangs, they built the docks, roads, churches, hospitals, quarries, bridges and fortifications of early Sydney. Their tools, equipment, food and clothing were supplied by gangs of convict cobblers, weavers, bakers, hat makers, grass cutters, gardeners, wheelwrights, carpenters and blacksmiths. From 1830 courts of General Sessions were held at the Barracks. Convicts and employers put their complaints to visiting magistrates who determined various penalties. Punishments could include the cruel treadmill, flogging, a stint in leg irons, solitary confinement, reassignment to a distant road gang or, worst of all, Cockatoo Island.

RECREATING THE GUARDHOUSE DOMES

View across St James' Square showing the guardhouses with their original domes and the corner pavilion.Plans are underway to reconstruct the twin domes of the guardhouses, demolished in the 1850s. More Information
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IRISH ORPHAN GIRLS AND HYDE PARK BARRACKS

Irish Orphan Hannah Rafferty c1890
Irish Orphan girls for hire at the Barracks. Going cheap, going fast…
More Information
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RESEARCH PROJECT

ARCHAEOLOGY PARTNERSHIP

Artefacts recovered during the restoration of the Hyde Park Barracks during the 1980s are currently the subject of a major research project at La Trobe University. Read more

Location: Queens Square, Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000

Contact: 02 8239 2311

Admission:

  •  Adult $10 I
  •  Child/Concession $5 |
  •  Family $20 |
  •  Members free |
  • Wheelchair access

Hours: Daily 9.30am — 5.00pm | Closed Good Friday and Christmas Day

Transport:

Language guide:

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