convict life

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convict life
by
Sophie lowe
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convict life
A convict's life was neither easy nor pleasant.
The work was hard, accommodation rough and ready
and the food none too palatable. Nevertheless the
sense of community offered small comforts when
convicts met up with their mates from the hulks
back home, or others who had been transported on
the same ship.
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convict food
Breakfast One roll and a bowl of skilly, a
porridge-like dish made from oatmeal, water, and
if they were lucky, scrapings meat.Lunch A
large bread roll and a pound of dried, salted
meat.Dinner One bread roll and, if they were
lucky, a cup of tea.
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For those convicts who remained in Sydney,
lodgings were available in a neighbourhood called
The Rocks. It was a fairly free community with
few restrictions on daily life. Here, husbands
and wives could be assigned to each other and
some businesses were even opened by convicts
still under sentence. The Rocks became notorious
for drunkenness, prostitution, filth and
thieving, and in 1819 Governor Macquarie built
Hyde Park Barracks, which afforded greater
security. Those sent to work in other towns or in
the bush were often given food and lodging by
their employer. The road projects and penal
colonies offered far less comfortable
accommodation, often with 20 sweaty bodies
crammed into a small hut.
convict housing
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the end