BRISBANE'S CONVICT HISTORY
on 9 July 1828, sixteen men in the gaol gang started work on the Commissariat Store foundations. Preparation for the retaining wall and the foundations of the Commissariat Store took almost four months to complete. Convicts had to cut into the high phyllite rock bank of William Street, involving the removal of a large amount of rock to allow for construction of a porphyry retaining wall and to level the site for the building. Digging was a punishment for the ‘worst description of men’. The convicts in the gaol gang were always shackled and worked from sunrise to sunset. |
THIS DRAWING WAS DONE FROM SOUTHBANK. THE 'MILL' IS ON THE HILL TO THE LEFT OF THE DRAWING. THE Commissariat STORE BUILDING IS BEHIND THE BUILDINGS ON THE WATERFRONT.
Daily Life of Convicts - Housing
When Lieutenant Henry Millar first arrived at the site of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement, ‘not a moment [was] to be lost in constructing huts for the soldiers and convicts.’ As a result, buildings were initially constructed of timber slabs.
The construction of the more permanent convict barracks was completed in 1828 and was designed for 200 prisoners, though at times would have housed some 1000.
The building where the prisoners slept (the barracks) was divided up into wards for the different classes…the beds the poor fellows had to lie on were merely movable boards six feet long and two feet wide, and these were supported by ledges one higher than the other, so as to cause a slant from the head downwards to the feet. Also at the higher end a piece of timber rounded of and nailed there served as a pillow.
Although more established, the conditions at the barracks were still rudimentary and convicts enjoyed little comfort. In fact, the settlement was never supplied with straw mattresses so it is likely that convicts slept in hammocks or on the floor prior to the construction of their wooden beds.
The building where the prisoners slept (the barracks) was divided up into wards for the different classes…the beds the poor fellows had to lie on were merely movable boards six feet long and two feet wide, and these were supported by ledges one higher than the other, so as to cause a slant from the head downwards to the feet. Also at the higher end a piece of timber rounded of and nailed there served as a pillow.
Although more established, the conditions at the barracks were still rudimentary and convicts enjoyed little comfort. In fact, the settlement was never supplied with straw mattresses so it is likely that convicts slept in hammocks or on the floor prior to the construction of their wooden beds.
Clothing
Convict ‘slop’ clothing was provided by the government. Each article of clothing was painted back and front with the number of the convict. According to the regulations, each male convict was issued with two shirts, two frocks (a type of jacket), two pairs of shoes, and two pairs of trousers per year. Trousers unbuttoned at the sides so they could be removed over leg irons. First class prisoners were issued with blue jackets to distinguish themselves from the grey jackets of the general convict population. The wives and children of convicts were also entitled to slop clothing from the public stores.
Interestingly, winter clothing was not provided at Moreton Bay until 1836 when the Commandant and the settlement’s surgeon convinced the government that the weather necessitated it.
Convict ‘slop’ clothing was provided by the government. Each article of clothing was painted back and front with the number of the convict. According to the regulations, each male convict was issued with two shirts, two frocks (a type of jacket), two pairs of shoes, and two pairs of trousers per year. Trousers unbuttoned at the sides so they could be removed over leg irons. First class prisoners were issued with blue jackets to distinguish themselves from the grey jackets of the general convict population. The wives and children of convicts were also entitled to slop clothing from the public stores.
Interestingly, winter clothing was not provided at Moreton Bay until 1836 when the Commandant and the settlement’s surgeon convinced the government that the weather necessitated it.
Food
Convict rations were basic and unappetising, consisting mainly of maize meal and salted beef, which was ‘unpleasant, sometimes rotten and often uneatable’.
The settlement produces chiefly corn, which grows in great abundance…and is the main support of the prisoners. The rations allowed to these unfortunate sufferers being per day one pound of salt beef, a pound and a half of corn meal made into cakes or small loaves, twelve ounces of which is made into a sort of porridge called [hominy], and one ounce of sugar; and this comprises each man’s rations
J. Harrison and J. G. Steele, eds., The Fell Tyrant (Brisbane: Royal Historical Society of Queensland, 2003), 40.
As a reward for their good behaviour, first class prisoners received one ounce of tobacco in addition to their rations.
A variety of fruit and vegetables were grown in the government gardens at Moreton Bay, including: cabbage, carrots, pumpkins, potatoes, peas, bananas, oranges, apples, mangoes, and grapes. However, this produce was usually reserved for the Commandant and officials. In the later years of the settlement when crops were abundant, prisoners were rewarded with vegetables.
Convict rations were basic and unappetising, consisting mainly of maize meal and salted beef, which was ‘unpleasant, sometimes rotten and often uneatable’.
The settlement produces chiefly corn, which grows in great abundance…and is the main support of the prisoners. The rations allowed to these unfortunate sufferers being per day one pound of salt beef, a pound and a half of corn meal made into cakes or small loaves, twelve ounces of which is made into a sort of porridge called [hominy], and one ounce of sugar; and this comprises each man’s rations
J. Harrison and J. G. Steele, eds., The Fell Tyrant (Brisbane: Royal Historical Society of Queensland, 2003), 40.
As a reward for their good behaviour, first class prisoners received one ounce of tobacco in addition to their rations.
A variety of fruit and vegetables were grown in the government gardens at Moreton Bay, including: cabbage, carrots, pumpkins, potatoes, peas, bananas, oranges, apples, mangoes, and grapes. However, this produce was usually reserved for the Commandant and officials. In the later years of the settlement when crops were abundant, prisoners were rewarded with vegetables.
Health
Sickness and injury were daily realities at the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement. Overcrowding of prisoners, an inadequate diet, and bad hygiene were the key factors contributing to poor health. Epidemics of dysentery, trachoma and malaria contributed to the 220 deaths at the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement. Improvements in diet and living conditions at Moreton Bay gradually led to better health.
In addition, primary sources report that convicts often injured themselves to avoid hard labour: ‘I have known them actually cut off their fingers to avoid having the labour to perform’. Whether this practice was common, however, is unclear given the likelihood that they would have returned to labouring following treatment of their injury. Convicts were also admitted to hospital after severe floggings
The construction of the general hospital was completed in 1826 and was staffed by a surgeon.
Sickness and injury were daily realities at the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement. Overcrowding of prisoners, an inadequate diet, and bad hygiene were the key factors contributing to poor health. Epidemics of dysentery, trachoma and malaria contributed to the 220 deaths at the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement. Improvements in diet and living conditions at Moreton Bay gradually led to better health.
In addition, primary sources report that convicts often injured themselves to avoid hard labour: ‘I have known them actually cut off their fingers to avoid having the labour to perform’. Whether this practice was common, however, is unclear given the likelihood that they would have returned to labouring following treatment of their injury. Convicts were also admitted to hospital after severe floggings
The construction of the general hospital was completed in 1826 and was staffed by a surgeon.
Punishment
Given Moreton Bay Penal Settlement was established as a place of secondary punishment for repeat offenders, the nature of the punishment was particularly severe. Convicts could be sentenced to hard labour in leg irons, flogging, solitary confinement, or the treadmill, or a combination of these for misconduct.
Leg irons
The most common form of punishment at Moreton Bay was the wearing of heavy leg irons. Tom Petrie describes how leg irons were worn:
The chains were some two feet long between the legs, and in the middle of each was a small ring with a string through it, which, being connected to the prisoner’s belt, kept the irons from dragging on the ground during motion…Prisoners wearing chains had a particular way of walking, and you would see the poor fellows released after six months or so, going along as though they still wore them.
Constance Campbell Petrie, Tom Petrie's Reminiscences of Early Queensland (London: Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1983), 244-245.
Convicts wearing leg irons were subject to the hardest labour and worked in groups called chain gangs.
Flogging
Flogging was a standard punishment for convicts at Moreton Bay and was carried out using a ‘cat-o’ nine-tails’. Prisoners were ‘stripped naked and tied to the triangle by hands and feet, so that they could not move’. As they were being flogged, an overseer would count aloud the number of lashes. The other convicts at the settlement were made to witness the spectacle as a means of discouraging bad behaviour. Convicts received to between 25 and 200 lashes, depending on their offence.
Treadmill
The treadmill, which was attached to the Windmill in 1829, was not only a form of mass punishment but served as a useful way to grind grain quickly. The treadmill was 12 metres long and had steps 22 centimetres wide. Prisoners were able to hold on to a handrail while they climbed the ‘everlasting staircase’.
You would hear the “click, click” of their irons as they kept step with the wheel, and those with the heavier irons seemed to have “a great job” to keep up. Some poor wretches only just managed to pull through till they got off at the far end, then they sat down till their turn came to go on again. They all had to do so many hours, according to their sentence; an overseer kept the time, and a couple of soldiers guarded them.