Day 18

In the morning I decide to find out more about Sydney's historical roots so I take a trip to Hyde Park Barracks Museum. It was built between 1817 and 1819 to provide secure night lodging for government assigned male convicts. The central building served as a dormitory for an average of 600 mean sleeping in hammocks in 12 rooms. During the day the inmates would go out to various work places in Sydney, returning for their meals and at night for sleep. The men were transported from European countries on ships. Most of the convicts were from poor families and were arrested for small crimes such as stealing bread. The youngest convict was only eight years old. On the ships the convicts lived in cramped conditions. It was hard to keep the food fresh on the ship so they had bad diets and many of them would get vomiting and diahorea which would spread diseases.

Soon there were too many male workers in Sydney so between 1848 and 1886 single females were sent from Europe to marry these men. This way they could have children and the children could work when they were old enough. These women were also needed as servants for rich Australian families.

In 1887 Hyde Park Barracks was turned into Court and Government Offices. It was used as a court house and legal offices until it was changed into a museum in 1979.