The history nerd in me (the part that never dies) could not resist touring Hyde Park Barracks which was Sydney's penal locale. According to the brochure, it housed male convicts from 1819 to 1848, then female immigrants (most, it appears, escaping the Irish famine) from 1848 to 1886 (immigrants but referred to as inmates), then a female destitute asylum 1862-1886, then various government offices and finally a museum in 1979. What a past. And quite eery, even on a a sunny, breezy Sydney day.
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| Charming. |
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| The display of all the layers was quite interesting. Black being the top museum-y layer, then you can see all the colors, the brick itself is the original exposure during the penal period. |
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| The third floor was displayed as accurately as possible from the original days of the building. |
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| Hyde Park Barracks housed 600 men in 12 rooms, in hammocks like these. |
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| This room creeped me out because they piped in recreated convict chatter from seemingly invisible speakers. So suddenly behind you comes, "15 years, and lashings to go with it?" |
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| Quite a few cases of artifacts. What I found most fascinating was that many of the smaller artifacts (such as, but not limited to, fabric pieces shown here) were carried off by rats and used in their nests. When came time to restore the place, and they lifted floorboards, the rats provided a lot of historical material. Thatsalottarats. |
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| From the female "inmate"/immigrant period, an entry in the daily report on one woman, Mary Shand. This made me laugh. |
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