Branding Iron
Early to mid nineteenth century
Branding irons like this one with the ‘broad arrow’ mark were used to brand government-owned property livestock such as cattle and sheep as well as items made from timber. Every item made or used by government convicts had to be marked or stamped with a broad arrow, the mark of government property, to prevent theft and the selling-on of government goods and tools. The broad arrow was so widely used to mark objects used by convicts, that it became associated with the convict system itself, rather than just a symbol of government property. Some even said that the convicts themselves were marked with the arrow, since they were effectively government property too.
The Police have been so much on the alert for some time past, and have succeeded in stamping the broad arrow on so many notorious characters, that the streets are tolerably quiet just now.
Sydney Gazette, 25 March 1830, 2.
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Convict Sydney
Objects
These convict-era objects and archaeological artefacts found at Hyde Park Barracks and The Mint (Rum Hospital) are among the rarest and most personal artefacts to have survived from Australia’s early convict period
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