Clock-winding crank
c1819
This sturdy crank was used for many years to wind the Hyde Park Barracks clock which, with its hourly chime, dictated the daily routine of all the convicts in Sydney. This crank was probably first used by convict clockmaker James Oatley, who was paid 75 pounds to install the new clock in 1818-9. The Barracks clock was the convict’s master, but was often unreliable and became a talking point for Sydney’s townspeople, deceiving them ‘eleven times out of twelve that it strikes’. It was considered ‘incurable’ until the workings were replaced in 1837 with parts made by Vulliamy of London.
The Hyde Park Barracks clock is one of the oldest public timepieces in Australia. Even today, the Hyde Park Barracks clock and bell weights are still wound, once a week, with 28 revolutions of a more modern crank.
… the Hyde Park Barracks clock is so much out of repair. This horological prototype of its thrifty owner, manages to deceive us eleven times out of twelve that it strikes…
‘Sans Montre’, The Australian, 10 August 1827, 2.
More artefacts
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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Bible & Prayer Book
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Jaw harp
This iron jaw harp was found by archaeologists at Hyde Park Barracks alongside other convict-era objects
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Hack barrow
Convict brickmakers working at the Brickfields (now Haymarket) used hack barrows like this one, stacking 20 or 30 wet bricks on the timber palings along the top, for transporting them from the moulding table to the ‘hack’ yard for drying
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Cupping glasses & scarificator
These cupping glasses are of the type that was used in the treatment of convict patients at the General ‘Rum’ Hospital
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Convict gaming tokens
These bone, ceramic, and wooden gaming tokens appear to have been hand-carved by convicts from rubbish scraps and animal bones saved from their meals
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What was convict assignment?
‘Assignment’ meant that a convict worked for a private landowner
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Clay tobacco pipe
There were 1500 fragments of convict-era clay tobacco pipes recovered by archaeologists from Hyde Park Barracks
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Cooking cauldron
The watery stew eaten by convicts at Hyde Park Barracks was boiled in giant communal cast iron pots
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Clay tobacco pipes, repaired
Known as steamers to the convicts, these tobacco pipes have been repaired with resin and twine where their fragile stems broke
Convict Sydney
Clay Tobacco Pipe
This tobacco pipe with its bowl in the shape of a man’s head was recovered by archaeologists at Hyde Park Barracks