Convict Braces & Belts
1819–1848
Convict ‘slop’ clothing was one-size-fits-all, so some convicts had to improvise ways to keep up their baggy trousers, otherwise known as kickseys, in the convict 'flash' slang language. These braces and leather belts, found by archaeologists beneath the floors of Hyde Park Barracks, were probably designed for this purpose. Made from two recycled linen strips with buttonholes, the makeshift braces were made to fit a small man or even a boy, perhaps about 160cm tall. The fragments of yellow woollen ‘Parramatta’ cloth and the button holes are evidence that these strips were originally part of a pair of government-issue yellow and brown/black punishment suit trousers. Issued to convicts undergoing secondary sentences, the sides of these pants were fastened with buttons, which allowed the wearer to fit the pants on over his leg irons. The leather belts are also improvised, sewn together from two mis-matched strips of leather, with their buckles attached at one end with rough stitching and string.
The slops [convict clothing] appear to be given out in the most indiscriminate manner, without the least regard to fitting. ...a man standing six feet, and built in proportion, will be presented with a suit to fit a dwarf, and vice versa
Sydney Herald, 23 February 1835.2
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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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