Cooking cauldron

Board of Ordnance, 1846

The watery stew eaten by convicts at Hyde Park Barracks was boiled in giant communal cast iron pots like this one, into which the cooks threw the meat rations and any available vegetables such as cabbage, potato, onions or turnips. This pot, which can hold a few hundred litres of soup or stew, bears the year 1845, the broad arrow, and ‘B.O.’ for Board of Ordnance, the government department that issued all supplies to the convict establishments.

Barracks men were allocated to ‘mess’ groups of six, who ate together. One man from each mess organised the ration. Depending on how many men were in the Barracks at any time, there were between 100 and 250 mess groups. Observers known as ‘delegates’ were stationed in the kitchen to make sure convict cooks allocated the rations fairly. Although it was against the rules, convicts often bartered their rationed food for other things they wanted.