Convict shoe
1819–48
Shoes were known as crab shells or hopper dockers in the convict ‘flash’ slang language; two or three pairs were issued to each convict annually. This single leather convict shoe was discovered by archaeologists beneath the floor of the north-eastern sleeping ward on level 2 of the Hyde Park Barracks. The Board of Ordnance and broad arrow stamp ‘B↑O’ on the inner sole confirms that it was made for the government, probably at the shoemaking and tailoring establishment at the Hyde Park Barracks, which was established in 1826. Convict shoemakers were expected to make one pair of shoes every day.
After so much hard work and walking for kilometres on rough roads, convict shoes quickly wore out. The result was a black market in shoes, with some convicts trading their new shoes for old ones in order to make money to buy other items such as tobacco. Too large to have simply slipped through the cracks in the floorboards, this shoe appears to have been stashed beneath a loose board for safekeeping.
...t he change of Good shoes for bad ones, by which the men receive a small Difference in money from the Inhabitants of the Town.
Major George Druitt, 29 October 1819, in Ritchie, Evidence to the Bigge Report, vol 1, p16
More artefacts
Convict Sydney
Objects
These convict-era objects and archaeological artefacts found at the 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
Related
Convict Sydney
Convict Sydney
From a struggling convict encampment to a thriving Pacific seaport, a city takes shape
Published on
Convict Sydney
Browse all
Convict Sydney
Convict shirt scraps
Deliberately torn into squares and strips, these scraps of convict shirt suggest that some convicts were recycling old clothing for new purposes
Convict Sydney
Convict braces and belts
Convict ‘slop’ clothing was one-size-fits-all, so some convicts had to improvise ways to keep up their baggy trousers
Convict Sydney
Convict cap
A hat was known as a castor or a kelp in the convict ‘flash’ slang language
Convict Sydney
Convict hat sennets and leaf shredder
This shredding tool and ‘sennets’ or fragments of plaited cabbage tree palm leaves (Livistona australis) found beneath the floors of the Hyde Park Barracks were used by convicts for making hats
Convict Sydney
Convict shirt scrap, ‘B.A.’
This square scrap of striped convict shirt is curiously stamped with the letters ‘B’ and ‘A’
Convict Sydney
Convict shirt
Known as a smish, kemesa or flesh-bag in the convict ‘flash’ slang language, this convict uniform shirt has been worn, torn, stained and patched
Convict Sydney
Convict uniform buttons
Archaeologists found more than 250 bone buttons, which were once attached to convict shirts, jackets and trousers and then lost beneath the floors at the Hyde Park Barracks