Hawkesbury on the Net: Memorials, Monuments & Plaques Register: Convicts and Early History Monument, Wisemans Ferry

Additional Notes:

CONVICT ROAD GANGS

Clothing / The clothing issued to each convict for one year was: / - 2 Parramatta Frocks (Jackets) / - 2 Parramatta Trousers / - 2 Striped Shirts / - 3 Pairs of Shoes / - 1 Straw Hat / - 1 Cap

Daily Food Rations / Wheat Bread 1.25lb (560g) / Flour 1lb (450g) / Maize Meal 8oz (225g) / Salted Beef 1lb (450g) / Salt 0.5oz (14g) / Sugar 1oz (28g) / Soap 0.25oz (7g)

Road Gangs / From the late 1700's British criminals were transported to / Australia as punishment for their crimes. The sentences / were often periods of hard Labour where male convicts were allocated to gangs to construct the infrastructure of the new / Australian colony. / In the Wisemans Ferry region the men were assigned to road / gangs which were used to construct the Great North Road. / The Great North Road is one of Australia's greatest / engineering feats and runs from Sydney to the Hunter / Valley. / There were 3 kinds of gangs working on the road, / Iron Gangs, Road Parties and Bridge Parties. / Iron Gangs / Were men serving a colonial sentence for a further crime / committed after arrival in the colony. They worked in leg- / irons, a 6kg iron collar around each ankle joined together by / a length of chain, that could only be removed by a / blacksmith. These men were punished by having to carry out / the most labour-intensive part of the road building / operations i.e. cutting down trees, moving large pieces of / stone and splitting rock etc... / Road Parties / Men whose sentence in the iron gangs had expired or were / ordered to carried out their original sentence by hard labour. / These men did not wear leg irons. / Bridge Parties / Were gangs formed for the sole purpose of bridge building. / These men were handpicked from the other gangs because / of their high level of skills.