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The Dictionary of Sydney
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A government jail gang, Sydney N.S. Wales c1826

A government jail gang, Sydney N.S. Wales c1826

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National Gallery of Australia

[Accession No: NGA 95.344]

(Purchased 1995)

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Economy Hyde Park Barracks The end of transportation

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Earle, Augustus

National Gallery of Australia

Economy

With the arrival of Europeans, the traditional economy of Aboriginal clans was disrupted, and gave way to the convict economy of the Commissariat and government stores. But this closed economy was soon opened by free settlement, whaling and sealing, shipping and farming success, making Sydney the port for a vast hinterland. Depressions and booms alternated, bringing poverty and prosperity to the city. Sydney's growth and diversity mean that regional economies now exist within the Sydney region.

Hyde Park Barracks

From convict barracks to female immigration depot to asylum for destitute women, Hyde Park Barracks has witnessed and revealed much of Sydney's social history.

The end of transportation

By the late 1840s, a strong political movement to end the convict system had formed in Sydney. Large pastoralists fought to keep their supply of cheap labour, but by 1850 the tide had turned, and no more convicts were transported to Sydney.

Convicts

Hyde Park Barracks

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Georgian brick building at the southern end of Macquarie Street. Designed by colonial architect Francis Greenway to house male convicts, it subsequently became an immigration depot, government asylum, law courts and museum.