These Wooden Walls Government Convict Accommodation and the Expansion ofSettlement in New South Wales 1788 to 1857 Richelle Spry October 2006 Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Bachelor ofArts with Honours in Archaeology (Prehistoric and Historical), Department ofArchaeology, School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, University of Sydney, Australia rr'liis rr'liesis is 'Decficatea witli Love to my granaparents, Catlierine ana 2?p6ert Lee Acknowledgements Naturally as with any major piece of research the end result is never an individual effort, as such I would like to acknowledge and thank a number of unique people which made this thesis a reality through their kip.d encouragement, thoughts and invaluable input. Firstly, I would like to extend my upmost thanks to my supervisor, Dr Martin Gibbs. Without your unwavering patience, guidance and confidence of the potential of my topic and research, this thesis would not be here today. Also, for the support during those moments of doubt or flights of fancy which would have lead my research to many stray avenues. Also, thank you to Sarah Colley for you invaluable input, and guidance in the first half of the honours assessment. Roland Fletcher, Peter White, Dennis Gojack, Annie Clark and Elizabeth Roberts also assisted this research through important comments during the honours seminar, which helped to focus my data and analysis. Thank you, Elisabeth for your personal correspondence on the Convict Trail Project and insights into the Great North Road Stockade Sites. Andrew Wilson from the Archaeological Computer Laboratory (ACL) at Sydney University, for your assistance in providing the base datasets required for my analy~is of settlement patterning; and the TimeMap program which has added er temporal dimension to my data. The staff at AIMA, the NSW Heritage Office and Dennis for providing unpublished archaeological reports which were otherwise inaccessible, and greatly need. Also the State Archives staff in Sydney and Kensington, and those at the Mitchell Library for New South Wales, for access to the necessary resources, and the occasional translation of illegible original texts. Thank you to those who throughout this year reminded me of the other side of archaeology, Jim Specht, Matthew Kelly. My friends and family for your support. Particularly to the personal who has always been there and supported all my decisions, and maintained my mental health throughout my uni career, my Mum. Also to Kristy, Karen and Shane, for being a second family throughout this year. To my newly discovered cousin and housemate, of which ensured a continuos flow of coke-a-cola in the house. A special thankyou to Adam Lee, my cousin and editor. I am deeply grateful for the time you set aside to read and read my work, and to turn it into meaningful English, I don't know how you did it. Lastly, but by no means least, to my fellow honours group: Rachael, Duncan, Laura, Liz, Lisa, Matty, James, and Ngaire. Of which took this outsider under your wings, and always available to help or explain the process of the Uni and Sydney. Your conversations, Friday night dinners and drinks, the Honours Chat Forum, and the overwhelming support:, has keep me sane throughout this year and hope to contll1ue the party for many years to come. Thank You. - I apologise if I have forgotten anyone. i TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Table of Contents ii-v List of Figures vi-ix CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .••••••.•••••••.•••••••••••••.•••••••.•••••.•.•••••••.••.•.••••.•.•. 1 1.1 The Problem ........................................................................... 1 1.2 Past Understandings .................................................................. 2 1.3 Aims and Research Question ......................................................... 3 1.3.1 Aims .......................................................................... 3 1.3.2 Research Question ......................................................... 3 1.4 Terminology and Method ........................................................... .4 1.5 Thesis Structure ........................................................................7 CHAPTER 2. CONVICT ARCHAEOLOGY••••••••••••••••••••••.•••.••••.•.••••.•..•.•••••..•.• 9 2.1 New South Wales Convictism and Australian Archaeology ..................... 9 2.1.1 Convict Systems .......................................................... 10 2.1.1.1 New South Wales Stages ofDevelopment ................. ll 2.1.1.2 External Systems and Places ................................. 15 2.1.2 Archaeological Investigations .......................................... 16 2.2 International Setting ................................................................. 17 2.2.1 Stockades and Significance ............................................. 18 CHAPTER 3. CONTEXTUAL HISTORy•.•.••••••••••••••.•••••••.•.••••••.•..•••••..•.••••.••..• 20 3.1 Settlement Expansion and the Environment. .....................................20 3.1.1 Cumberland Region ...................................................... 24 3.. 1.2 Hunter Valley .............................................................25 3.1.3 Western Districts ......................................................... 26 3.1.4 South West Districts' ......................................................26 3.1.5 South Coast Districts .....................................................27 3.2 The NSW Convict System ..........................................................28 3.2.1 Forms and Structures of Accommodation ............................. 28 1 3.2.2 Types of Labour Preformed by Government Convict Labours .... 35 3.2.2.1 Industry ......................................................... 36 3.2.2.2 Public Works ................................................... 37 3.3 Conclusion ............................................................................ 38 CHAPTER 4. CONVICT STOCKADES WITHIN NEW SOUTH WALES ......................39 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................... 39 4.2 Method .................................................................................40 4.2.1 Historical Documentary Research ......................................40 4.2.1.1 Historical Site Plans and Map Examination .............. .41 4.2.2 Division of the Convict System ....................................... .42 4.2.3 Definitions .................................................................43 4.2.3.1 Study Area ......................................................43 4.2.3.2 Stockades and Labour. ........................... : ............43 4.2.3.3 Environment ................................................... 45 4.2.3.4 Settlement. ..................................................... 45 4.2.4 Data Correlation and Map Production ................................ .45 4.3 Constraints ............................................................................47 4.3.1 Time ................... : ..................................................... 47 4.3.2 Data Sources ...............................................................47 4.3.3 Geographic Information Systems ...................................... .48 4.4 Theoretical Approaches and Analysis .................................... : ........ 49 4.4.1 Convict Stockade Dispersal: A quantitative approach ............... 50 CHAPTER 5. SURVEY OF CONVICT WORK GANG ACCOMMODATION SITES IN NEW SOUTH WALES ..........55 5.1 Dispersal of Specific Labour Sites throughout New South Wales ............ 59 5.2 Stages of the Convict System within the Cumberland .......................... 62 5.2.1 Stage I: 1788 to 1822 ..................................................... 65 5.2.1.1 Environment. .................................................. 66 5.2.1.2 Relationship to Settlement.. ..................................72 5.2.2 Stage 11: 1822 to 1826 ................................................... 75 ii 5.2.2.1 Environment. .................................................. 75 5.2.2.2 Relationship to S.ettlement. ...................................78 5.2.3 Stage Ill: 1827 to 1836 ...................................................79 5.2.3.1 Environment. .................................................. 81 5.2.3.2 Relationship to Settlement. ................................... 88 5.2.4 Stage IV: 1836 to 1857 ................................................... 88 5.2.4.1 Environment. .................................................. 90 5.2.4.2 Relationship to Settlement .................................... 97 5.2.5 Case Study Subsection of Stage Ill: The Road Gang Reports ...... 99 5.2.5.1 Environment. .................................................. 99 5.2.5.2 Relationship to Settlement. ................................. 106 5.3 Overall Discussion .................................................................. 108 CHAPTER 6. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICALALTERNATIVE •••••••.•••• I09 6.1 Stockades in the New South Wales Environment.. ............................ 109 6.2 Central Places and the Convict Stockade System .............................. 11 0 6.2.1 Nearest Neighbour Analysis (NNA) ................................. I11 6.2.2 Central Place Modelling ................................................ 113 6.2.2.1 Hierarchy ..................................................... 114 6.2.2.2 Tributary Areas and Boarders .............................. 117 6.2.2.3 Limitation in the analysis of the Convict System within Central Place Theory ............ 129 6.3 Conclusions