Hyde Park Barracks is Australia’s first government-built convict barracks and the only remaining barracks building and complex from the Macquarie era of convict administration.
Between 1819 and 1848 over 50,000 male convicts passed through the Barracks…. it is also significant because it was designed by Australia’s first architect Francis Greenway, himself a convict.
In 1848 it was no longer required for convicts and became an immigration depot and hiring office for newly arrived unaccompanied females to the colony and served as a shelter for destitute and handicapped women from 1862 till 1886.
On Friday May 28, 16 Probus members met on a chilly morning and learned of the hardships and pain endured by these people and also the significant destruction of the lives and way of life of the indigenous people resulting from settlement by the British.
The display was made very easy to follow with individual headsets and listening devices which were activated once you were at a particular display.
We then enjoyed coffee in the crypt at the St. James Church kiosk and then were delighted with the vegetarian lunch at the Bodhi restaurant near St. Mary’s Cathedral.
Thank you everyone for participating.
Judy Mitchell
Probus Club of Cabarita & Breakfast Point Inc 