#convicts

Sydney’s asylums are haunting monuments to a shameful chapter in our criminal and medical history. Shut away from a public that was fearful of the “wild-eyed lunatic”, the city’s poorly-funded asylums became a dragnet that would catch the forgot, the poor, the criminal and, of course, the mentally ill. There were plenty of success stories,…

The Australian Monument to the Great Irish Famine (Great Hunger) is located on the southern wall of the Hyde Park Barracks, on the site of the former convict-era kitchen and mess halls The monument was inspired by the 1995 call of Irish President Mary Robinson to remember the famine of 1845–52 and those who died…

Busby’s Bore, which runs under Sydney’s streets between Centennial Park and Hyde Park remains as one of the most impressive pieces of convict-built infrastructure in Sydney. In the mid-1820s, Sydney was in the midst of a water crisis.  In the space of 30 years, the European settlers had managed to make their main fresh water…