Management and Resistance in the Convict Work Gangs, 1788-1830

Robbins, William

doi:10.1111/1472-9296.00088

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 10 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…In his review of recent labour history relevant to the convict system, David Roberts highlights a series of essays by Bill Robbins (2000Robbins ( , 2003Robbins ( , 2004Robbins ( , 2005Robbins ( , 2009 which examine convict work and work relations and focus on 'the ways convict labour was organized, managed and experienced and how it changed over time' (Roberts 2011:45). In his review of recent labour history relevant to the convict system, David Roberts highlights a series of essays by Bill Robbins (2000Robbins ( , 2003Robbins ( , 2004Robbins ( , 2005Robbins ( , 2009 which examine convict work and work relations and focus on 'the ways convict labour was organized, managed and experienced and how it changed over time' (Roberts 2011:45).…”

Section: Convict Historical Research Since 2001mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A further trajectory in recent convict historical research has been analyses of convict labour in particular works situations. In his review of recent labour history relevant to the convict system, David Roberts highlights a series of essays by Bill Robbins (2000Robbins ( , 2003Robbins ( , 2004Robbins ( , 2005Robbins ( , 2009 which examine convict work and work relations and focus on 'the ways convict labour was organized, managed and experienced and how it changed over time' (Roberts 2011:45). Roberts notes that Robbins' essays explore how convicts influenced their employment conditions, versus the tactics adopted by the state and employers to control labour and maximize output.…”

Section: Convict Historical Research Since 2001mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Convict System of New South Wales: A review of archaeological research since 2001

Gibbs¹

2012

Archaeology in Oceania

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The last ten years of archaeological research on convict sites in NSW has seen a wealth of new discoveries thanks to unprecedented access to urban settings as a result of the development boom in the greater Sydney area. Not surprisingly, the direction of research has therefore largely been dictated by the nature of these mitigation projects and consequently favors greater understanding of convict urban landscapes. However, the pressure to complete successive large scale projects, limited funding for post-excavation analysis and interpretation, a growing body of incomplete reports, and the lack of an overall framework for NSW convict archaeological studies has seen an uneven advance in our knowledge of convict life since the last review by Denis Gojak in 2001. This paper reports on some of the main discoveries and describes efforts by academic and professional archaeologists to collaborate and facilitate further convict research in NSW, especially further analysis and syntheses of material, through the Archaeology of Sydney Research Group, the NSW Archaeology Online grey literature project and targeted student research.

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Section: Convict Historical Research Since 2001mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Convict Historical Research Since 2001mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Convict System of New South Wales: A review of archaeological research since 2001

Gibbs¹

2012

Archaeology in Oceania

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“…All convicts knew the risks associated with not bending their backs for the colonial state or private masters (Maxwell-Stewart, 2016: 417). However, not all work performed in penal stations and others sites of punishment was unskilled (Maxwell-Stewart, 1997; Robbins, 2000, 2003; Roberts and Garland, 2010). The extent to which the convict administrators experimented with different forms of production and labour extraction, and the impact that this had on the operation of the convict system as a whole and the subsequent lives of those who laboured in these environments, remains largely untested.…”

Section: The Historiography Of Convict Labourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscapes of Production and Punishment: Convict labour in the Australian context

Tuffin

Gibbs

Roberts

et al. 2018

Journal of Social Archaeology

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This paper presents an interdisciplinary project that uses archaeological and historical sources to explore the formation of a penal landscape in the Australian colonial context. The project focuses on the convict-period legacy of the Tasman Peninsula (Tasmania, Australia), in particular the former penal station of Port Arthur (1830–1877). The research utilises three exceptional data series to examine the impact of convict labour on landscape and the convict body: the archaeological record of the Tasman Peninsula, the life course data of the convicts and the administrative record generated by decades of convict labour management. Through these, the research seeks to demonstrate how changing ideologies affected the processes and outcomes of convict labour and its products, as well as how the landscapes we see today were formed and developed in response to a complex interplay of multi-scalar penological and economic influences. Areas of inquiry: Australian convict archaeology and history. The archaeology and history of Australian convict labour management. The archaeology and history of the Tasman Peninsula.

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Carceral Time at Port Arthur and the Tasman Peninsula: An Archaeological View of the Mechanisms of Convict Time Management in a Nineteenth Century Penal Landscape

Gibbs,

Tuffin

2024

Int J Histor Archaeol

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Between 1833 and 1877 the Tasman Peninsula (Van Diemens Land/Tasmania) operated as a restricted penal zone for British convicts transported to Australia. The main penal settlement was situated at Port Arthur, with a series of substations spread across an area of 660 km2 (250 mi2). At its mid-1840s peak over 3,000 male convicts, military, and free resided on the peninsula. The vast majority of the men were engaged in diverse industrial activities, ranging from manufacturing to resource extraction, as well as the associated tasks of transport and communications. Archaeological and historical evidence demonstrates that this multiscalar penological industrial landscape was coordinated by an interlinked system of audio and visual signaling. Activity within settlements and the immediate economic hinterland was synchronized by bells, while more distant or topographically difficult sites incorporated visual signaling with time balls and semaphores. A GIS analysis of soundscapes and viewsheds shows that the latter afforded coordination of labor across the hinterland, as well as rapid complex messaging between different stations and beyond, while also spreading a net of time compliance and surveillance across the penal peninsula.

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Management and Resistance in the Convict Work Gangs, 1788-1830

Cited by 7 publications

References 10 publications

The Convict System of New South Wales: A review of archaeological research since 2001

The Convict System of New South Wales: A review of archaeological research since 2001

Landscapes of Production and Punishment: Convict labour in the Australian context

Carceral Time at Port Arthur and the Tasman Peninsula: An Archaeological View of the Mechanisms of Convict Time Management in a Nineteenth Century Penal Landscape

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