The Lumber Yards: A Case Study in the Management of Convict Labour 1788-1832

Robbins, William

doi:10.2307/27516737

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…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%

See 1 more Smart Citation

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

Gibbs¹

2012

Archaeology in Oceania

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

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

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…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

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

“…With the elongation of his chains of command Macquarie also instigated what may now be seen as 'a separated monitoring system of subordinate activities' (Littler 1979). He made his superintendents produce detailed work reports on the activities and performance of their gangs and these documents were compiled and submitted monthly and/or weekly and detailed how much work was performed by individual gangs or work sites such as the Lumber Yards in Sydney and Parramatta (Robbins 2000). Weekly work reports recorded the number of convicts in each gang, trade or work team and the quantity of work performed (ML A2086-A2088, CY Reel 1116, Weekly Work Sheets).…”

Section: Convict Resistancementioning

confidence: 99%

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

Robbins

2003

Journal of Industrial Relations

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

T he present paper examines the evolution of the management of the labour process within the male convict gang system. The organisation of convicts into discrete and enduring collective work units was a vital and productive part of the colonial economy and of the convict labour process generally. In providing a detailed account of the history of management's adoption of labour process structures and strategies the present paper shows that some of these were determined by changing management objectives while others were the result of covert and/or overt convict resistance. The paper offers evidence of the interaction between the management and the convict, and argues that the origins of Australian industrial relations are to be found amongst our convict workers rather than with the arrival of free labour.

show abstract

The Lumber Yards: A Case Study in the Management of Convict Labour 1788-1832

Cited by 6 publications

References 16 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

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

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About