The voices of Convict Sydney

Convict Sydney. Photo: Ben Mercer

Historic Houses Trust NSW has opened their latest exhibition at Hyde Park Barracks: Convict Sydney. Irish Wattle visited this impressive show earlier this week, and loved it!

Hyde Park Barracks - checking for stolen goods. Photo: Ben Mercer

Just some of the features include wonderful murals depicting life before transportation, and after arrival; a giant map that guides you through the streets of early Sydney; and touch screens allowing you to scroll extracts of the Barracks Benchbook, where crimes and sentences were recorded.

Interactive touch screen map of early colonial Sydney. Photo: Ben Mercer

Interactive touch screen mural. Photo: Ben Mercer

Details for the exhibition are below. To find out more, go to the Historic Houses Trust or follow on Facebook for updates on all their brilliant work!

Location: Queens Square, Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
Contact:   02 8239 2311
Admission: Adult $10 I Child /Concession $5 | Family $20 | Members free
Hours:  Daily 9.30am — 5.00pm

Its a great way to spend a morning and to get to know Sydney's convict past!

The Irish Vanguard is out now!

In The Irish Vanguard, Barbara Hall traces the lives if the

155 Irish convicts transported to Sydney on the Queen in 1791. Some, including the heavily pregnant Catherine Edwards, became notorious for absconding into the bush from Parramatta, in the hope of reaching China.

The Irish Vanguard is Barbara Hall’s fifth book in her series

of Irish convicts transported to New South Wales prior to 1800. Her meticulous research chronicles each and every convict on board the Queen and brings their stories to life. Here, discover their crimes in Ireland and their fate in the penal colony.

The Irish Vanguard is available for purchase now

through Irish Wattle.