Discovery under floorboards at Hyde Park Barracks paints clearer picture of 19th century women's lives

The value of archaeology in questioning historic accounts has been highlighted this week. (Supplied: Kimberley Connor)

By Isabella Ross

Women have often been in the shadows of men's voices and stories within historical records of centuries gone by.

Now a richer history of Sydney's Hyde Park Barracks has lifted the lid on what everyday life for women was like at the former female immigration depot and asylum during the 19th century.

Beneath the floorboards of the site was a treasure trove of archaeological evidence, said Kimberley Connor, a postdoctoral scholar at the Stanford Archaeology Center.

Through recent analysis, Dr Connor believes the 19th century plant, fruit and nut remains found at the barracks can in part be seen as a symbol of how food was a form of resistance for the women.

"What we know is that in institutions, uniformity is really pushed — everybody wears the same thing, everybody eats the same thing," she said.

"Acquiring and choosing your own food is pushing back against institutionalisation."

Originally built to house convicts, the barracks also served as a women’s immigration depot and asylum, and later
law courts and government offices. (AAP: Paul Miller)

The barracks were opened in 1819 and initially used as living quarters for convicts.

In 1848, the barracks were transformed into a depot where thousands of immigrant women, some accompanied by their children, stayed in dormitories and sought employment opportunities.

These women had made the difficult decision to leave their homelands in search of a better life.

Fourteen years later, the barracks then opened a shelter for "infirm or destitute women" on the top floor.

It was referred to as an asylum for women unable to support themselves due to age, illness or disability.

Remnants not under the floorboards by accident

Australian archaeologist Kimberley Connor said these new discoveries give us a glimpse into the everyday
lives of women at the barracks. (Supplied: Joshua Morris for Museums of History NSW)

During the years of the depot and asylum, the female inhabitants foraged for food on their own terms. Their movements outside the institution were restricted but not prohibited.

Dr Connor said the women likely did this to diversify their diet, as the meals provided at the barracks were "quite generous in terms of quantity" but not so much freshness.

They sourced fruits, vegetables and nuts on trips to church or periods of leave from the barracks. This included native Australian plants such as macadamia nuts and quandongs, and also South-East Asian lychees and American corn cobs.

The female inhabitants of the barracks ate native and introduced fruits, vegetables and nuts — counter to what
historical records have previously suggested. (Supplied: Hyde Park Barracks Collection/Museums of History NSW)

As a culinary historian, Dr Connor has long been fascinated by food and dining in 19th century immigration institutions in the British Empire.

She said this new plant matter evidence is in stark comparison to colonial British records, which detailed the inmates' highly regimented and often bland foods.

"The daily ration consisted of one pound of bread, one pound of meat, one pound of vegetables or potatoes, one-quarter ounce of tea, one and one-quarter ounces of sugar and one-half ounce of salt," Dr Connor noted in her research paper.

"Beyond [special] occasions, women could purchase items from hawkers, receive food as gifts, barter among themselves or work for extra tea, sugar or tobacco."

Archaeologists have been researching every square inch of Hyde Park Barracks for decades now, even beneath the floorboards. (Supplied: Museums of History NSW)

But experts said these remnants of plants, fruits and nuts didn't all fall through the floorboards accidentally.

Rather, it's likely in some instances that the inmates intentionally placed them under the floor to conceal their snacks from barracks' authorities.

"We can imagine they might have been quite excited to get their hands on fresh fruit, [after] having boiled meat and dried bread everyday," Dr Connor said.

"They definitely weren't supposed to be eating in the dormitories."

'A different way of seeing the past'

This isn't the first time that archaeological deposits underneath the barrack's floorboards have been analysed with women's history in mind.

Museums of History NSW, which manages Hyde Park Barracks and supported Dr Connor in her work and access to the barracks, said pieces from women's clothing, sewing and mending garments and pages from prayer books have also provided insight.

"We are really fortunate that the dry conditions beneath the floorboards helped to preserve a variety of fragile materials that don't normally survive," Museums of History NSW curatorial manager Kim Tao said.

Cleaned and conserved fabric scraps were recovered from the Hyde Park Barracks' underfloor deposits 
(Supplied: Museums of History NSW)

Ms Tao said the evidence showed women at the barracks were making their own clothing to wear within the asylum in particular.

"While the barracks are most commonly associated with housing male convicts, the bulk of the archaeological collection actually dates from the period of female occupation in the depot and asylum.

"It's a unique source of women's history."

Now with her research published in the journal Antiquity, Dr Connor said she hoped more archaeological evidence would be used in discussions of institutional life throughout history to paint a clearer picture.

"There's been such a big move towards social history and reading against the grain of historical records.

"A lot of people and marginalised groups have been excluded from traditional history, and archaeology can provide us with a different way of seeing the past.”

First published at ABC News, January 24, 2025