Clothing

Until 1810 convicts were permitted to wear ordinary civilian clothes in Australia. The new Governor, Lachlan Macquarie, wanted to set the convicts apart from the increasing numbers of free settlers who were flocking to Australia.

The distinctive new uniform marked out the convicts very clearly. The trousers were marked with the letters PB, for Prison Barracks. They were buttoned down the sides of the legs, which meant they could be removed over a pair of leg irons.

The new uniform included winter clothing which consisted of a coarse woollen jacket, a waistcoat of yellow or grey cloth, a pair of trousers, a pair of woollen stockings (long socks), a pair of shoes, two cotton or linen shirts, a neckerchief and hat.

Summer clothing included a canvas overshirt instead of the woollen jacket and waistcoat. This would generally be all the clothing the convict would have.

Convicts were officially to be given a set of new clothing twice a year, although it did not always come on time. Sometimes the old clothes had long since worn to rags and the shoes worn out if the convict was working in very rough conditions.

The new clothes were called ‘Slops’. Assigned convicts working for good masters would often be clothed better than the official requirement but those working for bad masters might be required to buy clothing from the master’s store at high prices or clothed only in the minimum regulation gear.

Source: http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/justice/convict/convict.html http://www.pilotguides.com/destination_guide/pacific/australia/convict_australia/convict_life.php http://www.convicttrail.org/history.php?id=a3b3c1%f%4

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