The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1822-08-23 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 1822.

it Wan SIMI/ dlOCOVriell that the rustic work, iu
which the quoins of the basement stogy were cut,
afforded great facilities of access to tile windows of
the floor in which it was intended that the women
should sleep, it was deemed expedient to sorround
the whole building with a wall of nine feet six inches
high. It'vihs also observed, theta breach had been
made by the river, that threatened the foundation
of the wall and one of the wink-rooms, and it was
then considered prudent to construct s deep but.
tress, that now lines the hsnk of the riser, mid pro-
tects the foundation from further encroachment.

The amount of the original contract for the ;alio-
yip II building was 4,900/. anti the important addl.
boor, that have just been mentioned, will create a
further charge, amounting orally to 1400/.
The ►ituation of this building was chosen on me-
count of its contiguity to the river's Anil- the pro.
jected ein:iloyment of the females in spinning flax
and hleac!iing linen. These objects were certainly
desirable; yet I could not perceive. nor ells I in-
formed of any reason ihat might have prevented a
partial retirement of the Laddiug front the bank
of the river, by which butte the expense of the
embankment wall would have been avoided, and
the factory itself would have less intruded upon
the privacy of the Government grounds that are
immediately opposite, and not more than thirty
yards distant. The situation of the factory is dry,
healthy, and cheerful ; and is at some distance,
though not an inconvenient one, from the town of
l'aramatta. The principal building consists of a
basement story, containing two rooms, in which the
female convicts are to take their meals; and two up.
per stories, in each of w!lich are two large sleeping
rooms, and two smaller ones. Each of the larger
sleeping rooms will contain 20 double beds ; and
two of the small rooms will contain six single beds ;
thus providing for the accommodation of 172 females.
These rooms toe separated by a stair-case and land-
ing.places ; and in the centre of the roof, imme-
diately above, a cupola has been introduced for the
purposes of ornameutaud ventilation. The principal
building divides the outer from the inner yard. In
the former is the principal entrance and porter's
lodge ; and on each side ate four rooms, with sepa-
rate entrances to each, fbr the accommodation of the
►uperindent and his family, and a deputy superin-
tendent.
One of these rooms was also designated as a
library, but without apparent or probable applica-
tion of it to such an use.

On one side of the same outer court, and front-
ing inwards, is the hospital, consisting of two small
apartments and a medicine and store-room ; and on
the opposite side is the room for weaving cloth,
which as to be occupied during the day by male
convicts. The entrance to the inner court leads
throush the centre of the basement story of the
principal builinr t ; and on each aide of it are four
small and very ill-contrived lodges for the constables
or overseers. In the three sides of the inner court, and
f,onuogiuwards,arethe kitchen and bake-house, and
store-room for provisions, a it li rooms above for storing
wool, a long spinning room, and carding room, with
a store-room for wool and cloth. The privies that
had been constructed under the floor of one of these
offices, with drains leadicg to the river, were re-
moved on account of their defective arid inconvenient
construction, to u more distant part of the ()ridd-
ing ; and when the female convicts were e.tablish?d
in it, in February 1821, it was in contemplations to
add wasldinwes and laundries, that had been either
omitted nr forgotten ins the original plan, and which
never could have been supplied if the external wall
had not lurch! added.

Mr. Marsden had been requested by Governor
Macquarrie to furnish u plan for a factory, be-
fore the contract for the present building was an-
nounced to the public. That which he submitted
was upon a larger scale than the design of Mr.
Greenwav, and less ornamental ; but both of the plans
seen) to live contemplated the employment, rather
than the punislitnent of female convicts ; and in
neither was there ally provision made for the separa-
tion of those who were Scillenerti to punishment by
the !Magistrates, from tl•ose who had not been as-
signed to set lers nn their arrival, a distinction
which of all others was the most important.

G.rvernor Macquarrie was so anxious that 1 should
witness the removal of the female convicts from the
er;tl to the new factory before my deputture front the
colony, and it was a measure that was in itself so
desirable, that although the new building was not
plite completed, the chief engineer received orders
to nuke all possible dispatch, in making the furni-
ture and cooking utensils; and on the Ist February
1821, the removal of the female convicts took place,
and I 1•? (of whom 40 were confiord for punish-
ment) were lodged it) the new building. The ap-
prehension of confinement and greater discip line,
that the sight of it had created amongst them, had
not been without its affects; and during three
months, anterior to the dry of their removal, seve-
ral marriages had taken place at Parainatir vlituch,
the motives for which were clearly attribut able to
the fear of greater restraint than any that the fe-
male convicts had previously endured, and not
front any respect for the new obligation they had
incurred ; for several of them separated from their
husbands in a few days after their marriage.
Governor Macquarrie expressed • wish that 1
should draw up some regulations for the manage-
ment of the factory before my departure ; but my
attention was then so entirely engaged with other
matters, dist 1 could nut devote any portion of it
to that subject ; and the regulations in the Appen-
dix were framed, and read to the female convicts uu
the day of their removal.
I could not help regretting with the Governor,
that the care Nod superintendence of the factory was
no longer to remain in the bands of Mr. Oakes, who,
in many respects, was better qualified fur the duty
than ally other person in the colony. He had made
himself so obnoxious to the resident Magistrate at

Paratnatm, Mr. lisiiiiibalM'Artbur, and had beeu
guilty of such wilful threspect to him. that Gover-
nor Macquarlie had determined to dismiss him.
Ills juice was to be supplied by 3 young mail, a

'rtatire of the colony, who had acted as deputy
troperintendent of the factory tinder Air. Oake,;.
This person was mlrried, but passe.sed neither ex-
perience our energy fur conducting such au esta-
blishment.

Upon my arrival in the colony in September
1819. my first visit to The old factory at Paramatta
imnrestied me aith the strongest sr,li to effect an
amelioration in the condition of the female convicts
consiKned to it.

Tile contract for the new one had been then en-
terrd into, and the building was commenced. I
was informed•thlit from the low terms it which the
contract was taken, some great departure from its
condition, avoi to be apprehended, or some great
delay in its completion. A very considerable dif-
ference hid been observed in the offers of other con-
tracktki, and oT those who had undertaken it,
amounting to no less than 3,000/. ; hut as Mr.
Greenway, the architect, felt confident that the
contractors would be able to perform their part or
the undertaking, and as no stipulation had been
made for peifoiming it within any given period, I
recommended to Governor Nlacquarrie to dispense
with any or all parts that were of an ornamental
kind ; and to afford, from time to time, to the con-
tractors, such assi Aimee iu Government labour as
they might require, with a view to expedite the
building, but not to relieve then► from the pressure
of their contract. 'chat asaiatance was ultimately
allowed them ; and a geometrical staircase, that
had been projected by Mr. Greetiway for the centre
part of the building, was dispensed with, aid
plain one of wood was substituted for it. For the
purpose of affording; some degree of internal con-
trol, six solitary cells were provided in the outer
court ; and in the space, formed by the enclosure of
the whole building, more extensive sod better
means of separation and punishment may hereafter
be added, than the original plan of the principal
building was capable of affording. Esceptiog the
rustic *talk of the basement story, I did not ob-
serve any attempts at unnecessary decoration ; and
although some parts of the connecting walls were
curtailed from the original dimensions, the work
appeared to me to coincide ill all important points
with the specification. The roofing and the floor-
ing timber, from not having been sufficiently sea-
soned, had shrunk from its original dimensions; and
the mortar contained a larger portion of loam than was
perinitiol in the specification. With these excep-
' bons, the building was not badly executed ; and with
good regulation and superintendence, is capable of
affording accommodation to the female convicts,
but will require some alteration before it can be
considered secure from intrusion.

The want of a place of confinement for the fe-
male convicts in Van Diemsn's Land, for punish-
ment, had, for some time, been a subject of regret
to Licotenant-Governor Sorrell, who, at the end of
the year 1820, at length obtained permission from
Governor Macquarrie to construct a place separate
from die gaol, in which they could he more strictly
confined, and more effectually punished.
The demand for female servants had generally
been so greet as to afford employment, in the first
instance, to those who were sent from Sydney, or
that to later instances wet e landed in Van Ditman's
Land from England.
The same principle that had guided the consign-
ment of the worst description of male convicts to
Van Dieman's Land .from Sjdocy, caused also the
succesaive transmission thither of the worst descrip-
tion of females ; and from this cause, as well as the
want of a proper place of punishment, the female
convicts in Van Dielliall'S Land were not in a state
of very effectual control.
Governor Macqusrric'a objection to the construc-
tion of a plaice of employment and punishment, of
the female convicts in Van Diemait's Litid, seems
to hare proceeded front a belief that the employ-
ment of them in the service of settlers would super-
sede the necessity of providing tray at the expense
of Government ; and he directed Lieutenant-Go-
vernor Sorrell to seed any of them, for whom more
strict punishment was required, to the establishment
at Paramatta. The expense and evil cuortyiences
of this arrangement were very soon perceivable, in
the necessity that occurred of returning to Pars.
malts six female convicts that hail arrived by the
Jones, and that had been sent in a Government
vessel to l'ort Dalrymple and Hobart Town, in the
short space of three weeks after their arrival 'litre.

The manner in which they were sent its the Go•
vernmeot vessels, and the unrestrained prostitution
th..t to k place no board that which conveyed 30
female convicts from l'urt Jackson to that place
and fl.tbart Town, in the year 1840, make it very
desirable that all rtmovals of a similar nature should
be mviadtd ; and it is greatly to be wished that the
nece►sity of recurring to thou msy, in future, be
prevented, by the speedy accomplishment of the
object that Lieuteuout-Governor Sorreil had in
view.

Nature of she Labour Convicts in the Se; vice of

Settlers.

The nature of the lahour performed be convicts.
assigned to the tettlets to New South \Voles, has
undergone some alteration since the earlier years of
its egmblopitment.

In the month of linusry, Igo4, an order was
issued by Governor Kong, ►equiring all persons who
applied for convicts to sign an indenture, by which
they covenanted to clothe and maintain them ac-
cording to the same rate of allowance that was
afforded by Government to the convicts in its em-
ploy, for the space of twelve calendar months,
under penalty of paying Is. for every day of the
trim that was unexpired, unless they could give a
satisfactory reason fur their discharge. lu return
for this allowance, the convicts were tomtit:Heil to
perform a certain portion of labour for their
masters, that had been regulated and Pet forth in
an order issued by Governor flouter in the years
179 u and 1799; and it was repeatitl in the subse-
quent order of Governor King. The work re-
quired from a convict woe, to labour for ten hours
throughout the year, fo: fire days in the week, and

PRICE 7d.

six hours nr Sat tird rys. A. it was found that sli-v
were frequently rll &Weil to loerforie their allotted
tusk its a less time, they were allowed to apply such
portion as they could save from their Government
hours, to their own benefit, reservation (Mug made
to the master of a preferential right to the bervicee
of his tonvict nt, if he could attend or thought
tit to employ and pay for them. The rate of pay-
ment for this extra labour, as well as for the labour
of freemen, was fixed by Governor King at the
same time, and continued at the same rate until the
month of December, 1816.
The quantity of labour that a settler was entitled
to exact from the convict service, in the regulated
hours, is set forth in a schedule annexed to the order
of Governor King. and is acted upon at the present
moment, subject to such modifications as the Ma-
gistrates may think fit to make. in consequence of
stress sof weather, state of the land, or the strength of
the convict labourer.

It is stated by Alt.. Oxley, that in the earliest pe-
riods the labour of the whole day was exacted from
the convicts ; and this rule was not relaxed until a
scarcity of provisions having occurred, their labour
ceased at three o'clock on each day, to enable them
to work at gardens in the town of Sydney. Simmer
that period, this dispensation grew into s general
custom, and wages were assigned to the convicts for
such labour as they might perform for their master
after three o'clock on each day. The mischievous
consequences that were found to arise, from the in-
ability of the poorer classes of settlers to pay fur the
extra labour of their convicts, or even to pay the
wages or their regulated labour, appear to have been
severely felt in the colony in the year 1814, by the
unauthorised dispersion of the convicts in search of
employment in distant districts, and in the means
of accreting stolen property that was afforded to
them, by the permission of their mastery, to feed
pigs and poultry on their farms in lieu of wages.
For the prevention of these evils, the settlers who
did not require the entire services of the men assign-
ed to them, or who could not afford to pay for them,
were required to return them forthwith to the prin-
cipal superindendeat of Sydney, or to the magis-
trates of the different districts. The amount of
the wages that a settler was compellable, under this
order, to pay to his convict labourer, varied with the
fluctuating value of the paper money, in which► all
payments were made, until the month of December
1816. At that period, the amount of the annual
wages, payable to every male convict employed by
a settler, was fixed at 10/. sterling ; and if the re-
gular allowance of clothing was found by the masters
he was entitled to deduct from this amount the sum
of 31.

To every female convict, the annual amount of
wages was fixed at 71. and the deduction for cloth-
ing was fixed at 11:10r. This adjustment of prices
was referred by Governor Macquarrie to the magis-
trates of the colony, and agreed upon by them at
the same period ; in which was ordered, that all
payments in colonial currency should cease, and
thenceforth be calculated in sterling.
Such are the conditions upon which the convicts
in New South Wales are at present assigned to
settlers; and although they have ceased for some
time to be secured by any written stipulation, yet
they are considered to be established by custom,
and to form a guide for the decisions of the magis-
trates in all disputes that occur between the settlers
and their convict servants.

It was never permitted. at any period in the
colony, to a master to inflict corporal punishment
upon his convict labourer; and reference to a ma-
gistrate was always and is now enjoined for the pur-
pose of substantiating the mutual complaints that
arise between them. These complaints are found,
in most cases, to proceed from the reluctance or
inability of the convict to perform his task ; from
his attempts to plunder his master's property, or
that of the convicts about him ; or from the man-
ner iii which his wages are paid by his master. A
very large proportion of the coavicta assigned to the
settlers, having, in the later periods of the colony,
consisted of the lowest classes of labourers from the
manufacturing districts of Great Britain, or front
the populous towns, much difficulty has been ex-
perienced in training them to agricultural labour
on their arrival, and this difficulty has increased as
the system of agriculture is the colony has im-
proved. Hence have arisen the perpetual changes
of the convict labourers from the service of one
settler to another, and the expense to the Crown in
maintaining those that are returned as useless and
unprofitable.
This evil has been necessarily accompanied by a
violation of Governor King's order, that every set-
tler should retain a convict assigned to him fur the
space of one twelvemonth ; and the inconvenience was
afterwards so strongly kit, that Governor Mac-
quarrie, on the 30th of September, 1815, directed
that no settler or other person should send hack to
the Government gangs any servants assigned
them, unless for the commission of some fault or
crime, or unless they should be found unfit for
manual labour from sickness or other infirmity.
It is stated by Mr. Rouse, the superintendent of
convicts at Paramatta, that this order ass violated
in one month after its promulgation, and that It
was found impracticable to adhere to it.
The great inconvenience and interruption that
complaints against these servants occasion to the
settlers, and the risk to which they are exposed in
leaving their property to reek redress from the
Magistrates, is severely felt by all the inhabitants of
the colony; some of them, especially those who
had themselves been convicts, feel a degree of
commendable reluctance in making a complaint
against a courict labourer for mere incapacity, and
would rather submit to the unrequited expense of
his maintenance, than be the cause of the infliction
of unmerited punishment. This feeling is iu some
degree attributable to a sympathy with that coudi-
lion which was once their own, and is not corrected
until they acquire property, and a disposition to
improve and augment It. Others, influenced by
less humane considerationo, or by a dislike of the
trouble of complsinivg, allow the eouviet to seek