AUSTRALIA | Friday, 4 March 2011 | Views [979]
A typical dormitory in the Barracks consisted of parallel rows of 20 to 30 hammocks strung out, with perhaps 6 inches in between when occupied. Men and boys would have slept in a room like this for years. Some convicts were released before their sentence was finished, through good behaviour or currying the favour of the guards or Governor. There were various types of passes that one could gain before absolute freedom. Some men would have been transferred from the Barracks to a boarding house in the city if they were well behaved. But most convicts were housed here and in other Barracks when they first arrived off the ship.
