Discovery under floorboards at Hyde Park Barracks paints clearer picture of 19th century women's live ... 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 ... Fourteen years later, the barracks then opened a shelter for "infirm or destitute women" on the top floor
..."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.

Eating in colonial institutions: desiccated plant remains from nineteenth-century Sydney

Way back in 2007 JennieG & I went to a exhibition at the Barracks - a Stitch in Time featuring the textiles needlework tools of the female inhabitants (1848-1886). Participants also gathered with their own needlework & we even got our photo in a Craft magazine. One of the group dropped her needle & it fell thru the floorboards, adding a 21st century item to the 19th & 20th items!