Not all convicts were on their best behaviour when they arrived in Australia. One form of punishment to try to keep the re-offenders in line was humiliation. Female convicts would have their heads shaved to rob them of their feminine dignity and male convicts were assigned to chain gangs wearing the parti-coloured ‘magpie’ uniform (picture). The intention of the uniform was to humiliate the wearer, distinguish them from other convicts and deter them from escaping. The uniforms were introduced by Governor Macquarie in 1814 and were originally black and white in colour. The trousers had no stitching up the legs but buttons six inches apart, so that convicts could get dressed without having their leg irons removed.
This object is great to use in our education programs. The fabric is heavy and prickly and the students get a different insight into what convict life must have been like (suddenly that school uniform doesn’t seem so bad!)