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43
sentence had been served, to be followed by a Pardon .
Each stage of
discipline was controlled by regulations too numerous to elucidate here ,
the who le process being dependent upon the convict 's 01n desire for
improvement and social reform . 1 3
Since Hall, as a "convict doctor", was in frequent cont act for
many years with men who lived out their penal sentences according to th ese
conditions , the pattern of their daily life is an indication of the likely
prob lems both mental and physical he was called upon to solve. The
probation gangs consisted of two hundred and fifty to three hundred or
more men who were employed on the building of roads and bridges , clearing
land and growing' crops for their own subsistence . Although there 1ere
slight variations from one camp to another, the fo llowing hours of 1crk
were usually adhered to : in Novemb er , December, January and February 1ork
began at five thirty a.m. and finished at six p.m. with time off for
breakfast from eight unti 1 nine and dinner from twe 1 ve to one , In \1arch ,
October, April and September, work began at six thirty a.m. and ended at
five thirty p.m. ; in May and August, from eight a.m. unt il five p.m. ; in
June and July , from eight a.m. until four thirty , meal times being the sari'c
in each case. In the winter months breakfast was eaten before conv icts
left for work at eight . Each man was issued with two cloth jackets , t10
pairs of cloth trousers , two shirts , four pairs shoes , two leather caps ,
one rug , one blanket and one palliasse, an amount wh ich seems hard ly enouglto
withstand the cold of Van Diemen' s Land 1vinters , especially in the
higher districts of the island's interior where some of the camps \\' ere
located. Daily food for each convict was also strictly rat ioned :
1 1 /z lbs flour (of type 12%) ;
1 /z lb vegetables ; l lb fresh meat , or
l lb salt beef or 16 ounces pork; 1 1 2 oz salt; 1 1 /2 oz soap . The men
slept in huts housing ten, twenty , sometimes even many more according to
their class . Each station was under the control of a Government emp loyel
staff cons isting of one superintendent , three assistant superintcnents ,
one clerk who was also the storekeeper , three working overseers and one
messenger . As the Prob ation System became more fi rmly estahlishcu , the
general picture of minute to minute daily life in the stations gradua 11 y
emerged . One hour before the time specified for starting work , the
constable on watch rang the first bell, on which the convicts imrne:J i ate J \'
rose, fo lded their bedding neatly and prepared to leave the ward .
r1ftecr,_
1 3 GO 1/48 p. 165 .