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Depends on when you are talking about. I'm from England, where they can be notoriously cruel bastards, which is why I escaped, but up until as late as the 1960s men who were "hard" cases and done serious crimes (serious crimes usually involve poor people stealing from the wealthy, did you notice that?) like bank robbery or train robbery or most everything short of murder for which they were (rightly so in my opinion) hanged in pretty short order without the 10 years on death row crap we get here in the US.

Anyway, these "hard" cases were sentenced to many years at "hard labour" which essentially meant that they were put into a particularly miserable prison with a huge rock pile and they spent most of every waking hour smashing rocks with a big hammer. When they were all smashed, they bought in another truckload of rocks. I suppose the smashed rocks became gravel for the driveways of the wealthy so they could hear the tires on their Jaguar crunch nicely as they reflected on how cleverly they had managed to steal another million pounds or dollars or francs or rubles or yen with some creative "standard accounting practices."

I understand work in prison today is at least more productive. Yes, they punch out license plates, but there are many lifers who would probably smash your face clean through the back of your head for less than nothing who make beautiful wooden toys or ships that are sold and the money returned to buy more supplies in an economy that doesn't allocate much money for mahogany for prison workshops. Their is a store in Maine that sells such items, and quite beautiful and expensive some of them are, and I believe a good slice of that actually goes to local charities.

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Q: What work did male convicts do?
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What happened to male convicts in New South Wales Australia?

The country of Australia was originally settled as a prison colony of Britain. One of the largest prisons was in New South Wales. Male convicts there would be put to work during their time in prison.


How many male convicts were on HMS Sirus?

Sirius was a warship. The convicts were in six cargo ships.


What did Alexander of the first fleet carry?

The Alexander carried 195 male convicts and 0 female convicts


How many convicts were on the Alexander?

The Alexander was one of the ships of the First Fleet. It carried 195 male convicts.


Why were there more male convicts than female on the first fleet?

There were not more female convicts than male convicts on the First Fleet or n subsequent fleets. Males outnumbered females 5-1 on the convict transports.


What ship had the most convicts on the first fleet?

The Alexander was the largest of the convict transport ships, and it carried almost 200 male convicts.


What did convicts work with?

The tools provided to them.


Did the aborigines and the british convicts work together to build Australia's cities?

the british convicts did not aborigines


How many people died in the First Fleet?

The deaths during the voyage were: one marine, one marine's wife, one marine's child, 36 male convicts, four female convicts, five children of convicts


How many people died the first fleet?

The deaths during the voyage were: one marine, one marine's wife, one marine's child, 36 male convicts, four female convicts, five children of convicts


What did female convicts eat?

two thirds of what the male convicts received, and the male received a ration of meat per day (1lb of salt pork, beef or mutton) and 1 to 2lb per day of flour or cornmeal to make damper.


What did convicts do in spare time?

The convicts did more work (for extra money if they were first class convicts), they hung out in their cells, got some more rest and much other stuff