Kingston - the original N I settlement.

We had bought a museum pass which gave us access to all museums and to some guided tours. This morning's tour meant meeting at the Royal Engineers Office at 9.30am. There we met our guide, Allan, who was waiting for any interested parties to join him.
First stop was the Commissariat Store on Quality Row. It was built to store and dispense the Penal Colony's supplies and equipment. It replaced an earlier building, closer to the water, which had been hit by a tsunami. This one is on higher ground. It only took 7 months to build. They did, after all, have hundreds of convicts to do the work.
Inside, it contains a multitude of stories and relics relating to Kingston's settlement.
The Rev. Brice took photographs c1867 which form a panoramic view of Kingston. It shows what Kingston looked like from the houses higher up on Quality Row. The far left of the panorama shows the very faint image of a windmill. In a mill near the pier, the cogs were turned by chain gang convicts turning a large crank handle. There was also a water mill driven by water from a manmade pond.
Further along Quality Row, we visited a house set up as it probably once was when the Colonisers first lived in them. There were first, second and third class residences which were allocated dependent on the person's class or rank. The one we saw was a second class house.
Vegetables and pigs were probably grown in the surrounding area. There are some old stone huts in a couple of paddocks. We speculate the these might well have been shepherds' huts.
Suddenly it was close to lunch time. Janette had ordered a book yesterday, so we went to pick that up. This was also an opportunity to look at the shoe shops again!Read more