Lock, Stock and Triangle - Peace Park, Bathurst, NSW, Australia - Photo Cutouts on Waymarking.com

While in Bathurst for the Geocaching NSW "Invasion Event" I was checking out other things in Peace Park, and came across this opportunity to limit 'the movements' of the younger visitors to this delightful park.

There is an information sign nearby, as part of "The Bathurst Government Settlement Heritage Trail", (included, in one of the photos), that explains the significance of having a Photo Cut-out of this design here.

The Cut-Out is under the shade of large trees, with the popular playground behind it. It is available for 'humiliation' of the participant 24/7, and is painted to depict a scene from the 1830's. If you put your head 'in the Stock' you will have a possum walking over the 'wooden stock' and sniffing your unkempt hair. It possibly depicts the colony's Surgeon's son, coming to feed, and aid the minor felon. [See below - from the information sign]

The sign reads:
"Lock, Stock and Triangle"

"Bathurst's early magistrates frequently complained of the few options available for punishment of minor crimes. Male convicts, but not female, could be lashed. A convict, known as the scourger, was assigned to wield the cat across the backs of convicts tied to the triangle, a portable affair erected when and where needed.

"The settlement lacked a gaol until 1825. If there was need to lock up an offender, they would have been kept in iron chains - outdoors. Windradyne, the Wiradjuri warrior, was so held for a month, possibly under guard near the first military barracks. The gaol when finally built proved to be too small, far from secure and only suitable for male prisoners.

"By the early 1830s the district had a more diverse population, but one with an increasing number of drunks of both genders, free and convict. Flogging, gaol and (unpaid) fines offered no deterrent to public drunkenness. In 1833 the answer, Bathurst's magistrate argued, was to be found with public punishment stocks. Governor Bourke approved, but doubted the practicality of placing them eight feet above ground to be in view of all. He questioned the ability of drunks to climb the ladder. Instead, stocks placed on the ground, pinning head and hands were constructed. They were put to use intermittently until 1838, when removed by public demand."

As a possible explanation about the depiction of a child coming with food for the 'locked up felon' of the Cut-Out, there is some more information on the side of this sign.

"Little John vs Big John"

"The punishment stocks were re-introduced in 1837 on the orders of Bathurst's new Police Magistrate, John Kinchela. Young and inexperienced but not lacking in zeal, Kinchela had the stocks set up near his Police Office, to ensure that "drunkards and others did penance in the eyes of the community."

"In the words of Agnes Busby, wife of the settlement's surgeon, "various things mitigated against the new magistrate's 'reforms' in this direction." Among the many opposed to Kinchela's decision were the settlement's children, who in defiance of the magistrate sometimes looked after the "unfortunates" sentenced to a night in the stocks.

"Agnes discovered her own son's part in this when John, age four or five, went missing early one morning from the surgeon's quarters. These were on the ground floor of the Police Office, with Magistrate Kinchela living on the floor above. Young John was eventually found, Agnes wrote, "dealing out bread and butter to the penitent drunkard in the stocks, who poor fellow, the child explained, had had no breakfast."

"The stocks did not remain in use, and John Kinchela did not remain long as Bathurst's Police Magistrate."

Visited: after lunch, Sunday, 28 February, 2016 - while in Bathurst for the geocaching event less than 50 metres away.

Visit Instructions:
Take a photo of yourself or someone in your group posing in place with the cut-out. *If you are traveling alone, use the timer function or find a friendly passerby to help you out*
Also note any changes that may have occurred since the original waymark was created, including physical condition of cutouts, accessibility, etc.

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