Convict Labour - The building of the Dockyard (Pt 8 of 8)

[Left] The Chatham Counterguard Seawall (Reclamtion Road) along with the Orange Bastion (behind this wall) were the last of the convict labour works. Note the two half buried cannon embrasures (pointed by arrows) whose full height originally stood above sea level

The total cost of maintaining the Convict Establishment for a period of three years was £24,000 per annum, of which - largely because the purpose of having such an establishment in Gibraltar was to carry out the works required by the Admiralty, which hence employed half of the total number of convicts - the Admiralty was required to pay half of the total sum. But the Admiralty, owing to convicts' rebellious behaviour, were not only encountering a lot of problems but not getting their money's worth.

However, replacing the convict labour force by a hired one, which the Admiralty was firmly set upon doing, meant acquiring a substantial part of that work force from Spain in order to fulfil the necessary requirements in numbers of workers. The Admiralty was under the impression that there were not enough men locally willing to undertake the laborious task entailed by the works. It was generally accepted, however, that acquiring a work force from the hinterland, even at short notice, was no difficulty. In fact, so determined were they in pursuing the course they had chosen, that the Admiralty as employers saw no obstacles that could possibly hinder their progress.

The Admiralty had come to realise that there was considerable advantage in employing hired labour.

Hired labour could be made to work ten hours a day, which was quite beneficial to the employer who because of an order issued by the Secretary of State which limited the convicts' working hours to eight daily, had not been able to take advantage of this before.

The hiring of private labour placed the Admiralty in a better position with which to exercise their position of authority. The employer had thus attained a position of respect that through the years had been lacking. And it did so in the following manner: A hired labourer not performing his duty to the satisfaction of the employer could be instantly dismissed - replacement was no problem; there were plenty of others willing to fill up the post. And concerning foreign workers the Admiralty had the power to forfeit permits of entry to Gibraltar or residential ones which some foreign workers had obtained to reside in Gibraltar.

The coming of hired labour and the regained position of authority by the Employer saw to it that higher standard of workmanship was performed as well as cutting the duration for completion of the works at hand. In 1875 the convict labour force was removed and the Convict Establishment was dismantled.