House Histories

The treadmill is harder to recreate as nothing of it remains today. Records are limited to a few maps and a handful of eyewitness descriptions, some written after the demolition of the structure in the late 1840s, and contemporary examples from other Australian settlements and the UK. Nevertheless – enough information is available to form a clear view of its design, materials and function. Starting with the eyewitness reports we have several sources to draw from. Note that the term "treadmill" has many substitutes including "treadwheel", "stepping wheel" and "treads" which are used interchangeably depending on the source.

First out, the Quaker missionary James Backhouse who visited Moreton Bay in 1836 with his travelling companion George Washington Walker:

"The tread-mill, is generally worked by twenty-five prisoners at a time; but when it is used as a special punishment, sixteen are kept upon it, for fourteen hours, with only the interval of release, afforded, by four being off at a time, in succession. They feel this extremely irksome, at. first; but notwithstanding the warmth of the climate, they become so far accustomed to the labour, by long practice, as to leave the tread-mill, with comparatively little disgust, after working upon it, for a considerable number of days."

Walker made additional notes regarding working shifts and the total ascent per person over a working day:

"29th (March). Went into the yard where the chain gang, consisting of twenty-five men, were at work on the tread-wheel. These are so employed because the power is wanted, not because it is a part of their sentence; therefore they are not so hard worked as if they had subjected themselves to this species of discipline as an extra punishment. In that case they work from sunrise to sunset, with a rest of three hours in the middle of the day, in the hot weather, and two hours during the cooler months. There is also a relief of four men, sixteen being constantly on the wheel, which, of course, affords each man an interval of periodical rest, throughout the day, of one-fifth of the whole time, or of one quarter of an hour's rest after every hour of labour. The exertion requisite to keep this up is excessive. I am told the steps of the wheel are sometimes literally wet with the perspiration that drops from the partially naked men; for they generally strip to the waist. It necessarily bears hardest upon those who have been least accustomed to the labour, particularly the men who are the heaviest in person. The Constable who was superintending, told me that the wheel performed 160 revolutions before each man's turn of rest came, which multiplied by 24, the number of steps in the wheel, gives 3840 times each man must lift his feet in continued succession. Any one who has tried the effect of ascending a hundred steps at a time, may form some idea of the excessive exertion this kind of abour involves, though, doubtless, something must be abated on account of the weight with which the men rest with their arms or hands on the cross rail."

An emotive account is provided by R. S. William in the controversial “The Fell Tyrant”, 1836:

"There is also a mill, which grinds corn and wheat for the use of the settlement, to which is affixed, a treadmill: this is at work, when there is little or no wind, so that the mill is never idle. The brutality used on this piece of machinery, is beyond the power of a human being to describe. The unfortunate men are continually falling from it apparently in a lifeless state. I recollect 2 men falling from it, through absolute fatigue and were killed.”

A more detailed account, including approximate dimensions of the treadmill, are provided by Constance Petrie in Tom Petrie’s Reminiscences:

“In order to gain a good supply of meal to make up for the other things, Grandfather Petrie got the better class of prisoners to volunteer to work the treadmill, as it was calm weather (no wind to speak of), and the mill was slow in its work. The prisoners did not object, as it meant plenty to eat for themselves as well as for the rest of the settlement. The boy " Tom " marched alongside with the convicts up to the mill, and when there he saw them go in turns to the wheel, so many on at a time. It was a very hot day, and the first lot took off their shirts, and then went up some five steps to get on to the wheel, which was like a water-wheel, and was thirty or forty feet long, and the treads being about nine inches wide. An iron bolt at one end held it steady till the prisoners were on, then when that was withdrawn the weight of the men started it moving, and they simply had to step up or be hit on the shins; they had a rail to hold on by, of course. A shaft ran through from the wheel into the windmill, where it connected with the cogwheels there—the works were something like those of a chaffcutter. To look at the convict stepping one would think they were going upstairs. They had to tread so many minutes, and when one man got off at the far end, another one took his place at the starting point. The man just off would have a rest till his turn came round again. Some took to it so well that they could just hold on with the left hand as they stepped, and with the right scribble on the boards drawings of ships, animals, and men—others seemed to tire altogether. However, on this occasion it was not a punishment, and most of them were very jolly over it, chaffing one another, and calling, " Hullo, Bill, or Jack, what have you done to be put on the treadmill? " And so they went on till plenty of meal was ground to keep things going, and a couple of days later the expected vessel turned up. She had been windbound in some bay on the coast. Father also saw the unfortunate chained men on the treadmill working out their punishment. You would hear the " click, click " of their irons as they kept step with the wheel, and those with the heavier irons seemed to have " a great job " to keep up. Some poor wretches only just managed to pull through till they got off at the far end, then they sat down till their turn came to go on again. They all had to do so many hours, according to their sentence; an overseer kept the time, and a couple of soldiers guarded them. When they had put in their time they were marched back to barracks.”

A passage by the anonymous “An Eight Year’s Resident” in “The Queen of the Colonies”, 1876:

“This building was erected in the convict period, as a windmill for grinding the maize meal which made the hominy of the convicts, or, as they are usually called in the colonies, lags. It was, however, often used as a tread-mill, and the convicts had here literally to earn their bread by the sweat of their brows. When the settlement became free the tread-mill of course fell into disuse. Although now in one of the most fashionable parts of the town, the windmill was then quite in the bush. No use was made of its machinery, and if we may credit an old man who had often stepped out his four hours there, it was gradually and quietly removed by a neighbouring blacksmith when iron was dear, and worked up into horseshoes and other articles of his trade”

A snippet from ‘Boy Travellers in Australasia”, Knox 1889:

On their way back to the hotel the youths again encountered the communicative policeman. Pointing in the direction of a round building similar to a windmill and supporting a signal-mast, he said, " That is what we call the Observatory, and it is used for signalling vessels coming into the harbor. It's one of the relics of the convict time; there was once a windmill there where they ground the grain for the convicts to eat, and when the wind didn't blow the prisoners had to work a treadmill in the lower part of the building. I used to know an old fellow who had often done his ' trick at the wheel;' he said he used to have to go it four hours on a stretch, and when through with his trick he was ready to lie down and take a rest. There isn't any part of the treadmill there now, as it was quietly stolen away by the boys, who sold the old iron for a good price." 

And finally, J.J. Knight in 1895 who provided more details including the fact that there were two treadmills contained in low sheds outside the windmill. It should be noted that Knight moved to Queensland in 1884, and his notes would have been based on second-hand accounts from unknown sources:

"Wigging " or, to use a more modern word, " slumming" work involved a penalty of either a whipping of twenty-five lashes or a position in the " lumber gang, "whose duty it was to give the necessary motion to the corn mill in what is now the Observatory by means of the treads. This mill was generally worked by twenty-five prisoners at a time, but when used as a special punishment sixteen were kept upon it for fourteen hours, with only the interval of release afforded by four being off at a time in succession. As may be imagined, the work was unduly hard, and especially so in hot weather, when men often fell off through sheer exhaustion. Low sheds were erected outside the tower, and in these were constructed two of those machines -" treads" - which are calculated to strike terror into the hearts of ordinary mortals. By means of a shaft these were connected with the mill in the tower, and thus-generally as a means of punishment-the motive power was provided by the feet of man. Those prisoners who were unfortunate enough to obtain an enforced acquaintance with the treads were marched up the hill between a guard of soldiers, and having done their turn, extending over several hours, were similarly escorted back to the barracks.”

The dimensions reported by Petrie align with a “Design for treadmill adapted for country districts” produced by the Colonial Architect in Sydney, in 1837. In this drawing the wheel has a diameter of approximately 1.6 meters with 24 steps. The length is 5.9 meters, or about 12 meters when two wheels are combined. The dimensions correspond nicely with the eyewitness accounts from Brisbane and I have used this design for the model.