Damon Mcknight
Australia's history as a penal colony is a well-known aspect of the country's past. The country was initially used as a penal colony by the British, who sent over 160,000 criminals to Australia, with the first fleet arriving in 1788. The majority of convicts were from England and Wales, with smaller numbers from Ireland and Scotland. Most were sentenced in British cities, where displaced rural populations struggled to find work in an increasingly industrialised world. The use of penal transportation as a punishment emerged in the British legal system in the early 17th century as an alternative to execution, with over 200 crimes carrying the death penalty by the 1770s. The penal colonies were central to Australia's development, with convict labour used to build infrastructure across the country. Once emancipated, most ex-convicts remained in Australia and joined the free settlers, with some even rising to prominent positions in Australian society.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Founding of Australia by criminals | Australia was founded by criminals in the sense that they built the infrastructure and lived all over the place. However, they were not "Founding Fathers" and did not hold powerful positions. |
| Number of convicts | The British landed a fleet of ships near Sydney (the First Fleet), containing over 1,000 people, about three-quarters of whom were convicts. Approximately 160,000 criminals were landed in Australia's convict colonies. |
| Types of crimes | Most convicts were transported for petty crimes, particularly theft. Other crimes included robbery, political insurgency, and military offenses. |
| Sentencing | Many convicts had fixed-term sentences of 7 or 14 years, and a few were sentenced for life. |
| Life in Australia | Once emancipated, most ex-convicts stayed in Australia, married, and had children. Some rose to prominent positions in Australian society, while others remained stigmatized. |
| Impact on indigenous people | The use of Australia as a penal colony resulted in the dispossession and segregation of indigenous people, with ongoing consequences for their relationship with settlers. |
| End of convict transportation | The final convict transport ship arrived in 1853, and the Transportation Act was abolished as the British government recognized the cruelty of this punishment. |
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What You'll Learn
Australia's history as a penal colony
Australia has a deep history as a British penal colony. In the 18th century, criminal activity was extremely common across England, especially in cities, and punishment was often harsh and excessive. The British government acknowledged that the number of people being met with capital punishment was getting out of control. In 1718, the Bloody Code was enacted, and by the 1770s, some 222 crimes in Britain carried the death penalty. Most of these crimes were against property, including offences such as the theft of goods worth over 5 shillings, the cutting down of a tree, or the theft of an animal.
As the Industrial Revolution economically displaced much of the working class, there was an increase in petty crime. The government was under pressure to find an alternative to confinement in overcrowded jails. In 1783, James Matra, who had been a junior officer on James Cook's 1768 voyage to the Pacific, proposed to the British government that Botany Bay was a suitable location for a colony. Initially, the plan was for the colony to be an asylum for British loyalists who wanted to leave the newly independent America. However, after a meeting with Home Secretary Lord Sydney, the scheme was reformulated to comprise mostly convicts instead.
On May 13, 1787, the consequences of the Transportation Act began to be seen with the embarkation of the 'First Fleet'. This fleet comprised 11 ships, a mixture of Royal Navy vessels, supply ships, and ships for criminal transportation. The ship landed in New South Wales in 1788, with over 1,000 people, about three-quarters of whom were convicts. The convicts were mainly from England and Wales, with a large contingent of Irish (24%) and a smaller number of Scots (5%). Most were sentenced in the rapidly growing cities of Britain, where displaced rural populations struggled to find work in an increasingly industrialised world.
Convicts and ex-convicts were a large part of the growing Australian society. In the colony of New South Wales, convicts started at about 75% of the population in 1788, gradually dropping to about 60% in 1796, 30% by 1805, and hovering around 40% until the mid-1830s. Penal transportation to Australia peaked in the 1830s and dropped off significantly in the following decade as protests against the convict system intensified throughout the colonies. The final convict transport ship arrived in 1853. Once emancipated, most ex-convicts stayed in Australia and joined the free settlers, with some rising to prominent positions in Australian society.
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The majority of convicts were petty thieves
Between 1788 and 1868, about 162,000 convicts were transported from Britain and Ireland to various penal colonies in Australia. The majority of these convicts were petty thieves. In the 1800s, the "Bloody Code", which stated that 222 crimes in Britain were punishable by death, was gradually rescinded as judges and juries considered its punishments too harsh. However, lawmakers still wanted punishments to deter potential criminals, so they increasingly used transportation as a more humane alternative to execution.
The high crime rates in Britain during the 17th and 18th centuries were attributed to the absence of a police force, which led people to resort to crime as a means of survival. Theft was the most common crime, with four out of five prisoners in jail for stealing. Poverty, social injustice, harsh and dirty living conditions, and long working hours were prevalent in 19th-century Britain.
In Australia, convicts were a large part of the growing society. In the main colony of New South Wales, convicts made up about 75% of the population in 1788, gradually decreasing to 60% in 1796, 30% by 1805, and hovering around 40% until the mid-1830s. The majority of convicts transported to Australia were men, with women making up about one in seven convicts. Most of the women convicts were convicted of either prostitution or petty theft.
The punishment for stealing in Britain at the time was usually imprisonment, but the prisons became overcrowded due to the high number of arrests for minor crimes. As a result, the British government sought alternative destinations to relieve prison overcrowding and established penal colonies in Australia. The landing spot was usually New South Wales, a recently 'discovered' territory yet to be populated by British colonists but already inhabited by Aboriginal people for tens of thousands of years. The convicts put in hard labour, building infrastructure such as roads and bridges, and their presence shaped Australia's sense of lawlessness.
After completing their sentences, most convicts stayed in Australia and became settlers, merchants, and artisans. Some even rose to prominent positions in Australian society, including a Tasmanian newspaper publisher, the Postmaster, and a Member of Parliament. While convictism initially carried a social stigma, attitudes became more accepting in the 20th century, and today, many Australians celebrate having a convict in their lineage.
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Convicts became settlers and rose to prominence
Australia was initially populated by criminals, with the British government sending convicts to the continent as an alternative to execution or confinement in overcrowded jails. The use of Australia as a penal colony began in 1788, with the arrival of the "First Fleet", a fleet of 11 ships carrying over 1,000 people, about three-quarters of whom were convicts. Many of these convicts were sentenced for petty crimes such as theft, which was often a result of the Industrial Revolution economically displacing much of the working class.
Once they had served their sentences, most convicts chose to remain in Australia and join the free settlers, with some even rising to prominent positions in Australian society. Convictism carried a social stigma, but ex-convicts could climb the social ladder and pursue new opportunities in this new land. Some notable examples of ex-convicts who rose to prominence include a Tasmanian newspaper publisher, the richest Tasmanian ever, a Postmaster, a Superintendent of carpenters, a magistrate, and a Member of Parliament.
The desire of convicts to remain in Australia and take advantage of new opportunities is evident from the fact that today, roughly 20% of the Australian population is descended from people sent to the country as convicts. This is despite the social stigma associated with convictism, which led to a sense of shame and cultural cringe among some later Australians. However, attitudes towards convict descent became more accepting in the 20th century, and it is now considered a cause for celebration by many Australians.
The transportation of convicts to Australia continued until the mid-1800s, when the colonies themselves fought to end the practice as more and more free settlers arrived. The final convict transport ship arrived in 1853, and by 1868, almost two decades after transportation to the eastern colonies had ceased, the last convict ship arrived in Western Australia. While the convicts may not have been "Founding Fathers", they played a central role in the development of Australia, both through their labour and their contributions to the growing society.
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The impact on indigenous people
The colonisation of Australia by criminals transported from Britain and Ireland had a significant and lasting impact on the Indigenous people of the continent. The arrival of the so-called "First Fleet" of British ships in 1788 marked the beginning of a process of dispossession and forced relocation for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who had lived in Australia for tens of thousands of years.
The British penal colonies in Australia were established on land that was already inhabited, and the expansion of these colonies led to the annihilation of Indigenous property rights and the segregation and removal of Indigenous people from their homelands. The Indigenous population was subjected to severe racism and discrimination, and the lasting impact of this colonisation can still be felt in the ongoing isolation and marginalisation experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It is estimated that the process of colonisation dispossessed perhaps one million Indigenous people of their land and that today, roughly 20% of the Australian population is descended from the transported convicts.
The establishment of penal colonies in Australia was driven in part by the British government's desire to find an alternative to overcrowded jails and the high number of death sentences being handed down in the 18th century. Transportation to a penal colony was considered a more humane punishment than execution, and it also served the British imperial ambition to establish a colony in Australia. The majority of convicts transported to Australia had committed petty crimes, particularly theft, and most were from England and Wales, with smaller numbers from Ireland and Scotland.
While some convicts remained in Australia after serving their sentences and became successful settlers, the legacy of Australia's foundation by criminals has had a complex impact on the nation's identity and its relationship with its Indigenous peoples. On the one hand, the "larrikinism" and "she'll be right" mentality associated with Australia's criminal origins have contributed to a national appreciation for the underdog and a spirited resilience in the face of adversity. On the other hand, the convict past has also shaped a sense of lawlessness and a complex relationship with authority, which has had intergenerational effects on both the descendants of convicts and the Indigenous peoples who experienced colonisation and dispossession.
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The end of convict transportation
Between 1788 and 1868, more than 162,000 convicts were transported to Australia as punishment for crimes committed in Britain and Ireland. Convict transportation emerged in the British legal system in the early 17th century as an alternative to execution. During this time, many crimes that would today be considered minor offences, such as stealing a roll of lace, were punishable by hanging.
In the 1800s, the "Bloody Code", which had deemed almost all crimes as punishable by death, was gradually rescinded because judges and juries considered its punishments too harsh. However, lawmakers still wanted punishments to deter potential criminals, so they increasingly used transportation as a more humane alternative to execution.
By the mid-1830s, with increasing numbers of free settlers entering New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), opposition to the transportation of felons into the colonies grew. Influential spokesmen, such as newspaper proprietors John Fairfax and Reverend John West, argued against convicts as a source of crime and unfair competition to honest free labourers. In 1850, the Australasian Anti-Transportation League was formed to lobby for the permanent cessation of transportation.
In 1853, the last convict ship to be sent from England, the St. Vincent, arrived in Australia. However, transportation continued in small numbers to Western Australia. The last convict ship, Hougoumont, left Britain in 1867 and arrived in Western Australia on 10 January 1868, marking the end of convict transportation to Australia.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, Australia was originally populated by criminals. The country was used as a penal colony by Britain from 1788, leading to years of isolation for the convicts sent there.
Britain had previously sent criminals to America as a form of punishment, but this stopped after the American Revolutionary War. With independence, America stopped accepting convicts from Britain. Britain then looked to the east and specifically Australia.
Most convicts were transported for petty crimes, particularly theft. Four out of five prisoners were in jail for theft, and thieves comprised 80% of all transportees.
Convicts in Australia faced hard lives as they helped build the young colony. However, once they had served their sentences, most stayed and some became successful settlers. Convictism carried a social stigma, and for some later Australians, being of convict descent instilled a sense of shame.
Yes, some ex-convicts rose to positions of influence and authority. Ex-convicts included a Tasmanian newspaper publisher, the Postmaster, the Superintendent of carpenters, a magistrate, and a Member of Parliament.
