Ruqayyah Snyder
Between 1788 and 1868, approximately 164,000 convicts were transported to Australia, of which 8,207 were Scottish, making up about 5% of the convict population. The majority of Scots transported to Australia in the early colonial period were convicts, although some were free settlers. Scots were often young, single, literate, Protestant, and skilled workers. The Scottish courts were less inclined to use transportation as a punishment, and Scottish law was considered more humane for lesser offences than the English and Irish legal systems. Scots were transported for various reasons, including political unrest, social problems, unemployment, and agricultural developments. The Highland and Island Emigration Society, for example, encouraged the poorest Highlanders to emigrate to Australia between 1852 and 1858, assisting about 5,000 Highlanders.
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What You'll Learn
Scottish convicts in Australia
The transportation of convicts to Australia began in 1787 with the First Fleet, which arrived in 1788. This fleet was comprised of 11 ships carrying 775 convicts, officials, crew, marines, and their families. The First Fleet established the first permanent European colony in Australia, within New South Wales. This colony would later become the city of Sydney. Of the 150,000 convicts transported to Australia, 8,207 were Scottish, making up about 5% of the convict population. Scottish convicts were often convicted of minor property offences and represented a broad cross-section of Scotland's working classes. As such, they brought a range of useful skills to the colonies.
The decision to send convicts to Australia was made in 1786, after James Cook's expedition to the South Pacific in 1770. Cook, himself the son of a Scottish ploughman, charted and claimed possession of the east coast of Australia for Britain. Seeking to pre-empt the French colonial empire from expanding into the region, Britain chose Australia as the site of a penal colony. The First Fleet was under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, who was appointed as the governor of the new colony.
The majority of Scottish immigrants in the late 18th century were 'free settlers', often from prominent Lowland families. Engineers like Andrew McDougall and John Bowman arrived with experience in building corn mills, while others were drawn to Australia by the prospects of trade. William Douglas Campbell, Robert Campbell, Charles Hook, and Alexander Berry Laird of Shoalhaven were some of the first merchants drawn to the colonies.
From 1793 to 1795, a group of political prisoners later called the 'Scottish Martyrs' were transported to the colonies. They were tried in Scotland, but not all of them were Scots. Their plight as victims of oppression was widely reported, and the escape of Thomas Muir in 1796 inspired the poetry of Robert Burns.
Scottish Australians have had a significant impact on the country's culture and history. In the early 20th century, Scottish migrants were most likely to settle in industrial portside suburbs, especially in Melbourne and Sydney, where they made notable contributions to the shipbuilding industry. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Scottish-born workers influenced the labour movement and played key roles in trade unions and the Australian Labor Party. Today, a strong Scottish cultural presence is evident in Highland games, dance, Tartan Day celebrations, and Gaelic-speaking societies throughout modern Australia.
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Scottish free settlers in Australia
Scottish Australians are residents of Australia who are fully or partially of Scottish descent. According to the 2021 Australian census, 130,060 Australian residents were born in Scotland, while 2,176,777 claimed Scottish ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry.
The links between Scotland and Australia stretch back to the first British expedition of the Endeavour under the command of Lieutenant James Cook, who was himself the son of a Scottish ploughman. Cook navigated and charted the east coast of Australia, making his first landfall at Botany Bay on 29 April 1770. His reports from this expedition would lead to British settlement of the continent, and during the voyage, Cook also named two groups of Pacific islands in honour of Scotland: New Caledonia and the New Hebrides.
The first Scottish settlers arrived in Australia with the First Fleet in 1788, including three of the first six Governors of New South Wales: John Hunter, Lachlan Macquarie (often referred to as the father of Australia), and Thomas Brisbane. The majority of Scots arriving in the early colonial period were convicts: 8,207 Scottish convicts, out of a total of 150,000 transported to Australia, made up about 5% of the convict population. The Scottish courts were unwilling to punish crimes deemed lesser offences in Scots Law by deportation to Australia. Scottish law was considered more humane for lesser offences than the English and Irish legal systems. Although Scottish convicts had a poor reputation, most were convicted of minor property offences and represented a broad cross-section of Scotland's working classes. As such, they brought a range of useful skills to the colonies.
From 1793 to 1795, a group of political prisoners later called the 'Scottish Martyrs' were transported to the colonies. They were not all Scots, but had been tried in Scotland. Their plight as victims of oppression was widely reported, and the subsequent escape of Thomas Muir in 1796 caused a sensation and inspired the poetry of Robert Burns. The majority of immigrants, 'free settlers', in the late 18th century were Lowlanders from prominent wealthy families. Engineers like Andrew McDougall and John Bowman arrived with experience in building corn mills, while others were drawn to Australia by the prospects of trade.
The first free settlers paid their own way to Australia, meaning that they were typically quite prosperous. To encourage free settlement among the less wealthy, the British colonial government began to pay the transportation costs for many migrants in the early 1800s. It also gave them free land on the condition that it be used for a productive purpose. The offer appealed to people who were suffering from unemployment and poverty in Britain as a result of the Industrial Revolution. The government also provided the settlers with free agricultural tools and convict labour to help them establish farms.
The Australian Gold Rush of the 1850s provided a further impetus for Scottish migration: in the 1850s 90,000 Scots immigrated, far higher than other British or Irish populations at the time. Literacy rates of the Scottish immigrants ran at 90-95%. By the 1830s, a growing number of Scots from the poorer working classes joined the diaspora. Immigrants included skilled builders, tradesmen, engineers, tool-makers and printers. They settled in commercial and industrial cities, Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart and Melbourne. The migration of skilled workers increased, including bricklayers, carpenters, joiners, and stonemasons. They settled in the colonies of Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania.
Some free settlers worked in trades, such as carpentry or blacksmithing. Their skills were highly valued in building the colony. There were also small numbers of doctors, lawyers, and clergy. By the 1920s and 1930s, a majority of Scottish migrants in Australia were living in Victoria and New South Wales. The urban working-class background of many British migrants to Australia in the early 20th century meant that Scots were most likely to settle in industrial portside suburbs, especially in Melbourne and Sydney, where they made notable contributions to the shipbuilding industry.
In the early 2000s, the number of Australians claiming to have Scottish ancestry increased almost threefold; the majority of those who claim Scottish ancestry are third or later-generation Australians. Today, a strong cultural Scottish presence is evident in the Highland games, dance, Tartan Day celebrations, Clan and Gaelic-speaking societies found throughout modern Australia.
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Scottish political prisoners in Australia
Between 1788 and 1868, about 162,000 convicts were transported from Great Britain and Ireland to various penal colonies in Australia. Of these, 8,207 were Scottish convicts, making up about 5% of the convict population. The majority of Scots transported to Australia were convicts, and most of these were convicted of minor property offences.
However, there were also Scottish political prisoners transported to Australia. From 1793 to 1795, a group of political prisoners later called the 'Scottish Martyrs' were transported to the colonies. While not all of them were Scottish, they had been tried in Scotland. One of the 'Scottish Martyrs' was Thomas Muir, a lawyer and political reformer who advocated for democratic changes to the political system. Muir escaped in 1796, inspiring the poetry of Robert Burns.
Other Scottish political prisoners transported to Australia included a group of radical artisans transported in the 1820s after a skirmish near Glasgow, miner unionists, Chartists, and American-Canadian rebels. Overall, however, political protesters made up less than 1% of all Scottish convicts.
Scottish convicts, including political prisoners, contributed to building colonial Australia's early infrastructure and faced harsh punishments. Penal transportation to Australia peaked in the 1830s, with most convicts transported for petty crimes, particularly theft.
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Scottish children shipped to Australia
Between 1922 and 1995, about 130 young Scottish children in the care of voluntary or state institutions were sent to Australia as part of the Child Migration Programme. The programme aimed to ease the burden on UK orphanages and boost the populations of the colonies. It was widely believed that these children were orphans, but most of them had living parents, some of whom were unaware of their children's fate. The children were often deceived into believing that their parents were dead.
The practice of sending poor or orphaned children to English and later British colonies began in 1618, with the transportation of vagrant children to the Virginia Colony. In the 18th century, labour shortages in the colonies led to the transportation of children for work in the Americas, with most of them coming from Scotland. This practice continued until 1757, when it was exposed following a civil action against Aberdeen merchants and magistrates. The Children's Friend Society was founded in 1830 to address the issue of juvenile vagrancy through emigration. In 1832, the first group of children was sent to the Cape Colony in South Africa and the Swan River Colony in Australia.
Scottish migration to Australia dates back to the late 18th century, with the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. The majority of Scots arriving during this period were convicts, with 8,207 Scottish convicts transported to Australia, making up about 5% of the convict population. Scottish convicts had a reputation for minor property offences and represented a diverse range of working-class backgrounds. They brought a range of useful skills to the colonies.
In the early 20th century, Scottish migrants to Australia primarily settled in industrial portside suburbs, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney. They played a significant role in the labour movement and contributed to the shipbuilding industry. Today, a strong Scottish cultural presence is evident in various aspects of Australian society, including Highland games, dance, Tartan Day celebrations, and Gaelic-speaking communities. According to the 2021 Australian census, 130,060 Australian residents were born in Scotland, while 2,176,777 claimed Scottish ancestry.
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Scottish influence on Australian culture
The Scottish have had a profound and lasting influence on Australian culture, with their presence in the country dating back to the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. This fleet of 11 ships carried 775 convicts, military personnel, and civilians to Botany Bay under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, who was later appointed Governor of the new colony. Of the first six Governors of New South Wales, three were Scottish: John Hunter, Lachlan Macquarie (often referred to as the "father of Australia"), and Thomas Brisbane.
The Scottish made up 5% of the convict population in Australia, with 8,207 Scottish convicts transported out of a total of 150,000. Most Scottish convicts were convicted of minor property offences and came from a diverse range of working-class backgrounds. From 1793 to 1795, a group of political prisoners, later called the 'Scottish Martyrs', were transported to the colonies. They were not all Scots, but had been tried in Scotland and their plight inspired the poetry of Robert Burns. The majority of Scottish immigrants in the late 18th century, however, were free settlers, often from prominent wealthy families.
The Scottish migrants in the early 20th century were predominantly urban working-class and settled in industrial portside suburbs, especially in Melbourne and Sydney, where they contributed significantly to the shipbuilding industry. Scottish-born workers also played a key role in the labour movement, trade unions, and the Australian Labor Party.
Today, Scottish culture is still evident in Australia, with Highland games, dance, Tartan Day celebrations, and Gaelic-speaking societies found throughout the country. Bagpiping and pipe bands are also popular. According to the 2021 Australian census, 130,060 Australian residents were born in Scotland, while 2,176,777 claimed Scottish ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry. This number had increased from 133,432 in the 2011 census.
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Frequently asked questions
No, Scots were not shipped to Australia by the English. Scots were transported to Australia as convicts, free settlers, and children. Between 1788 and 1868, about 164,000 convicts were transported to Australia, of which 8,207 were Scottish, making up about 5% of the convict population.
Scots were transported to Australia as a result of the American War of Independence, which ended British rule in North America. This led to the decision to establish penal colonies in Australia, with the first fleet arriving in 1788.
Scottish migrants had a significant influence on the labour movement and played key roles in trade unions and political parties. They also contributed to the shipbuilding industry and established direct trade routes between Australia and Glasgow. By the 1920s and 1930s, the majority of Scottish migrants in Australia were living in Victoria and New South Wales, particularly in industrial portside suburbs.
Yes, the number of Scots in Australia increased over time. In 1891, there were 124,000 Scottish Australians, with 8,874 living in South Australia. By the early 2000s, the number of Australians claiming Scottish ancestry had increased almost three-fold, with over 2 million people claiming Scottish ancestry in the 2021 census.
