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The United Kingdom's history with Australia as a penal colony began in 1787 with the First Fleet, arriving in 1788. This was a direct result of the American Revolution, which left the British government unable to send convicts to America, as they had done for 80 years. The British government decided that Australia would be the most suitable location for a penal colony, and the colony was established to address the rising crime rates in Britain at the time, as well as the overcrowding of prisons. The last convict ship to Western Australia arrived on 10 January 1868, marking the end of the convict era in Australia.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of the first fleet of British ships' arrival in Australia | 26 January 1788 |
| Number of ships in the first fleet | 11 |
| Number of convicts in the first fleet | 1,000 |
| Peak year of penal transportation to Australia | 1830s |
| Year of the last convict ship's arrival in Western Australia | 1868 |
| Total number of convicts transported to Australia | 60,000 |
| Percentage of female convicts | 14% |
| Percentage of convicts transported for theft | 80% |
| Number of political prisoners transported to Australia | 3,600 |
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What You'll Learn
The First Fleet
The journey was long and arduous, first sailing south towards South America before turning east at Cape Town and voyaging through the Great Southern Ocean. The fleet arrived at Botany Bay on 18, 19, or 20 January 1788, with some sources stating that the fleet arrived at Botany Bay on 21 January 1788. However, Captain Phillip deemed the site unsuitable for establishing a colony due to poor soil and a lack of fresh water.
On 21 January 1788, Phillip sailed north from Botany Bay and entered Port Jackson, a more suitable location for the new colony. He named the site Sydney Cove and raised the Union flag there on 26 January 1788, marking the beginning of the European colonisation of Australia. This date is now celebrated as Australia Day and is the official national day of Australia.
The arrival of the First Fleet had a significant impact on the Eora people, the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land in the Sydney area. Violence between the settlers and the Eora people broke out almost immediately, with the Eora people, led by the warrior Pemulwuy, fighting the colonisers over land and food. The Eora people also suffered greatly from European diseases, with thousands dying from smallpox.
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Penal colonies
The British government decided to establish a penal colony in Australia in 1787, with the First Fleet of 11 ships leaving England on 13 May 1787. The penal colony was established in 1788, marking the beginning of British settlement in Australia.
The use of penal colonies was a response to the high crime rates in Britain during the 17th and 18th centuries, which were partly due to the lack of a police force. The British government believed that transportation to distant colonies would be a more humane alternative to execution, giving convicts a second chance at life. Initially, criminals were transported to British colonies in North America, but this practice ended with the American War of Independence.
The First Fleet transported around 1,000 convicts, including men, women, minority groups, and political prisoners. Most convicts were transported for petty crimes, particularly theft, and about 80% of the women convicted had committed this offence. More serious crimes, such as rape and murder, became transportable offences in the 1830s, but as they were also punishable by death, comparatively few convicts were transported for such crimes. The journey to Australia was arduous, and many convicts suffered from terrible conditions, with some dying en route.
Upon arrival, the convicts were put to work building houses, farms, and roads. They faced harsh conditions and manual labour, with some working up to 18 hours a day. The use of Australia as a penal colony had dramatic impacts on the Indigenous peoples, resulting in the dispossession of their land and resources, severe racism, and segregation. The British established a system of law that often failed to recognize the legal rights of the First Nations peoples to Australia.
The transportation penal system peaked in the 1830s, but numbers dwindled as protests against the convict system intensified throughout the colonies. Transportation to Australia ended in 1868, with the last convict ship arriving in Western Australia on 10 January 1868. Overall, the use of Australia as a penal colony had lasting impacts on both the convicts and the Indigenous peoples of the land.
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Public opposition
The British government's decision to use Australia as a penal colony was met with opposition from various groups, both in Britain and in the Australian colonies.
In Britain, there was a growing concern about the excessive use of force and violence against prisoners. Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Bourke, the ninth Governor of the New South Wales colony, was a prominent opponent of this treatment. He passed the 'Magistrates Act' to limit the imposition of more than fifty lashes, but this made him a controversial and isolated figure.
The transportation of convicts to Australia was also opposed by some members of the British public, who believed that it was an inappropriate punishment that did not deliver "a just measure of pain". This view was shared by many Australians, who saw the convicts as a problematic source of labour and a potential threat to the reputation of the colonies.
Opposition to transportation in the Australian colonies intensified in the 1830s, particularly in New South Wales. Newspaper proprietors such as John Fairfax in Sydney and the Reverend John West in Launceston argued that convicts were a source of crime and vice within the colony and competed with honest free labourers for work. This opposition received a boost in 1834 when Robert Wardell, a friend of William Charles Wentworth, was murdered by a convict. As a result, the British government established a commission of inquiry in 1837, headed by Sir William Molesworth, to investigate the effectiveness of transportation as a deterrent to crime and its moral impact on the colonies. Molesworth found the system of assigning convicts to individuals to be iniquitous and recommended its abolition.
The continuation of transportation to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) also saw the rise of a well-coordinated anti-transportation movement, particularly following an economic depression in the early 1840s. However, transportation was temporarily revived due to overcrowding in British jails and the demand for transportation as a deterrent.
Overall, the public opposition to the use of Australia as a prison colony was driven by concerns about excessive punishment, the inappropriate nature of transportation as a penalty, the potential negative impact on the colonies' reputation and labour market, and the effectiveness of transportation as a deterrent to crime.
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Conditions for convicts
The British government began sending convicts to Australia in 1787, with the arrival of the First Fleet of 11 convict ships carrying around 1,000 convicts. This marked the beginning of the "transportation" policy, which lasted until 1868, during which more than 160,000 convicts were sent to Australia. The decision to establish a penal colony in Australia was driven by the overcrowding of British prisons and the desire to relieve social issues caused by poverty, harsh living conditions, and long working hours in Britain.
The conditions faced by convicts in Australia were challenging and varied depending on individual circumstances. All convicts were required to work, with male convicts typically performing hard labour such as clearing land, cutting down trees, and constructing buildings, while female convicts usually performed domestic work, serving in the homes of colonial officials. Living conditions in the so-called "female factories" of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land were characterised by overcrowding, poor sanitation, and disease.
Convicts who exhibited good behaviour could obtain a "ticket of leave", which allowed them to work for wages and live independently. They could also earn conditional or absolute pardons, with the latter permitting them to return to Britain. However, those who misbehaved faced severe discipline, including whipping, solitary confinement, and being put in leg irons for extended periods. Convicts who committed serious offences were sent to secondary penal settlements such as Moreton Bay, Norfolk Island, and Port Arthur.
The treatment of convicts in Australia was not without controversy. Some officials, like Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Bourke, objected to the excessive use of force and violence against prisoners. The public in Britain also became increasingly critical of the practice of assigning convicts to work for free settlers, viewing it as a form of slavery. By the mid-1800s, the growing population of free settlers in Australia led to a decrease in the need for convict labour, and protests against the convict system intensified.
The end of transportation came in 1868, with the arrival of the last convict ship in Western Australia. Many ex-convicts chose to remain in Australia, integrating into the free settler communities and even rising to prominent positions in Australian society. Today, the convict era is considered a significant part of Australia's history, with an estimated four million Australians having convict ancestry.
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Impact on Indigenous people
The establishment of the penal colony in Australia and the subsequent British settlement had a profound and devastating impact on the Indigenous people of the land. The colonisation of Australia was driven by the British government's need to address the rising crime rates in the 17th and 18th centuries, which were partly due to the lack of a police force in England.
The British initially acknowledged the presence of Indigenous peoples, but they did not recognise their system of law or land ownership as 'civilised'. As a result, Australia was declared 'terra nullius' or 'empty land', justifying the seizure of First Nations' land. This belief had a lasting impact on the relationship between Indigenous people and the British settlers, which continues to be felt today.
The arrival of the First Fleet of British ships on January 26, 1788, marked the beginning of a wave of transportation that brought approximately 60,000 convicts to Australia. This influx of convicts and settlers led to the dispossession of Indigenous land and resources, as the British established their own system of law and governance that often failed to recognise the legal rights of the First Nations people.
The impact of colonisation was not limited to land dispossession. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have experienced forced removal from their families, segregation, and exclusion from essential services such as education and healthcare. Additionally, Indigenous Australians were not even included in the government census until 1967, further emphasising the marginalisation they faced.
The convicts themselves, who were mostly transported for petty crimes, also faced harsh conditions and manual labour. While some argue that their experiences in Australia were an improvement over the harsh punishments they may have faced in Britain, including death sentences, the journey to Australia was treacherous, and many convicts endured painful manual labour and harsh treatment from officers.
In conclusion, while the establishment of the penal colony in Australia was driven by Britain's domestic concerns, it had a profound and lasting impact on the Indigenous people of the land. The dispossession of their land, the breakdown of their communities, and the imposition of a foreign system of governance continue to shape the relationship between Indigenous Australians and settlers to this day.
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Frequently asked questions
The UK started using Australia as a penal colony in 1788.
The UK was experiencing high crime rates in the 17th and 18th centuries, largely due to the lack of a police force. This led to an increase in the prison population and the British government decided to send convicts overseas.
Most prisoners were transported for petty crimes, particularly theft. More serious crimes, such as rape and murder, were also added as transportable offences in the 1830s, but since these crimes were punishable by death, few convicts were transported for such crimes.
The conditions for prisoners in Australia were often harsh and cruel. For example, one common job for convicts was house-building, which involved long hours of painful manual labour under the supervision of officers who used whips. However, some argue that the conditions in Australia were still an improvement on the conditions prisoners would have faced in Britain, where they may have been met with a death sentence.
Transportation to Australia ended in 1868. By this time, the colonies were able to sustain themselves and there was less support for the idea that transportation was an appropriate punishment.
