318,531
edits
Australia Convict Records: Difference between revisions
m
→Types of Convict Records
| Line 26: | Line 26: | ||
*[http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/ Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674-1834] The punishment of transportation for a crime tried in London by the Old Bailey Court resulted in exile to Australia. The site can be search by several categories, including by name for the punishment resulting in transportation. | *[http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/ Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674-1834] The punishment of transportation for a crime tried in London by the Old Bailey Court resulted in exile to Australia. The site can be search by several categories, including by name for the punishment resulting in transportation. | ||
==Historical Background== | |||
*Penal transportation or transportation was the relocation of convicted criminals, or other persons regarded as undesirable, to a distant place, often a colony, for a specified term; later, specifically established penal colonies became their destination. While the prisoners may have been released once the sentences were served, they generally did not have the resources to return home. | |||
*In 1787, the First Fleet, a group of '''convict ships''' departed from England to establish the '''first colonial settlement in Australia, as a penal colony'''. The First Fleet included boats containing food and animals from London. | |||
*The ships and boats of the fleet would explore the coast of Australia by sailing all around it looking for suitable farming land and resources. The fleet arrived at '''Botany Bay, Sydney''' on 18 January 1788, then moved to Sydney Cove (modern-day Circular Quay) and established the first permanent European settlement in Australia. This marked the beginning of the European colonization of Australia. | |||
*'''Norfolk Island''', east of the Australian mainland, was a convict penal settlement from 1788 to 1794, and again from 1824 to 1847. | |||
*In 1803, '''Van Diemen's Land (modern-day Tasmania)''' was also settled as a penal colony, followed by the '''Moreton Bay Settlement (modern Brisbane, Queensland)''' in 1824. | |||
*The '''Swan River Colony (Western Australia)''' accepted transportation from England and Ireland in 1851, to resolve a long-standing labour shortage. | |||
*Two penal settlements were established near '''modern day Melbourne''' in Victoria but both were abandoned shortly after. Later, a free settlement was established and this settlement later accepted some convict transportation. | |||
*Convicts were generally '''treated harshly''', forced to work against their will, often doing hard physical labour and dangerous jobs. In some cases they were cuffed and chained in work gangs. | |||
*The majority of convicts were men, although a significant portion were women. Some were as young as 10 when convicted and transported to Australia. | |||
*Most were guilty of '''relatively minor crimes''' like theft of food/clothes/small items, but some were convicted of serious crimes like rape or murder. *'''Convict status was not inherited by children''', and convicts were generally freed after serving their sentence, although many died during transportation and during their sentence. | |||
*Convict assignment '''(sending convicts to work for private individuals)''' occurred in all penal colonies aside from Western Australia, and can be compared with the practice of convict leasing in the United States. | |||
*Transportation from Great Britain and Ireland ended at different times in different colonies, with the last being in 1868, although it had become uncommon several years earlier thanks to the loosening of laws in Britain, changing sentiment in Australia, and groups such as the '''Anti-Transportation League.''' | |||
*In 2015, an estimated 20% of the Australian population had '''convict ancestry'''. In 2013, an estimated 30% of the Australian population (about 7 million) had '''Irish ancestry''' - the highest percentage outside of Ireland - thanks partially to historical convict transportation.<ref>"Penal transportation", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_transportation#Transportation_to_Australia, accessed 20 March 2022.</ref> | |||
== Types of Convict Records == | == Types of Convict Records == | ||
=== Tickets of Leave Butts === | === Tickets of Leave Butts === | ||
*'''Tickets of leave''' were issued to convicts having served about half of their sentences with good behavior. | *'''Tickets of leave''' were issued to convicts having served about half of their sentences with good behavior. | ||