Australian Convicts After the Third Fleet

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

Australian Convicts After The Third Fleet 1792 - 1868

Early Convicts to Australia were sent to the Colony of New South Wales but by the mid 1800s they were being sent directly to Destinations such as Norfolk Island, Van Diemens Land (present day Tasmania), Port Macquarie and Morton Bay the First Convicts to Western Australian arrived in 1850 also the site of the last Convict Ship arrival in 1868.

1,750 Convicts known as the "Exiles"arrived in Victoria from Britain between 1844 and 1849.

The Original purpose of Convict Transportation to Australia was Establishment of a Penal Colony to alleviate the over crowding correctional facilities in Britain, the majority of the 162,000+ chosen for transportation were poor and illiterate with most convicted for Larceny. From about 1810 Convicts were seen as a labour source for building and maintaining Roads, Bridges, Courthouses and Hospitals. Most Female Convicts were sent to "Female Factories"essentially forced Labor Camps, to work off their Sentence,Convicts both Male and Female also worked for Private Employers such as Free Settlers and Small Land Holders.

In 1868 the transportation of Convicts to Australia ended at a time when the Colonies Population stood at around one Million compared to 30,000 in 1821, by the mid 1800s there were enough people here to take on the work, and enough people who needed the work, the Colonies could therefore sustain themselves and continue to grow, the Convicts had served their purpose. Transportation to the Colony of New South Wales was officially abolished on the 1st October 1850, and in 1853 the order to abolish Transportation to Van Diemens Land was formally announced. When the last shipment of Convicts disembarked in Western Australia in 1868,the total number of transported Convicts stood at around 162,000 men and women,they were transported here on 806 Ships

• Van Diemens Land

The Colony of Van Diemens Land was established in its own right in 1825 and Officially became known as Tasmania in 1856, in the 50 yrs from 1803-1853 around 75,000 Convicts were transported to Tasmania , By 1835 there were over 800 Convicts working in chain gangs at the Infamous Port Arthur penal station which operated from 1830-1877.

• Western Australia

Western Australia was established in 1827 and proclaimed a British penal settlement in 1849 with the first Convicts arriving in 1850, just under 10,000 British Convicts were sent directly to the Colony in the 18 yrs until 1868,
On January 9th 1868 Australias last Convict ship the Hougoumont unloaded the final 269 Convicts

West Aust Convicts - Ship Tree - Parkhurst Boys 42-49 - History Tree

• Queensland

In 1849 Queensland separated from New South Wales,
In 1824 the Penal Colony at Redcliffe was established by Lieutenant John Oxley, known as the Morton Bay settlement it later moved to the site now known as Brisbane, the main inhabitants of Brisbane Town as it was known were the Convicts of the Morton Bay Penal Station until it closed in 1839 , around 2,280 convicts were sent to the settlement in those fifteen years

• Victoria

In 1851 Victoria (Port Phillip District) separated from New South Wales apart from early attempts at settlement,the only Convicts sent directly to Victoria from Britain were about 1,700 Convicts known as the "Exiles" they arrived between 1844-1849.