ALAN CARLTON
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Convicts

1770: In Britain 222 crimes carried the death penalty. Most criminals were caught by their victims and taken to a local court.
 
The industrial revolution 1760-1830 led to an increase in crime. Overcrowded gaols. Overcrowded cities. Child labour. Slums. Poverty. Jobs with long hours.
 
The judiciary considered transportation more human than a crowded floating prison or hanging.
50-100,0000 convicts were transported to North America.
 
1783: The American War of Independence (1775-1783) meant Britain needed an alternative place for transportation.
 
1788: The first fleet arrives in Botany Bay in January. Contained 1,000-1,500 convicts, military and free settlers.
 
1803: British begin a new penal colony in Van Diemens Land (VDL).
 
1803-1853: 72,000 convicts transported to VDL. 
60,000 males. 23% males marry.  
12,000 women. 70% females marry.
 
Most convicts were transported for theft. Serious crimes such as rape or murder led to hanging. 
Most from Britain or Ireland. A few from other British colonies.
When convicts arrive in Hobart:
Males to Campbell St Gaol. Assigned to private individuals and public works.
Females to Cascade Female Factory.
Female convicts. Most for theft. Prostitution was not a transportable offence.
A few political convicts: Irish and Scottish rebels. Tolpuddle Martyrs, Luddites, Canadian rebels.
 
Majority of convicts were British men transported for theft having no descendants. They live on in the buildings they built.
 
Britain at war: less convicts.
Britain at peace: demobilization, unemployment increased convicts.
 
Convicts: were they sinners or sinned against?
 
Historians argue about this. Were they lazy unskilled urban thieves? Or did they possess skills which were broadly representative of those possessed by the British and Irish working classes.
 
The skills of the convicts were deployed by the Colonial State with little use of lash or punishment.  The labour of convicts catalysed the growth of the colonies.
 
The system of pardoning or freeing convicts changed over time.
After emancipation most stayed in Australia.  The ex-convicts varied. There was a social stigma. Some were very successful in all areas of society. Some were found guilty of criminal behaviour and were hung.
 
1820: Macquarie Harbour penal settlement begins. To punish convicts who offend.
1830: Port Arthur begins. Replaces Macquarie Harbour.
 
1850: Most old sandstone buildings (pre 1850) around Tasmania were built with convict labour. 
1850: Population of VDL 69,000.
1850: Transportation to NSW ends.
1850: Anti-Transportation Movement becomes popular in VDL.
Newspapers argue against transportation. Competition to free labourers. Source of crime and vice. Transportation was abhorred because of the stigma of convicts. Transportation was not opposed because it was inhuman. 
 
1853: End of transportation to VDL. The final ship (St Vincent) greeted by festivals and cheering crowds.
 
Today’s estimate:
20% of Australians have convict ancestors.
74% of Tasmanians have convict ancestors.
 
There is no evidence that convicts had a genetic tendency towards crime and that this has been passed down.

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  • Home
  • Photos
    • photos >
      • All Saints Church
      • Anglesea Barracks
      • Art Mob
      • Boer War
      • Botanical Gardens
      • Brooke Street Pier
      • Brunswick Hotel
      • Campbell Street
      • Castray Esplanade
      • Cenotaph
      • Constitution Dock
      • St David's Cathedral
    • photos >
      • St David's Park
      • Elizabeth St Mall
      • Elizabeth St Pier
      • Franklin Square
      • Hadley's Hotel
      • Hobart GPO
      • Hobart Congregational Church
      • Hobart Rivulet
      • Hobart Town Hall
      • Holy Trinity Church
      • Heading South Sculpture
      • Hutchins Old School
    • photos >
      • Kunanyi / Mt Wellington
      • MacQuarie Street Primary School
      • Maritime Museum
      • MacQuarie Wharf
      • Parliament House
      • Penitentary
      • Railway Roundabout
      • Regatta
      • RHH
      • Royal Visits 1868 1901 1920 1927 1934
      • Royal visit 1954
      • Salamanca Place
    • photos >
      • Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
      • Theatre Royal
      • Victoria Dock
      • Saint David's Cathedral
      • Saint David's Park
      • St George Anglican Church
    • Street art: photos >
      • Bidencope Lane
      • Criterion Collins Liverpool Streets
      • Elizabeth Street North Hobart​
      • Kemp Despard Streets
    • Streets: photos >
      • Argyle Street
      • Barrack Street
      • Bathurst Street
      • Brisbane Street
      • Brooker Highway
      • Campbell Street
      • Collins Street
    • Streets: photos >
      • Davey Street
      • Elizabeth Street
      • Goulburn Street
      • Harrington Street
      • Hunter Street
      • Liverpool Street
      • Macquarie Street
      • Murray Street
  • Places
    • Places >
      • All Saint's Church
      • Anglesea Barracks
      • Atheneum Club
      • Baha’i Centre
      • Boer War Memorial
      • Brook Street Pier
      • Brunswick Hotel
      • Boats in the docks
      • Constitution Dock
      • The Drunken Admiral
      • Franklin Square
      • Gas Works
    • Places >
      • Hadley's Hotel
      • Heading South Sculpture
      • Hobart GPO
      • Hobart Synagogue
      • Hobart Town Hall
      • Holy Trinity Church
      • Hunter Street
      • Ingle Hall
      • Old Wool Factory
      • Ordnance Stores
      • Parliament House
      • Penitentiary
      • Princes Park
    • Places >
      • Princes Wharf 1
      • Scots Memorial Church
      • Saint David's Cathedral
      • Saint David's Park
      • Saint George Anglican Church
      • St Michaels Collegiate School
      • Supreme Court
  • History
    • History >
      • Tasmanian Timeline
      • Early Tasmania
      • Mid Nineteenth Century
      • Late Nineteenth Century
      • 20th Century
      • Tasmania’s aborigines
      • Convicts
    • People >
      • John Lee Archer
      • William Bedford
      • Andrew Bent
      • Louis Bernacchi
      • James Blackburn
      • William Bunster
      • William Buckley
      • Thomas Bromfield
      • Luke Castray
      • William Champion
      • David Collins
    • People >
      • John Colvin
      • Charles Darwin
      • Governor Eadley
      • TT Flynn
      • John Franklin
      • Lady Jane Franklin
      • Charles Gaylor
      • Haig: Elizabeth and Andrew
      • Henry Jones
    • People >
      • James Kelly
      • Robert Knopwood
      • Lachlan Macquarie
      • Douglas Mawson
      • Charles McLachlan.
      • George Mure
      • Pearce: Henry and John
      • Robert Pitcairn
      • Poulett-Harris
      • Reid: Arthur and Alison
      • James Clark Ross
      • Ikey Solomon
      • Phillip Smith
      • Abel Tasman
      • Mark Twain
      • AJ White
      • Andrew and Elizabeth Haig
  • Community
    • Hobart Marathon Festival
    • Hadley's Hotel
    • history is not set in bronze
    • Wooden Boat Festival 2019
    • What do you think of Hobart?
    • Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
    • The Mountain
  • Walking Tours
    • Dave's Walking Tour
    • The Tench Walking Tour
    • Botanical Gardens Circuit
    • ​Alfred’s feeling religious walk
    • Battery Point Sculpture Trail
    • Lachlan gets to the point
    • Street art: Luffy paints the town
  • Blog
    • healing through living
    • This website
    • about another website
    • Acknowledgement
    • Contact
  • The Full Complement
    • Alan Carlton
    • Daniel Frank
    • Paul Barrington
    • Jodi Sutton
    • Jodi Sutton talks about mistakes
    • Jodi Sutton: The phone
    • Ann Heath
    • Maddie Atkins
    • Karen Wong
    • Jo-Anne Cherry
    • Jo-Anne Cherry: Retirement
    • Errol Kilov
    • Garry Owen
    • Katherine Janney
    • Jacques Cawood
    • John Chung
    • Gordon Henry
  • Songs
    • Forty Years Ago
    • Tomorrow
    • Clouds in the River
    • I Woke Up
    • Hold My Hand
    • Cornelian Bay Boathouses
    • Dance on the Deck
    • Eucalyptus Globulus