Why British convicts were sent to Australia in 1788

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Britain experienced high crime rates, largely because there was no established police force. 

Consequently, many resorted to criminal activities as a means of survival. The most common crimes were theft and robbery.

This crime issue was made worse by widespread poverty. Many people were forced to steal in order to survive. 

However, the people who were arrested for these crimes were quite young and often starving.

The average age of a criminal in Britain was just 21. The most common items they stole were food, clothing, and money.

The punishment for stealing in Britain at the time was usually imprisonment. However, so many people were being arrested for minor crimes, that the regular prisons soon ran out of room for them.

The British government came up with a clever solution. With prison overcrowding intensifying, they repurposed old, decommissioned warships known as 'hulks', to house thousands of convicts.

To do this, they tied up the unused ships on rivers and locked criminals in them, often in appalling conditions.

However, even the hulks began to run out of room and the government needed a third solution.

It was decided that to get rid of the huge number of prisoners, they would simply send them overseas. 

A system of transportation was put into place in 1717. The British government decided that transportation would be a more humane alternative to execution.

They believed that sending people to distant colonies would give them a second chance at life.

This involved sending people to penal colonies in America or Australia. 

Transportation to the American colonies, especially Virginia and Maryland, was a common practice long before transportation to Australia began.

After the American Revolution in 1775-1783, Britain could no longer send convicts to America, which is one of the reasons they began sending them to Australia. 

In 1787, the British government decided to establish a penal colony in Australia. A penal colony is a settlement that is used to house criminals.

The British government believed that Australia would be an ideal place to send their convicts because it was so far away from Britain. They also thought that the climate would be better for their health.

Also, if successful, it would assert a strategic British presence in the Pacific amid growing French colonial interests in the region.

So, the First Fleet was a group of 11 ships that set sail from Portsmouth, England, on May 13, 1787.

The fleet was commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip. It included approximately 1,420 people, consisting of 732 convicts and nearly 700 officers, marines, and crew members.

Among the First Fleet’s convicts, 189 were women, sent alongside men, as British officials believed mixed-gender settlements would better sustain the new colony’s growth.

Most of the convicts were sentenced to seven years imprisonment, but some were given life sentences.

Although transportation was considered a more humane option for the prisoners, most of the convicts sent to Australia suffered from terrible conditions, including many dying on the journey. 

The fleet arrived in Botany Bay, Australia, on January 18, 1788, but it was decided that the site was unsuitable for a penal colony.

Captain James Cook had initially recommended Botany Bay as a potential site for a penal colony during his voyage in 1770, but the actual conditions encountered by the First Fleet did not match the expectations set by Cook's reports.

So, a few days later, on January 26, the fleet arrived in Sydney Cove, which is now known as Sydney Harbour.

The penal colony was under the charge of Arthur Phillip, who later became the first governor of New South Wales.

The convicts were immediately put to work building houses and farms. They were also assigned to work gangs on public projects such as roadbuilding.

Many of the convicts were treated harshly and were frequently flogged. However, some were given preferential treatment in return for good behavior.

Also, upon British arrival, various Indigenous groups, including the Eora Nation near Sydney, resisted encroachment on their lands, which led to the first significant conflicts between settlers and First Nations peoples.

Governor Phillip initially adopted a policy of conciliation toward the Indigenous communities, aiming to reduce violence and promote peaceful coexistence, though his efforts often failed due to ongoing conflict.

Regardless, after a few years, the colony began to thrive. A school was established, and churches were built.

The convicts were also given land to farm, which made them less likely to turn to crime.

The First Nations peoples in the area were not happy about the arrival of the British.

They had been dispossessed of their land and resources by European settlers. Clashes between the two societies rapidly increased, which would later lead to significant conflicts as European settlers expanded their control over the land.

As the colony grew, increasingly more free settlers arrived from Britain. They brought with them their families, farmers, laborers, and businesses.

This led to a rapid expansion of the colony and, by 1840, New South Wales ceased accepting convicts.

Meanwhile, other penal colonies, such as that in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), became economically valuable for Britain, providing resources, agricultural products, and a potential base for trade in the Asia-Pacific.

By 1868, the transportation of convicts to Australia had come to an end entirely.

Around 160,000 convicts had been transported to Australia during this time period.

It is estimated that one in every ten Australians is descended from a convict.

The establishment of the penal colony marked the beginning of British settlement in Australia.

The first years were very difficult for the colonists. They had to face harsh conditions.

However, over time, they managed to establish themselves and create a new society. 

The colony also marked a time of dramatic impacts on the Indigenous peoples because of the dispossession of their land and resources.

The British established a system of law and governance that would shape the country for centuries to come, which often did not recognise the First Nations as holding any legal right to Australia.