By the end of the 18th century, British prisons were seriously overcrowded. The government’s solution was to lock convicts in hulks - old ships anchored in river estuaries. When the hulks were full the government decided to get rid of the convicts to the new colony of New South Wales (Australia), where they could be used as cheap labour to build the new colony.
The first British convicts arrived in New South Wales in 1788. By the end of that century Governor King of New South Wales needed somewhere to send incorrigible convicts - those who re-offended.
In 1803 the Lady Nelson sailed from Sydney under the command of 23-year-old Lieutenant John Bowen. Most of the 49 people on board were soldiers and settlers, but 21 men and three women were Van Diemen’s Land’s first convicts. They all settled on the banks of the River Derwent at Risdon but a few weeks later moved downriver to settle what would soon become the town of Hobart.
Convicts came from all walks of life. Most had little education, forced into crime to survive in a rapidly industrialising Britain. Many of their crimes were petty, such as stealing a sheep or some clothing. But there were also educated convicts, with skills that enabled them to be used as clerks or draughtsmen, or with training in professions such as medicine, architecture, printing or building - all essential in building a new colony.
For about the first 10 years there were more convicts than free settlers. This meant that convicts, as well as doing hard labouring work such as digging new coalmines, had to fill positions of responsibility such as medical assistants or ’trusties’ in the gaols. Many, especially the women, were assigned to settlers as servants.
Male convicts, often in chains, tunnelled new coal mines, cut timber in the thick forests, quarried stone, built roads, made bricks, built ships. Many overseers were whip-wielding sadists. The authorities used punishments such as flogging, solitary confinement and bread-and-water diets to try to control misbehaviour and protests about conditions.
Tasmania’s compelling convict heritage has been officially recognised by UNESCO. In July 2010 it was announced that 11 Australian convict sites are to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, five of which are Tasmanian. The sites include Port Arthur and the Coal Mines Historic Site on the Tasman Peninsula; the Cascades Female Factory in South Hobart; Darlington Probation Station on Maria Island; and Woolmers and Brickendon Estates near Longford.
The sites are located in south and eastern Tasmania, offering some of the best-kept records of convict history anywhere in the world. Visitors to Tasmania, especially those from the UK many of whom have close links to the convict history, will be able to follow the convict trail and trace their ancestors back in time.
In the 1830s the authorities designed a probation system, with 19 probation stations around Van Diemen’s Land. When a convict had served (or survived!) a term in one of the penal settlements he/she was to be given a paid job for a time with one of the colony’s public works. At the end of this period he/she could get a job as a paid servant to a settler.
But the colony’s public departments, denied extra funds by the British government, could not pay wages. And the settlers, not accustomed to paying their servants, were reluctant to cooperate with this new system. So jobs for the convicts did not materialise and probation stations became overcrowded. Crime, fighting and escapes increased. Escapees who were not recaptured survived by bushranging - living in the bush and robbing farmers and travellers.
Support in Britain for convict transportation was not unanimous. Social reformers during the industrial revolution protested for years about the shocking conditions in slums, factories and prisons and the infamy of transporting convicts overseas to a fate often so terrible that many convicts preferred death.
Eventually the British government admitted that transportation and probation, far from solving a problem, were creating one. In 1852, after about 70,000 convicts had been transported to Van Diemen’s Land, the system ended and the colony’s name was officially changed to Tasmania, a name that had been used unofficially for some years.
Contact the Family History Society of Tasmania Inc. for advice and information. There are branches in Burnie, Devonport, Hobart, Huon Valley and Launceston. You will find contact details on each on the Family History Society of Tasmania site.
Archives Office of Tasmania
77 Murray Street, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 7000.
Telephone from other Australian states:
03 6233 7488 or 03 6233 7490.
Telephone from overseas:
+ 61 3 6233 7488 or + 61 3 6233 7490.
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