Convicts

This blog will be about the convict migration of 1787 - 1840.


This blog will discuss when, where, who, how and why convicts were transported to the continent of Australia


Please Enjoy.

Transport

As told by David Collins from the following details of his book;

• The Alexander, of 453 tons, had on board 192 male convicts; 2 lieutenants, 2 sergeants, 2 corporals, 1 drummer, and 29 privates, with 1 assistant surgeon to the colony.

• The Scarborough, of 418 tons, had on board 205 male convicts; 1 captain, 2 lieutenants, 2 sergeants, 2 corporals, 1 drummer, and 26 privates, with 1 assistant surgeon to the colony.

• The Charlotte, of 346 tons, had on board 89 male and 20 female convicts; 1 captain, 2 lieutenants, 2 sergeants, 3 corporals, 1 drummer, and 35 privates, with the principal surgeon of the colony.

• The Lady Penrhyn, of 338 tons, had on board 101 female convicts; 1 captain, 2 lieutenants, and 3 privates, with a person acting as a surgeon's mate.

• The Prince of Wales, of 334 tons, had on board 2 male and 50 female convicts; 2 lieutenants, 3 sergeants, 2 corporals, 1 drummer, and 24 privates, with the surveyor-general of the colony.

• The Friendship, (snow,) of 228 tons, had on board 76 male and 21 female convicts; 1 captain, 2 lieutenants, 2 sergeants, 3 corporals, 1 drummer, and 36 privates, with 1 assistant surgeon to the colony.

• There were on board, beside these, 28 women, 8 male and 6 female children, belonging to the soldiers of the detachment, together with 6 male and 7 female children belonging to the convicts.

• The Fishbourn store-ship was of 378 tons; the Borrowdale of 272 tons; and the Golden Grove of 331 tons. On board this last ship was embarked the chaplain of the colony, with his wife and a servant.

• Not only these as store-ships, but the men of war and transports, were stored in every part with provisions, implements of agriculture, camp equipage, clothing for the convicts, baggage, etc.

This data was obtained by the census of 1788 by Governor Phillip to Lord Sydney.  

Map

Map First Fleet Route


This map states what route was taken by the first fleet and others to get to the Australian continent. It also shows of continents which are broken apart today also meaning that the route would be of a greater distance.

13 May 1787 : sailed from Portsmouth, England. There were eleven small ships in the First Fleet: two naval ships, six convict ships and three storeships for supplies.Captain Arthur Phillip was in charge of the fleet. On-board were about 1500 people: 722 convicts including 17 child convicts, the soldiers who were to guard them, soldiers' wives, sailors, and ship's officers.

3 June 1787 : arrived at Tenerife in the Canary Islands, stayed a week and took on supplies of fresh food

5 July 1787: crossed the Equator

7 August 1787: arrived at Rio de Janeiro, stayed for a month repairing sails, collecting plants and seeds to be grown in New South Wales.

13 October 1787: reached Table Bay (now CapeTown), Cape of Good Hope after surviving tremendous storms in the Atlantic Ocean. Stayed a month, and took on livestock (horses, sheep, goats).

25 December 1787: the Fleet was in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

 1 January 1788: Adventure Bay, Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania)

18 January 1788 : arrived at Botany Bay after sailing south of Van Diemen's Land, then north to New South Wales. It was decided that Botany Bay was not a suitable site for the settlement because water supply and soils were poor. The Fleet sailed on.

26 January 1788 : The members of the First Fleet went ashore at Port Jackson to start a settlement. Arthur Phillip named the place of landing Sydney Cove, after Lord Sydney, an official who had helped to organise th voyage.

Reason for Migration

The reason being for the convict migration was well, because they were convicts and were needed to put in exile somewhere other than the lands of Britain. Some believe that people had deliberately made themselves convicts as rumors spread of Australia being " the land of opportunity " as convicts were given land and goods after they had finished there sentences. 


Little did convicts know that they were put into months of hard labor and might not even make it through the night due to the high risk of death, illness or other reasons unstated. 

Convicts

This blog will be about the convict migration of 1787 - 1840.


This blog will discuss when, where, who, how and why convicts were transported to the continent of Australia


Please Enjoy.