South Australia was an experimental British colony and the only Australian colony which did not officially take convicts. But naturally some former convicts made their way to South Australia. Men who had completed their sentences came to settle here, usually hiding their convict past if possible.
Hundreds of thousands of convicts were transported from Britain and Ireland to Australia between 1787 and 1868. Today, it's estimated that 20% of the Australian population are descended from people originally transported as convicts, while around 2 million Britons have transported convict ancestry.
South Australia, founded in 1836, was the only British colony in Australia to begin as a free settlement and remain that way.
In 1833 convict transportation peaked when 7,000 prisoners arrived in Australia but, by this time, public support for the system was already in decline. However, it wasn't until 1868 that convict transportation to Australia came to an end.
There were two major convict colonies: New South Wales (1788-1840) and Van Diemen's Land (later Tasmania, 1803-1853). Eventually, Swan River (Western Australia) would become a third penal colony when the failing settlement requested an injection of convict labourers (1850-1868).
South Australia was an experimental British colony and the only Australian colony which did not officially take convicts.
As punishment they were forced to work for the government or for free settlers. Later new settlements were set up at the Swan River (Western Australia) and South Australia. These were not penal colonies, and they were meant to be made up only of free settlers.
It's estimated that 164,000 convicts were shipped to Australia between 1788 and 1868 under the British government's new Transportation Act — a humane alternative to the death penalty. Approximately 25,000 of these convicts were women, charged with petty crimes such as stealing bread.
Convicts unable to pay for or work off their passage were sold as indentured servants for terms of seven years. These felons could only return to Britain after somehow liberating themselves from servitude.
The first recorded African-diaspora settlers were black convicts, eleven in number, transported by the British, on the First Fleet of 1788. On their release, many bought land and brought up families in the area of Pennant Hills in western Sydney.
Convict women were assigned as domestic labour, and were encouraged to reform though a system of rewards and indulgences, such as the ticket-of-leave, which permitted the holder to work for any employer for wages and to choose her own residence.
New South Wales, a state in southeast Australia, was founded by the British as a penal colony in 1788. Over the next 80 years, more than 160,000 convicts were transported to Australia from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, in lieu of being given the death penalty.
Tasmania's convicts: how felons built a free society
I gave the population figures to my son, who does this sort of thing, and he worked out that even today, 74 per cent of Tasmanians are descended from convicts (owing to very low immigration, and the extremely high original percentage).
Only 12 per cent of the convicts transported to Australia were Irish. Yet people often automatically associate the Irish with transportation.
One of the most prevalent crimes in Australia is sexual assault, with the largest proportion of victims being female.
In 2022, the crime index of vandalism, break-ins, and theft increased, making Alice Springs the most dangerous city in Australia. According to the crime statistics agency, more than a 50% rise is observed in different offenses.
Between 1787 and 1868, around eight thousand Scottish men, women and children were transported to Australia. Scots accounted for only a small proportion of all of those transported.
Until 1782, English convicts were transported to America. However, in 1783 the American War of Independence ended. America refused to accept any more convicts so England had to find somewhere else to send their prisoners. Transportation to New South Wales was the solution.
Internees from overseas
During World War II, internees were mainly German, Italian and Japanese. Australia also interned people from more than 30 countries, including Finland, Hungary, Portugal and Russia. Overseas allies also sent 'enemy aliens', mostly German and Japanese, to Australia to be interned.
The first settlement, at Sydney, consisted of about 850 convicts and their Marine guards and officers, led by Governor Arthur Phillip. They arrived at Botany Bay in the "First Fleet" of 9 transport ships accompanied by 2 small warships, in January, 1788.
The establishment of a British penal colony at Port Jackson (Sydney) in 1788 ensured that New Zealand would eventually come into contact with the British state. Sealers and whalers started operating in New Zealand in the last years of the 18th century.
Adelaide is the only capital city in Australia that was not settled by convicts, which has made the locals extremely smug. Established in 1836, the city was a planned capital for free British settlers. A majority of the people had no criminal history, the city was thought to have little crime compared to other areas.