In the end fully 20% of the convicts transported to Western Australia were serious criminals who had committed either murder, manslaughter or robbery with violence. It continued until 1868. To assist in the building campaign, a company of Royal Engineers, led by Captain Wray, was sent to Western Australia. These men supervised the convicts in the building of the convict establishment and other public buildings and works throughout the colony. Until 1782, English convicts were transported to America. Western Australia started as a free colony. As late as the 1860s Fenian prisoners were being transported, particularly to Western Australia, where the Catalpa rescue of Irish radicals off Rockingham was a memorable episode. Western Australia's convicts were sentenced to terms of 6, 7, 10, 14 and 15 years and some reports suggest that their literacy rate was around 75% as opposed to 50% for those sent to the eastern states. Between 1850 and 1868 almost 10,000 convicts were sent to Western Australia from Great Britain. Transportation to New South Wales was the solution. Although a convict-supported settlement was established in Western Australia from 1826 to 1831, direct transportation of convicts did not begin until 1850. were to be exclusively men, the British Government agreed to subsidise an equal number of free settlers to redress the population imbalance that this would generate. … Between 1850 and 1868, 9,721 convicts were transported to Western Australia on 43 convict ship voyages. Settlers were not sent, they went of their own free will. More than 160,000 convicts — 80% men, 20% women — were transported to Australia from the British Isles between 1788 and 1868. Free settlers followed soon after. In your small group, find as many answers to the questions below as you can. America refused to accept any more convicts so England had to find somewhere else to send their prisoners. Initially, most offenders were set to work creating infrastructure for the convict system, including the construction of the Convict Establishment itself. The first convicts were sent to Australia on the First Fleet, which consisted of eleven ships. The first convicts were only sent in 1850. The Hougoumont, the last ship to take convicts from the UK to Australia, docked in Fremantle, Western Australia, on January 9, 1868 – 150 years ago. Welcome to Convict Records. Convicts were sent. As the convicts sent to W.A. When the convicts were sent to their shores by Earl Grey. By the time transportation ceased in 1868, just over 9,700 convicts had been transported to Western Australia. The last convict ship to Western Australia, the Hougoumont, left Britain in 1867 and arrived in Western Australia on 10 January 1868. Why were convicts transported to Australia? The first group of convicts to populate Fremantle arrived on 1 June 1850. You can use the Internet, school library and any information given to you by your teacher. The convict era of Western Australia was the period during which Western Australia was a penal colony of the British Empire.Although it received small numbers of juvenile offenders from 1842, it was not formally constituted as a penal colony until 1849. The British sent criminals to NSW, Queensland, Tasmania and WA, but freed convicts soon spread their footprint across the country, and these days, one in five Australians is the descendant of a convict. Western Australia. Other outlets were sought to take the prisoners but most refused. Family history: Convicts (NSW) State Library of New South Wales site with links to resources on crime, the voyage out and life in the colony. Our ongoing research shows that the impact of transportation could last a lifetime for those in Western Australia. The British sent criminals to NSW, Queensland, Tasmania and WA, but freed convicts soon spread their footprint across the country, and these days, one in five Australians is the descendant of a convict. Although a total of 9,925 convicts were officially transported during this period, it is estimated that some 500 of these were local prisoners intermixed with the transported convicts. Convict life in Western Australia By Emily Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. These women faced extreme difficulty in achieving freedom, solvency and respectability. However, in 1783 the American War of Independence ended. In the end fully 20% of the convicts transported to Western Australia were serious criminals who had committed either murder, manslaughter or robbery with violence. Information available includes name of convict, known aliases, place convicted, port of departure, date of departure, port of arrival, and the source of the data. Why were convicts sent to Australia? In 1849 transportation started to Western Australia. The convict era at Fremantle Prison Convict profiles and database for the Western Australian prison. Between 1850 and 1868, ultimately 9721 convicts were transported to Western Australia. Six houses were constructed on the western side of the Prison for the senior officers of the establishment.