History of Convicts in Australia

By lauralola
  • Period: to

    Years

  • The First Fleet sets off

    The 11 ships left England carrying 780 convicts and 570 free settlers.

  • First Fleet arrives in Botany Bay

    The group sent ashore were not impressed by what they saw however so the fleet moved to port jackson and later Sydney cove.

  • A Play?

    The colinists were starving but still, one of the men decided to put on a play for their bss, even the hangman was involved!

  • The second Fleet arrives

    This Fleet carried only convicts as passengers. The fleet consisted of 6 ships. The ship Guardia arrived on the 12th of september 1789. The ship Lady Juliana arrived on 3rd of June 1790. The ships Suprise, Neptune, Justinian and Scarbourgh arrived January 19 1790.

  • Third Fleet arrives

    This fleet also only carried Convicts as passengers. In this fleet there were 11 ships. There were over 2000 convicts in this fleet. The first of these ships to arrive was the Mary Ann on July 9th 1791.

  • First settlement on the island state

    This settlement was made at Risdon when 5o convicts and men landed there but it was abandoned by 1904 an replaced with a settlement at Hobart with 178 convicts in total.

  • Hobart is established

    260 people lived there, which included 178 convicts.

  • The First tasmanian settlement is abandoned

    The site at Risdon is abandoned

  • Convicts are sent straight to Hobart

    This continued untill 1853, in this time 67 000 convicts were sent there.

  • Port Arthur opens

    However at the moment it was a smal timber mill that grew over time. Convicts began to arrive in the 1840's.

  • Ross Female Factory Opens

  • Rottnest Penal Colony is established

    However the first convicts did not arrive untill a year later, 43 ships bought 9720 convicts to the colony between the years of 1850 and 1868.

  • The Model ptrison is completed at Port Arthur

    Many prisoners at this prison went insane as they could not speak to anybody or hear anything for 23 hours a day. Even during exersize time they were made to wear masks so they couldnt see each other.

  • Ross Female factory closes

  • Van Demons Land is renamed Tasmania

  • Last convicts arrive at Rottnest

    269 convicts arrive at Rottnest on the ship Huogomont.