CONVICT TRANSPORTATION AND SETTLEMENT IN AUSTRALIA
From the end of the eighteenth century until the late nineteenth century, Britain elaborated and completed an elaborate scheme by which they would remove as many individuals of the deemed unrighteous population of the British Isles, including prison convicts from England and Ireland, and permanently send them to the new colony of Australia. One could well imagine the insalubrious conditions of these prison transport ships in a voyage which would have lasted three or 4 months and having to stop at either ports in South America or the Cape of Good Hope in Africa
Nevertheless, in those tremendously deplorable transportation conditions, there was also a small minority of emigrants of Irish origin who decided to embark on the dangerous and tediously long passage to this newly discovered continent. The reason such a big wave of emigration from Ireland to Australia was promoted was due to various factors in that period of time, such as poverty, famine, fortune-seeking, creating a new identity and lifestyle, amongst other various reasons.
The focal point of the project is to demonstrate and analyse the Irish community that was transported and how it settled in Australia. The assignment will try to cover a comparison between the different types of Irish communities in Australia and those of English origin, distinguishing the differences in other parts of Australia. It will also reflect on why convicts were sent to a newly discovered and uninhabited area, what the main purpose was and, the types of convicts that were chosen to embark on the travel to Australia. All in all, the theme of convict transportation and settlement in Australia contains sharp contrasts in which different authors have their own opinion whether it was the right thing to do or not towards the goal of eventually establishing a colony.
The founding fathers of Australia
Before entering into the topic of discussion on the settlement of convicts and immigrants in Australia, we have to obtain a certain understanding and clarification on what the principle motivation for the British was in order to back these convict transportations to a recent discovered colony such as Australia. In the eighteenth century, Britain had a prosperous period of its empire in terms of power and dominance. As a result of its global dominance, Britain would also possess multiple colonies in various continents. The reason behind said colonies was the gathering of resources that they needed as well as for commerce purposes. Lands far away from the metropolis were also useful as a way of unburdening the kingdom of felons or unwanted people. The introduction of convict transportation had made the American colonies a popular destination for British and Irish convicts. That having been said, at the end of the eighteenth century, the American colonies decided to revolt against the British for their total control over the colonial territory; an act that would lead to the war known as the American War of Independence (1775-1783).
While the American Revolutionary War was still being waged, the British government seemed to not consider a resolution in solving the situation. Although the House of Commons argued heavily on whether to send those convicts to an area where there was no demand for labour. However, due to the circumstances and result of the American conflict, Britain was forced to select another destination for its prison convicts, which consequently remained on the British Isles until further notice from the government in providing another location for said prisoners. This was perceived as dangerous as it was thought that this would promote a high level of risk towards the rest of the community.
In consequence, Britain would suffer a small economic crisis because America had been the main destination for its convicts in order to work the lands of the colonial landowners. So, in effect, members of the House of Commons decided to promote a “plan of a distant colony” so that they could obtain a future profit on both navigation as well as commerce[1] to places such as Africa, the East and West Indies as well as Canada. To conclude, members of Government and the House of Commons decided that the best location for the transportation of prisoners would be at Botany Bay in Australia.[2]
The Irish Diaspora
While members of Government compared and selected the main destination for prison convicts of the British Empire during the end of the eighteenth century and part of the beginning of the nineteenth century, Australia had already become one of the popular destinations for the British and Irish communities whether they were convicts or non-convicts. It is important to point out that the proposition of the voyage to Australia was tediously criticised by everyone due to how inevitably costly it was for the British to send convicts to such a far-away colony while also reflecting upon the significantly deplorable and unsanitary conditions that the transport ships had without ignoring the multiple deaths. It was important to note however, that in most of the newspapers of Australia, there were “Ship News” articles giving a description on the types of convicts that were heading to the colony.[3]
Although there were also a small number of women convicts on the voyages to Australia, there was no denying that the number of male convicts being transported to Australia was far superior. In light of the evidence, one of the reasons that there were more male convicts was so that they could elaborate hard-labour tasks in the new colony in order to keep them busy from committing other criminal activities as well as to marginalise them as a different class of society. However, women convicts were not far behind their male counterparts as we can see from primary sources that illustrate that these women would also face several acts of prostitution while on the voyages due to the manipulative trust they would obtain from the surgeons of the ships.[4]
Nevertheless, although there were convicts who had committed crimes or felonies, we have to acknowledge that some of those “convicts” were not guilty of committing a felony at all, but instead, they were people who had a different nationalist approach to that of mainstream Britain and as such held political viewpoints against the British supremacy as perceived from London.[5]
While convicts were important in the creation of the history of Australia, during the beginning of these voyages to Australia, there has to be a mention on those male and female “free settlers”. Even though they were a very small statistic at the beginning with barely thirteen hundred men that were non-convicts, whereas twenty four thousand of the total population in Australia were mainly convicts, these settlers would increase in the upcoming future and eventually become apart of an integral and powerful elite class in Australia.
Home Sweet Home
It is important to note however, that during the outburst of conflicts such as the American Revolution or the French Revolution, the British government had tried selecting several places to export the convicts. Eventually, as previously mentioned, Botany Bay would become the main port for convict transportation in Australia. That having been said, the British government observed and analysed the area of New South Wales as a potential option for them to establish and settle convicts.[6] Nonetheless, British and Irish immigrants had already by themselves explored the extensive territory of Australia throughout the years of British presence on the continent.
Whilst the events described in the preceding paragraph were going on, by the end of the eighteenth century the British government had allowed the introduction of prison felons to the new area of New South Wales.[7] Once the announcement of the British government introducing the establishment of convicts in the already mentioned area was made, this would promote a prospective future for both Britain and Ireland from an economic perspective.[8] Although the south of Australia was an important area of settlement, there were also other areas that had been discovered throughout the nineteenth century. In fact, seven new colonies had been discovered and established, nonetheless, over two-thirds of the remaining continental land were yet to be fully discovered.[9]
The territory of Victoria, one of the seven colonies, was as an important area of attraction for many of the Irish community that decided to establish themselves in Victoria. The main reasons for Irish settlement in said area, was due to the possibility of obtaining possessions of land for pastures of stock rather than land for cultivation as well as the chance of fortune-seeking by becoming miners due to the reported discovery of gold in the area.[10] During the process of immigration, the Irish community experienced moments of discrimination in comparison to other communities. As a consequence of said ethnic discrimination, many Irish women decided to accept and marry non-Irish men, with the intention of obtaining a prosperous life in contrast to the prospects of marrying an Irish man.
Nevertheless, in the mid-nineteenth century, convicts would be transported to the different territories and would undeniably modify the environment. Ironically, the constant arrival of convict “runaways” from other territories would lead to a notable increase in crime in these areas.[11] In contrast, lands like South Australia, would be considered as a home to an established population formed mainly by wealthy families that would go on to obtain huge tracts of land for harvesting.[12] It is important to note that this area would be considered as a wealthy area for members of the British society; hence this community would immediately reject the arrival of any poorer families. Moreover, other areas such as the territory of West Australia would still be maintained as an area for the system of convict transportation.[13] and; lastly, the area of Queensland, would continuously take in new colonists due to the constant arrival of immigrants to the colony [14]; which included people from Irish, Scots and Welsh communities as well as other ethnicities from Europe such as Germans or even people from Asian countries such as the Chinese.[15]
The Melting Pot
All things considered, there is no doubt whatsoever that the British started the system of convict transportation as an experiment to populate a newly discovered colony, which in this case was Australia, by introducing convicts as their experimental subjects or “guinea pigs”. Having considered the convict transportation as an “experiment”, it is reasonable to look at the propaganda used as an indispensable tool with which the British government heavily relied on to encourage and persuade the impoverished classes to travel to Australia. Nonetheless, the number of immigrants from the English speaking countries continued to expand at an exponential rate throughout the rest of the nineteenth century.
However, while there was a consistent wave of immigrants, whether European or non-European, it would appear that there were actions of race discrimination during the nineteenth century. In this matter, the Irish were A heavily oppressed community during their establishment in Australia; for example, there were flags as well as signs in Australia when applying for jobs declaring “No Popery” or “No Irish” ; however, if the Irishmen were to acquire a job, it would be most likely one with deplorable conditions or one that required a lot of physical labour. That having been said, Irishmen were caricatured as monkeys in the newspapers; in which, clearly illustrates the view of an “Anti-Irish” mentality; subsequently, an incessant notable British Protestant zealotry in Australia is very much in evidence if one takes into consideration primary sources like this and others.
In conclusion, while being surrounded by a predominantly British society, the Irish community was an essential part of the creation of Australia. That having been said, the Irish community successfully managed to introduce their own culture and values from their home-grown towns to the new colony; therefore, these factors would embody and transform what is in essence the Australian identity as we know it today.
Above all, there is no doubt that most of these non-convict settlers from the free Irish community decided to migrate to Australia to improve their life by settling in new lands, while some even went as far as to create for themselves a new identity. Anything was valid in an effort to seek improvement in living conditions in comparison to their life in Ireland where they had faced ghastly periods of famine, poverty and political clashes. That was to be left behind in their new home in Australia.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Sources
Bent’s News and Tasmanian Register (Hobart Town, Tas.: 1837-38) Sat 2, Dec, 1837, p. 3.
- C. K. Gonner, “The Settlement of Australia” in The English Historical Review, Vol. 3, No. 12 (1888), pp. 625-34
Le Neve Foster, P, & Isbister, A. K, “The Journal of the Society of Arts, Vol. 11, No. 531” (1863).
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW: 1803 – 1842) Sat 5, Feb 1820, p. 3.
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW: 1803 – 1842) Sat 24, Feb 1821, p. 3.
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW: 1803 – 1842) Mon 12, Feb 1836, p. 1.
Westgarth, William, “The Statistics of Crime in Australia” in Journal of the Statistical Society of London, Vol. 27, No 4 (1864), pp. 505-19.
Secondary Sources
“Ireland and Australia” in Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society, Vol. 13, No. 1 (1988). pp. 218-222.
Joy Darousi “Chaos and order: Gender, space and sexuality on female convict ships” in Australian Historical Studies, 26 (April, 1995), pp. 351-372.
Page Bates, Helen, “The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science”, 12 (1898), pp. 21-41.
Reece, Bob, The Origins of Irish Convict Transportation to New South Wales (New York, 2001).
Shaw, A. G. L, “The Beginning of Transportation to Australia” in Convicts and the Colonies. A study of Penal Transportation from Great Britain and Ireland to Australia and other parts of the British Empire (London, 1977).
[1] A. G. L. Shaw, “The Beginning of Transportation to Australia” in Convicts and the Colonies. A study of Penal Transportation from Great Britain and Ireland to Australia and other parts of the British Empire (London, 1977), p 43.
[2] A. G. L. Shaw, “The Beginning of Transportation to Australia” (1977), pp 43-44.
[3] The Sydney Gazette and the New South Wales Advertiser, 24 Feb. 1821.
[4] Joy Darousi, “Chaos and order: Gender, space and sexuality on female convict ships” in Australian Historical Studies, 26 (1995), pp 351-372.
[5] A. G. L. Shaw, “Who were the Convicts? – Ireland” in Convicts and the Colonies. A study of Penal Transportation from Great Britain and Ireland to Australia and other parts of the British Empire (Victoria, 1977), p 166.
[6] E. C. K. Gonner, “The Settlement of Australia” in The English Historical Review, 3 (1888), p. 628.
[7] Gonner, “The Settlement of Australia”, p. 629.
[8] Gonner, “The Settlement of Australia”, p. 628.
[9] William Westgarth, “The Statistics of Crime in Australia” in Journal of the Statistical Society of London, 27 (1864), p. 505.
[10] Westgarth, “The Statistics of Crime in Australia” p. 506
[11] Westgarth, “The Statistics of Crime in Australia” p. 508
[12] Westgarth, “The Statistics of Crime in Australia” p. 506
[13] Westgarth, “The Statistics of Crime in Australia” p. 506
[14] Westgarth, “The Statistics of Crime in Australia” p. 506
[15] Westgarth, “The Statistics of Crime in Australia” p. 506-7
Irish Aussies: historical perspectives 