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How many convicts were transported to Western Australia?
For the first fifteen years of the colony of Swan River, Western Australia, the people were all free settlers, and did not want to accept convicts. The idea was raised occasionally, mainly by people who wanted convict labour for building projects. The argument for convicts in Western Australia gained impetus in 1845 when the York Agricultural Society petitioned the Legislative Council to bring convicts out from England. Their reasons were that Western Australia's economy was at great risk due to an extreme shortage of labour. Whilst later examination of the circumstances proves that there was no such shortage of labour in the colony, the petition found its way to the British Colonial Office, which in turn agreed to send out a small number of convicts to Swan River. Following the transportation of the first convicts to WA, between 1850 and 1868, 9721 convicts were transported to Western Australia.
What were the convicts collectively called that were sent to Australia?
They were simply called "convicts".
When did convicts stop coming to Australia?
The last transport to bring convicts to Australia landed at Fremantle on the 10th of January, 1868. Pressure from the eastern colonies, together with the rising costs of keeping the system going, prompted the British government to announce in 1865 that after three years, no more convicts would be sent to Australia. The approximate number of convicts sent to the Australian colonies during the period of transportation has been 160,500, of whom 24,700 were women.
What country settled Australia?
The first European settlers in Australia were primarily convicts from England, together with the officers and the marines who guarded them.
Who were the first white people to arrive in Australia?
The indigenous people of Australia, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, were the first to inhabit Australia. Whilst it is unknown when they first arrived, estimates vary between 6,000 and 40,000 years.
