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In the erly Victorian age of the U.K. anyone convicted of a felony was transported to Australia. The polcy was known as 'Transportation'.

There were thousands of people(convicts) transported under this policy. Hence Australia became a 'nation of convicts'.

If one continued to comit felonies in Australia, they were then transported to Norfolk Island, a penal colony. A very small island some 1200 miles east of the Queensland cost of Australia.

I have been there and can assure you that it is only about 2 1/2 miles long and 1 mile wide. The Europeans(Australians) , who live there are very pround of their penal past history.

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lenpollock

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The convicts literally built Australia.

In the early years, convicts were put to work immediately on building projects, particularly roads, and farming. New buildings needed to be constructed as the first shelters were just tents and lean-tos.

The first jobs involved clearing the land. The convicts had to chop down trees, then cut the wood up for practical uses such as building. They needed to clear the shrubs and low bushes as well, and prepare the ground for tilling and planting. This was hard work as most of the English tools were unable to stand up to the demands of Australia's harsher, rocky soil.

The convicts also had to quarry rock and haul it. This was used for building, and in the construction of roads and bridges.

Some of the convicts were assigned as servants to the free settlers or the officers. As the colony developed, the convicts worked in more skilled areas such as smithing, building tools, and even more intellectual pursuits where they showed aptitude. One of Australia's most famous architects, Francis Greenway, was a convict. Another convict with a background in printing was given permission to establish the colony's first newspaper.

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Wiki User

14y ago
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In the early years, convicts were put to work immediately on building projects, particularly roads, and farming. New buildings needed to be constructed as the first shelters were just tents and lean-tos.

The first jobs involved clearing the land. The convicts had to chop down trees, then cut the wood up for practical uses such as building. They needed to clear the shrubs and low bushes as well, and prepare the ground for tilling and planting. This was hard work as most of the English tools were unable to stand up to the demands of Australia's harsher, rocky soil.

The convicts also had to quarry rock and haul it. This was used for building, and in the construction of roads and bridges.

Some of the convicts were assigned as servants to the free settlers or the officers. As the colony developed, the convicts worked in more skilled areas such as smithing, building tools, and even more intellectual pursuits where they showed aptitude. One of Australia's most famous architects, Francis Greenway, was a convict. Another convict with a background in printing was given permission to establish the colony's first newspaper.

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Wiki User

12y ago
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The convicts were the ones who literally built the colony. They did all the foundational work - tilling, planting and harvesting seed; experimenting with their own farms or setting up their own trades once they were free; constructing the roads and bridges of the new colony while on the road gangs; felling the timber, making the bricks, literally constructing so many of the buildings in the early decades. In the early years, convicts were put to work immediately on building projects, particularly roads, and farming. New buildings needed to be constructed as the first shelters were just tents and lean-tos. Some of the convicts were assigned as servants to the free settlers or the officers. As the colony developed, the convicts worked in more skilled areas such as smithing, building tools, and even more intellectual pursuits where they showed aptitude. One of Australia's most famous architects, Francis Greenway, was a convict.

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Wiki User

13y ago
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There were so many convicts in Australia because they were sent there to solve the problem of Britain's overcrowded prisons (a consequence of the Industrial Revolution) by establishing a new penal colony in a land which showed promise for eventually becoming self-supporting. Britain had been sending their excess prisoners to North America, but the American War of Independence put a stop to the practice.

The convicts were the ones who would build the new colony, literally from the ground up. They were the ones who would establish the houses and buildings, roads and bridges, farms and industries. This, in turn, would encourage more free settlers to Australia, which it was hoped would help solve the problem of unemployment in England.

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Wiki User

12y ago
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Q: Why were there so many convicts in Australia?
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What were the convicts collectively called that were sent to Australia?

They were simply called "convicts".


How many fleets were sent to Australia?

53 fleets were sent from Britain to Australia. these fleets transported a figure of around 162, 000 women and men convicts.


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.


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 types of convicts are there?

There are many types of convicts but the main ones are government service convicts, assigned convicts, expirees, emancipists and ticket of leave convicts.