Our Convict Past

The Australian convicts, some of whom were transported for what we today consider to be very minor crimes, perhaps for stealing only a hair ribbon or a rabbit trap, did not know that they would eventually end up better off than if they had remained in their native country.  Regardless of their crime, for a person to be transported, they generally had committed at least two offences, as transportation was reserved for those who had broken the law at least twice previously.  Many violent criminals were sent to our shores, but many more were gentle people who were starving and cold.  Many were merely attempting to keep their loved ones cared for during a period of extreme poverty, overcrowding of towns, and high unemployment, and were detected breaching the law in doing so.

After arriving, the Convict women were generally sent to work as servants for the free settlers, or were put to work in Government establishments - institutions, hospitals etc, until they were granted their Tickets Of Leave by the Governor at the expiration of their sentences.  They could apply for a Ticket of Leave after 3 years, providing they had a testimonial from an employer, vouching for their character and demeanour, and their behaviour had been exemplary.  Many sought and were granted permission to marry other convicts, and these people went on to raise in many instances, large families.  Most never returned to their native country despite earning their freedom - but many yearned to do so.  Many never had further contact with their families they had left behind. 

Convict men were usually assigned to work for the Government on the roads, or building infrastructure in the new Colony, or were perhaps assigned to work for the Free Settlers.  Well behaved convicts in the Colony were in those early days used as Field Police, due to the shortage of free men for that purpose.  Others toiled hard and long in appalling conditions, and many absconded from time to time.  Some, like the women, yearned to return to the old country, but few ever did, despite receiving their Tickets of Leave or pardons, either because of the cost and limited availability of transport or because they believed that life held more for them in the Colony than their Native Place.

   The Free Settlers

The Free Settlers came for various reasons, some searching for a better life, some searching for a loved one who had been transported, and others came at the recommendation of family members who had arrived earlier.  Large selections or tracts of land were made available by the Government, and even those less well-off in the "old country" were eventually able to take advantage of that land.  Many skilled men ventured here, and they too helped in the establishment of infrastructure, assisted by convicts sometimes in chain gangs.  Many people arrived searching for GOLD, some striking it rich, whilst others fossicked for many years for little or no return. 

Our Ancestors

Be they Convict or Free Settler or Assisted Immigrant, they made homes and a living from the inhospitable terrain.  Many endured weather they had never known before, including extreme heat, bush fires and floods, and a vast array of wildlife and dangerous species.  They made this country what it is today - a great place to live.