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Did the first fleet convicts find work in Australia?

Updated: 8/18/2019
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The convicts of the First Fleet were very quickly set to work tilling the soil and getting the first crops started. (Admittedly, the convicts were very hard to motivate, being reluctant to work in the Australian heat and humidity.)

They were also set construction projects, as there were no roads, bridges or buildings. Some convicts were assigned as servants or tradespeople to the free settlers who also came.

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Q: Did the first fleet convicts find work in Australia?
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When was Sydney found?

Sydney was never "found". Sydney was built on a site in Port Jackson first located by Captain Arthur Phillip in January 1788.Captain Arthur Phillip led the First Fleet of convicts and officers to New South Wales. The convict colony was meant to be established at Botany Bay, which the First Fleet reached on 18 January 1788. Phillip determined that the bay was unsuitable for settlement, so he reconnoitred north to find a better site. He returned to lead the Fleet into Port Jackson and the site where Sydney would be founded, on 26 January 1788.


How did the convicts on the First Fleet find the climate of Australia?

The convicts of the First Fleet, along with the officers and the marines, all found the climate very, very different from what they were used to. They arrived in Australia in mid-summer, at a time when the climate was unbearably hot and humid compared to England. Many convicts simply downed tools and refused to work because of the weather. The sun scorched tbrought most of the daylight hours, and the nights were still hot and sticky. Summer storms would whip through Port Jackson without warning, dumping rain and hail upon the inexperienced inhabitants. The winters were certainly milder than the dreary, cold winters of England.


What date did the first fleet of convicts arrive in Australia?

The first load of prisoners arrived in Botany Bay on 19-20jan1788 but, they could not find any pure water and decent soil for farming.They sailed out of Botany Bay and moved north to Port Jackson on 21jan1788.They raised their flag there on 26jan1788, and established a government on 7feb1788.


What did Aurthur Phillip find in Australia?

Arthur Phillip found poor soil for growing crops when he landed in Australia with a load of convicts. The convicts didn't want to be farmers, and the soldiers didn't like taking orders and thought it was not their jobs to make the convicts work.


How many convict women come to Australia as convicts?

As a guide: from 1788 to 1840, about 24960 female convicts were transported to Australia. It is harder to find figures between 1840 and 1868, when transportation ceased. _____ The last transport to bring convicts to Australia landed at Fremantle on the 10th of January, 1868. During the period of transportation, the approximate number of convicts has been 160,500 of whom 24,700 were women.


What did convicts live in on Australia?

tents and small houses made out of the wood they could find from tree's


How did the convicts on the First Fleet find conditions in Australia?

Australia was very strange for the convicts and settlers of the First Fleet. When the first European settlers arrived in Australia, they found a hot, humid country. The bushland was thick and unlike anything they had at home - instead of green, grassy hills and green trees, they found rocky terrain and strange, grey-green trees that smelled strong and sweet. There was an eerieness to the bushland, because it seemed all the same to their inexperienced eyes, and stories of the Aborigines were exaggerated to make the convicts fear stepping outside the camps. Any who did escape quickly became lost, and many convict bones lie scattered in the bush where they became hopelessly lost, and unable to fend for themselves. There were strange hopping animals - the 'kangaroo' - and strange, noisy birds such as the kookaburra and cockatoos. The heat and humidity made it difficult to motivate the convicts to work, and English tools and implements were unusable in the tough Australian soil. very few of the convicts had any skill in farming, and as a result, in the early years the colony nearly starved. It took some time for Sydney Cove to become self-sufficient, and for the first few years, the colony relied entirely on the supplies of the second and third fleets.


Who was the first founder of Australia and in what year did he find it?

There can only ever be one founder - no first, second or third, etc. The founder of Australia is quite different from the first person who found, or discovered, the continent. The founder of Australia is considered to be Captain Arthur Phillip, who led the First Fleet of convicts, marines and officers to New South Wales, where they founded the first official European settlement in 1788. Phillip was the first Governor of New South Wales, and he set down the basic laws of the new colony, as well as organising the convicts to clear land, plant crops, build roads and buildings, and do all the things required to establish a settlement. On the other hand, Willem Jansz, or Janszoon, is credited with being the "discoverer" of Australia, doing so in 1606. Although Aborigines had come to Australia thousands of years earlier, and the Macassans had been visiting its northern shores for centuries, Jansz was the first to take news of Australia (which, admittedly, he thought was part of New Guinea) back to Holland, or the Netherlands. So it can be seen that the founder of Australia is very different from the one who found it.


What did the first fleet find when they came to Australia?

Australia was very strange for the convicts and settlers of the First Fleet. When the first European settlers arrived in Australia, they found a hot, humid country. The bushland was thick and unlike anything they had at home - instead of green, grassy hills and green trees, they found rocky terrain and strange, grey-green trees that smelled strong and sweet. The trees did not lose their leaves during Autumn. There was an eerieness to the bushland, because it seemed all the same to their inexperienced eyes, and stories of the Aborigines were exaggerated to make the convicts fear stepping outside the camps. Any who did escape quickly became lost, and many convict bones lie scattered in the bush where they became hopelessly lost, and unable to fend for themselves. There were strange hopping animals - the 'kangaroo' - and strange, noisy birds such as the kookaburra and cockatoos. The heat and humidity made it difficult to motivate the convicts to work, and English tools and implements were unusable in the tough Australian soil. very few of the convicts had any skill in farming, and as a result, in the early years the colony nearly starved. It took some time for Sydney Cove to become self-sufficient, and for the first few years, the colony relied entirely on the supplies of the second and third fleets.


Where were the convicts on the First Fleet kept?

The convicts were kept below decks. Occasionally they were permitted up on deck for the purpose of walking around and getting fresh air, but otherwise they spent all their time below decks. They were not chained or shackled, but they were shut in and secured there by a trapdoor.


Where can you find pictures of the First Fleet?

See the related link below for some artists' illustrations of what the ships of the First Fleet looked like.


Why did convicts steal first fleet?

The convicts of the First Fleet stole because they were desperate to survive in the harsh conditions of the early colony in Australia. Many of them faced starvation and lacked proper supplies, so they resorted to theft as a means of obtaining food and other necessities. Additionally, some convicts may have stolen in an attempt to rebel against the authorities and assert a sense of control in their limited circumstances.