The convicts came to Australia because they had no choice. Britain's prisons were overcrowded, the Empire wanted to have a presence in the Pacific, and it was the logical solution. No other European nation had yet colonised the Australian continent, so as far as Britain was concerned, the land was freely available.
The First Fleet carried the first group of convicts to Australia. It was followed later by the Second and Third fleets, but after that, shiploads of convicts sailed independently or in pairs.
Great Britain originally colonised Australia with convicts. Thus, Australia was founded by convicts, marines and officers from England.
Western Australia was the last state in Australia to receive convicts. New South Wales had abolished transportation of convicts in 1840.The last convict ship, the "Hougoumont", left Britain in 1867 and arrived in Australia on 10 January 1868.
Transportation of convicts to Australia occurred between 1788 and 1867. Convicts first arrived on 26 January 1788 with the arrival of the First Fleet in New South Wales. The last convict ship arrived in Western Australia on 10 January 1868. Transportation of convicts to Australia ceased after this.
The transportation of convicts to Austalia continued for many decades. The First Fleet of convicts to Australia departed England in May 1787, and arrived in New South Wales in January 1788. Transportation of convicts to Australia ended when the last convict ship left Britain in 1867 and arrived in Australia on 10 January 1868. This ship, the "Hougoumont", brought its final cargo of 269 convicts to Western Australia, as New South Wales had abolished transportation of convicts in 1840.
There were no convicts in Western Australia in 1829. The first convicts in Western Australia only arrived in 1850.
Convicts formed a large percentage of the Australian population for the first few decades of settlement.
Convicts first arrived in Australia in January 1788.
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.
There was only one way for convicts to travel to Australia, and that was by way of wooden ships.
Australia.
They were simply called "convicts".
Convicts and soldiers did not come to Australia in the 16th century (1500s) at all. The first convicts and soldiers arrived in the late 18th century, in the late 1700s. There are no remaining records of any Europeans coming to Australia in the 16th century, although Portuguese traders were believed to have visited Australia's shores. The only non-indigenous people known to have come to Australia in the 16th century were the Macassans. Macassans were Indonesian traders who sought trepang (sea slugs) off the northern coastline.
Western Australia was the last of the states to have convicts. The last convict ship to Western Australia, the Hougoumont, left Britain in 1867 and arrived in Western Australia on 10 January 1868. Transportation of convicts to Australia ceased after this.
Convicts come from every country.
The convicts who landed on the shores of Australia originally came from England. Later fleets included Irish, Scottish and Welsh, but the majority were English. The Irish who came were often political convicts, sent for their rebellion against England.
No. South Australia was the only Australian state to never use convicts for labour.