Convict Transportation Around The World
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Major Convict site, with purpose built facility | Representative route of convict ships from Britain and Ireland to NSW, VDL, WA and NI | Major Convict site where convicts were used for labour | Representative route of convict ships to New Caledonia 1863-97 |
Transporting convicted criminals to overseas colonies was practiced by most imperial powers between the 17th and 20th centuries, including Britain, Spain, France, Russia and British India.
Transportation had three main objectives, with one or another aim predominating at different times:
• To project imperial power and influence around the world through strategic colonisation,
• To punish criminals and deter crime at home, and
• To reform criminals and create new societies abroad.
Transportation from Great Britain began in the 1640s when royalist prisoners were sent to permanent labour in West Indies sugar plantations. Other British convict colonies include Maryland, Virginia, Bermuda, the Falklands and Gibraltar.
The British system was closely studied and partly copied by other powers, especially by France in New Caledonia. Other significant convict transportation sites include French Guiana and New Caledonia (France), Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines (Spain) and Siberia and Sakhalin (Russia).The British India convict transportation system operated between 1790 and 1938 transporting male and female convicts to Penang, Singapore, Malacca and the Andaman Islands.
The Anecdotal History is worth quoting verbatim:
“Singapore, Malacca, Penang, and Maulmein were the Sydneys of India. There are upon an average about 1,100 to 1,200 native convicts from India constantly at Singapore. These are employed making roads and digging canals; and, undoubtedly, without them the town, as far as locomotion is concerned, would have been now but a sorry residence.”
Source: McNair, Maj, A.J R “A record of the convict prison at Singapore in the straits settlements established 1825, discontinued 1873”
Gutenburg.org
Source: Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Nomination, 2008
Transportation to Eastern and Western Australia
The Convict System in Western Australia began in 1850 after the cessation of transportation to New South Wales and Van Dieman’s Land. It had several differences to that of Eastern Australia. It was better administered and did not have the same punishment regimes. Below is a summary of the differences between the Eastern States and Western Australian systems.
The WA government drew up Ticket of Leave Regulations which set out the rues for men sent out to work. The regulations were amended several times. You can download a copy of the 1869 regulations here.
| WA | NSW, VDL & NI* | |
| Transportation of women | No | Yes NSW, VDL |
| Transportation of children | No | Yes |
| Could sponsor family members to emigrate | Yes | Yes |
| Assignment to private employers | No | Yes |
| Pensioner Guards | Yes | No |
| Land grants to Ticket of Leavers | Yes | ? |
| Parallel system of subsidised free migration | Yes Bride Ships | No |
| Female Factories | No | Yes NSW, VDL |
| Silent System | No | Yes VDL, NI |
| Right to petition the Governor | Yes | Yes |
| Proportion of convicts that were ex-military | 10% | c2.5% |
*VDL – Van Dieman’s Land (Tasmania), NI – Norfolk Island
Western Australia also had its own internal convict systems, transporting colonial criminal prisoners to New South Wales before 1850, and Aboriginal political prisoners to Rottnest Island between 1838 and 1931.
Sources:
- Rica Erikson, The Brand On His Coat: Biographies of some Western Australian convicts, UWA Press, Nedlands 1983
- Stephen Nicholas (ed), Convict Workers: Reinterpreting Australia’s Past, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne 1988
- Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Nomination, Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra 2008
Source: :GaryGillard,net
Colonising the Victoria District
Convicts were sent to the Victoria District, now the coastal region of the MidWest of WA, soon after lead ore was discovered on the Murchison River in 1848.
Their contributions to the development of the towns of Geraldton, Dongara and Northampton and all points in between through the construction of a network of roads, bridges and jetties cannot be underestimated.
Convicts on their Ticket of Leave were not kept in prison unless they committed another offence. Instead, they were available for work in the mining, farming and pastoral industries as well as teaching and secretarial work. They made positive and important contributions to the economic development of the district and to Western Australia.
Source: Dr Bruce Baskerville, 2007
Dongara Police Occurrence Books
By the 1860s, two large property holdings had been established in the Irwin District and stocked with cattle and sheep, driven from the Swan River and Avon Districts.
A settlement scheme soon followed which encouraged more settlers to take up land along the Irwin River. The landholders wanted land cleared for wheat cropping as well as roads and a port to get their agricultural products to market so convict labour was in demand.
Convicts were issued a Ticket of Leave at Fremantle and sent to the Irwin District to work. This required an administrative centre for the police who could travel the district to monitor these men to ensure they were fulfilling the terms of their release.
This photograph was taken c1912 (IDHS IRME01843)
1868 DONGARA POLICE OCCURRENCE BOOK STATISTICS
Many offenders were Ticket of Leave men
| VIOLENCE | ASSAULT | 1.44% |
| ARSON | 2.17% | |
| ROBBERY | 7.24% | |
| OTHER OFFENCES | Trespass, Breech of the ‘Scab in Sheep Act’, Failure to pay Court costs, Breech of Agreement Unlawful possession of a £5 note Ticket of Leave men failing to report to Police | 5.79% |
| ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR | BREECH OF MASTER & SERVANT ACT | 9.42% |
| VAGRANCY & LOITERING | 5.79% | |
| PROSTITUTION | 0.72% | |
| ALCOHOL RELATED OFFENCES | Profane and/or obscene language, Disorderly conduct, Fighting, Disturbing the Peace, Unlawfully entering the hotel, Sly grog production and distribution, Disturbing the Native Assistant, Indecent conduct, Interfering with Police while on duty at the hotel, Riding furiously on a public road, | 28.26% |
| DRUNKENESS | 18.84% | |
| DOG ACT | KEEPING UNLICENSED DOGS | 17.39% |
| TIMBER ACT | TIMBER CUTTING WITHOUT A LICENSE | 2.89% |
Irwin District Convict Mapping
IDHS research has documented over 700 convicts who were assigned to work in the Irwin District. We are matching these men to the landholders to create a map of where these men worked and the infrastructure which was built.
- 1 -The original Pell Bridge was built by expiree Robert Cousins in 1873
- 2 – In the late 1863 a convict road crew built a road North of Mountain Bridge to meet the existing stock route (Old North Road). Remnants of the cobble road are still visible.
- 3 – For 20 years The Cattle Company held pastoral leasehold over much of the land between Mingenew and Greenough. It based its managers at Irwin House and employed a large number of ticket of leave men,
- 4 – James Pascoe built the Milo Inn (Pascoe’s Inn) on the Number 2 stock route in 1868, employed 7 ticket of leave men.
- 5 – Expiree James Mountain and his family leased a tillage block near the Irwin River and employed ticket of leave men between 1868 and 1871. Mountain Bridge bears the family name today
- 6 – Expiree Joseph Chivers had four 100 acre blocks south of the river and employed 10 ticket of leave men between 1865 and 1875.
- A – Dongara Cemetery contains many graves of the European settlers as well those of 24 ticket of leave men.
- B – Dongara Police Station and Courthouse(1871) was built be expiree Joseph Walton using ticket of leave labour. The building now houses the Irwin District Museum
- C – Dongara Hotel (1868) was built be expiree Joseph Walton using ticket of leave labour. It was originally known as The Irwin Arms,
- D – Convicts built the road from Dongara to Port Denison, Originally known as Beach Road it is now Point Leander Drive,
- E – At Port Denison two obelisks were built by expiree Robert Sparkes in 1869 using ticket of leave labour. They were used to guide ships into Port Denison through the hazardous reefs. The obelisk at the fishing boat harbour is now known as the Fishermen’s Memorial, the inland obelisk has been partially demolished
- F – In 1859 harbourmaster Edward Downes small cottage at the mouth of the Irwin River was attacked by 5 convicts who had escaped from a working party in Fremantle and had sailed north in a whaling boat. The convicts tied up Edward, has wife and a visiting friend. The convicts stole food, guns and cloth which they used for a sail, They were eventually apprehended in Shark Bay.
- G – Two limestone quarries were the source of stone for the buildings and roads constructed by convicts in Dongara.
Ticket of Leave
Tickets of Leave were printed on waterproof parchment and were quite durable They were required to be carried at all times and must be shown to Police when requested The place of employment of the holder was listed and he had to remain at the assigned property. This ticket (IROB1099) was issued to Benjamin (Taffy) Jones 9772. His surname was been removed from the document prior to acquisition.
The ticket of leave system was subject to special regulations, a copy of these regulations from 1869 can be downloaded here. Thanks to Geraldton Museum and Gardens for this supplying this document to IDHS.
Sources: Bain, M.A ‘Ancient Landmarks,’ IDHS Archives, State Records Office
