Convicts

The transportation of prisoners to Australia is one of the most vexed issues of the nation's history. Convict lives formed the early cultural landscape of the Australian colony; much of Australia's early economic success was the result of their labour. Convicts explores some of the issues surrounding the banishment of thousands of convict men, women and children to Australia. In an attempt to place convict transportation into an international context, extensive research into this form of banishment reveals that over 60 convict colonies were established throughout the world by France, Britain, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Argentina and many other nations. Australia is not alone with its convict past. This book provides discussion and documentation for many transportation-era topics such as convict labour and skills, the diet of prisoners, the British military's role in the penal settlement, the activities of the so-called Female Factory system, the difficulties of forming a family under the convict system and the bitter struggle to bring convict transportation to Australia to a conclusion....