Convicts

Back to business

From 1822, with the British government keen to cut costs and encourage pastoral expansion, part three sees the removal of convicts from town.

How were convicts rewarded for good behaviour?

While some convicts broke the rules and were punished, most of them worked hard and tried to stay out of trouble

For the civic good

With the Napoleonic Wars over in 1815 and Britain crowded with returned soldiers, poverty and crime, part two finds the colony swamped with incoming convicts.

Why were convicts transported to Australia?

Until 1782, English convicts were transported to America, however that all changed after 1783

Myall Creek massacre

Frontier violence

Violence at the frontier

Convict Sydney

From a struggling convict encampment to a thriving Pacific seaport, a city takes shape.

Limits of location

In 1829, the stern-minded and ‘coldly efficient’ governor Sir Ralph Darling stood before a map of the colony and drew a semi-circular line roughly 400 kilometres from the centre of Sydney.

Hope 1848–1886

In 1848 the Hyde Park Barracks became an immigration depot and hiring office for unaccompanied women newly arrived in Sydney