There is much debate over the nature, freedom and conditions of convicts that were transported to Australia from 1788 until 1868. From analysis of primary and secondary sources, we can see that while convicts may have been harshly sentenced, they were given a degree of opportunity and freedom after the completion of their sentences.
Were convicts, as G.A. Woods described them, village Hampdens? Or were they rather a professional criminal class, as implied by Manning Clark? To address this question it is important to understand that those transported cannot be classed into a single category, as they were both men and women from all ages and from across the entire empire, not just from Britain, who had preformed a variety of crimes, ranging from stealing cotton to wilful murder. Clark states that between 1/4 to 1/3 of convicts with the relevant recorded data were repeat offenders, and many were from urban areas, relying greatly on anecdotal evidence that the opinion of Britain’s of the time was that these individuals perused crime as their occupation, making them the "offscourings of mankind". Alternatively, however, Woods suggests that rather than the convicts that were transported being inherently bad, they were victims of both economic exploitation and a particularly harsh, unjust legal system. This is an opinion that was reprised many years later, during the Australian nationalist political period during the 1980's, and is supported by the convict indents of the Pyramus, 1836, and of the Hougoumont, 1868, demonstrating many, particularly the women in the earlier ship, were poor, working low level jobs, and were transported for very minor offences. It should also be noted that the nature of criminals transported would have changed over time, as death sentences were less commonly issued, and imprisonment in Australia was an increasingly appealing option for harsh crimes.
The second question that needs addressing is the degree of freedom that was enjoyed by those in Australia during this period. While it was a penal colony, was Australia equivalent to slavery? Anne Summers points out in 'Damned Whores and God's Police' that while serving their sentences, women were subjected to "systematic abuse" and punishment, as presumably were the men. While conditions of imprisonment on the island may not have been pleasant, their opportunities once released were in many cases much improved from England, where they could break from poverty, and could start a new life and become land owners. Also, all children of convicts were born as free settlers, a right not given to slaves.
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| Chained convicts being led to prison hulks, possibly prior to transportation to Australia. Convicts depicted as a criminal class, compared with the other well dressed citizens, with few freedoms, bound by chains. This can be compared to the opportunities they are given once free in Australia. |
"Splindid Jem", 1821, Issac Robert Cruikshank
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