CONVICTS, CONDUCT & CHATTER. Trove Tuesday 12TH JAN, 2021

CONVICTS, CONDUCT & CHATTER

Lachlan Macquarie
Governor of NSW 1810-1821

The period in Australia's history which saw thousands of convicts brought to it's shores, was much more complicated than just being a time when Britain's unwanted were banished to a far off land.

The numerous convicts were very much a source of free labor, for 

both the government and the free settlers, though there were rules to 

be followed.  These articles will give you an idea of what was achieved, the rules that had to be followed, the conditions the 

convicts faced and also how their behaviour could change their 

future.

Court sessions were frequent and changing... the standards of the English system were soon adjusted to suit the needs of this new colony. 

Monitor (Sydney, NSW : 1826 - 1828), Friday 14 July 1826

Please click to enlarge. These clippings will then be a lot easier to read.

The details of the charges and methods of crime are illustrated by the following article.. The ages of some convicts were surprisingly low.

It didn't take much to have the extra imposition of being placed in irons added to a sentence.

Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), Wednesday 30 August 1826

Female Orphan School, Paramatta [sic], N.S. Wales c1825

By Augustus Earle 

Contributed By National Library of Australia [nla.pic-an2818336]

Tickets of leave were granted for good behaviour, trouble free while serving sentences, etc. They could be revoked for consequent offences, including bad behaviour, including theft, violence, etc. 

Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), Wednesday 8 November 1826

Interesting to read the Expense of Convicts in NSW 1827

Settlers could apply for servants, farm hands, etc. though they weren't able to request a particular convict. However, this rule does seem to have been ignored in various situations.

Australian (Sydney, NSW : 1824 - 1848), Friday 22 February 1828

Commissariat Store Sydney

By Charles Percy Pickering 

From the collections of the State Library of New South Wales 

[a1107023 / PXD 524, 21]

(Mitchell Library)

For further reading about convicts and the conditions they lived in, and the part they played in establishing this new colony, simply search for convicts in the search bar at the end of the page.