What were conditions like for convicts in Australia?
Convicts were often quite comfortable. They lived in two or three roomed houses, shared with fellow convicts or with a family. They had tables and chairs, cooked dinner (like pea and ham soup) over a fireplace and ate their food on china crockery using silver cutlery!
What was the weather like when the First Fleet arrived?
Ferocious weather hit the First Fleet as it made its way through the roaring forties in November–December 1787. Although the strong westerlies were ideal for sailing, conditions on the ships were miserable.
What were the conditions for convicts?
They were dirty, overcrowded, and disease-ridden. Prisoners were not given medical attention, and mortality rates were high, especially during the early days before overcrowding was reduced by the advent of transportation to the Australian colonies.
What were the weather conditions like on the Endeavour?
Cook described preparations for the repair of the Endeavour: “Fresh gales and Clowdy with showers of rain. At 1 PM the Ship floated and we warped her into the Harbour and moor’d along side of a steep beach on the south side.
How old was the youngest convict sent to Australia?
13 years old
John Hudson, described as ‘sometimes a chimney sweeper’, was the youngest known convict to sail with the First Fleet. Voyaging on board the Friendship to NSW, the boy thief was 13 years old on arrival at Sydney Cove. He was only nine when first sentenced.
What did female convicts wear?
The women wore clothes such as ‘slops’ in blue or brown serge, or a stuff gown, white apron and straw bonnet for Sunday with a jacket and a coarse apron for weekdays. Children remained with their mothers at the Factory until the age of four, at which time they were placed in Orphan Schools.
Where did the convicts on the First Fleet sleep?
The convicts were housed below deck and often further confined behind bars. Conditions were extremely cramped. In many cases the prisoners were restrained in chains and were only allowed on deck for fresh air and exercise.
What day did the First Fleet arrive in Australia?
On May 13, 1787, the “First Fleet” of military leaders, sailors, and convicts set sail from Portsmouth, England, to found the first European colony in Australia, Botany Bay.
What did convicts do in their free time?
What did convicts do in their free time? Convicts played cards or games like chess or draughts that required different sorts of tokens, many of which were handmade. These might have been carved from animal bones (perhaps saved from dinner) or pieces of ceramic and wood they found, or cast in lead.
Was James Cook eaten?
Was Captain Cook really eaten by cannibals? No – the Hawaiian Islanders who killed Captain Cook were not cannibals. They believed that the power of a man was in his bones, so they cooked part of Cook’s body to enable the bones to be easily removed.
How did the Endeavour sink?
HMS Endeavour was a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James Cook commanded to Australia and New Zealand on his first voyage of discovery from 1768 to 1771.
What did the convicts eat?
Convicts ate bread,hardtack,salted beef or pork,peas,oatmeal,butter,cheese. They also ate rise,fruit,vegetables.
What did the convicts do when they came to Australia?
Exported: Among those sent to Australia were the Luddites, textile workers who broke machinery and burned mills to protest against factory conditions. Many convicts worked on government farms, growing food for the new settlement. Others were assigned to land owners.
When was the last convict ship to arrive in Australia?
The last convict ship to be sent from England, the St. Vincent, arrived in 1853, and on 10 August Jubilee festivals in Hobart and Launceston celebrated 50 years of European settlement with the official end of transportation. Transportation continued in small numbers to Western Australia.
What kind of clothes did convicts wear in Australia?
However, as more free settlers moved to Australia, and convicts finished their sentences, it was necessary to be able to easily distinguish the convicts. The new uniform consisted of a coarse woollen jacket, a yellow or grey waistcoat, a pair of trousers and long socks, shoes, two cotton or linen shirts, a neckerchief and hat.
What was the convict experience in nineteenth century England?
The convict experience In nineteenth century England, the sentence for a variety of crimes was transportation to Australia, a harsh punishment with many convicts never seeing their homeland again. The convict experience