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St Mary's Church, Norton Subcourse, Norfolk, UK
Annegret Hall
St Mary's Church, Norton Subcourse, Norfolk, UK
Early Australian History
SLIDES FROM THE BOOK LAUNCH OF In For The Long Haul
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All citations refer to source documents
Diarists of the First Fleet & Colony
Names in blue are the most important chroniclers of the FF and colony.
The Century of Industrial & Agrarian Change
Advances in manufacturing and farming left many rural workers unemployed and starving.
New Inventions led to Industrial Manufacturing
New mechanical steam-driven factories made cheap textiles - cottage-based weaving and knitting could not compete.
The Enclosure Acts consolidate Farms
Large estates florish while tenant farmers and labourers lose access to land and work. Many rural families are destitute.
18thC Industrial & Agrarian Revolutions
Increased the wealth for landed & mercantile classes, but reduced opportunities for commoners & labourers.
Stealing to Stay Alive
Stealing by destitute workers who were unemployed ballooned, and prisons overflowed with felons sentenced to transportation.
Major Prison Riots in 1780
The Govt tried to relieve overcrowded land gaols by using old ship hulks on the Thames as floating gaols.
Hulks in London, Portsmouth & Plymouth
By 1786 there were five hulks being used as prisons. They were quickly overcrowded as well.
The Botany Bay Scheme
The Govt decided to transport 750 convicts to Botany Bay in New Holland on eleven small sailing ships.
CONVICT DEMOGRAPHICS: Age profile
Most petty felons were young men between the ages of 18 and 35 who stole to keep their families alive.
CONVICT DEMOGRAPHICS: Crimes
Almost all arrests were for stealing, very few for violence.
CONVICT DEMOGRAPHICS: Sentences
The majority of convicts were transported for 7 years. Mandatory death sentences were usually commuted to transportation.
Typical 18thC Rural Convicts
Anthony Rope & Elizabeth Pulley were the archetypal convicts from rural Norfolk who were transported to Botany Bay.
Anthony Rope's Timeline
His mother died when he was 4; he was probably sent out to work at 6 without any schooling. He lived to 86.
Anthony's Travels for Work
Anthony worked on farms and probably on boats. He ended up in Rochford 100 miles from Norton Subcourse.
Guilty of Stealing
Anthony stole goods valued above the CAPITAL offence limit but received a 7yr transportation sentence. He was sent to the hulk Ceres and later to the Justitia.
Hulk Convicts at Work
Convicts on the Thames hulks did hard labour repairing the docks and dredging the river.
Elizabeth Pulley of Felthorpe
Elizabeth was the 3rd child of a poor tenant farmer and weaver family from Felthorpe.
Elizabeth Orphaned at Six
Both parents died young and at the age of 6 Elizabeth was orphaned, homeless and destitute.
Elizabeth Accused of Stealing
Young servants were often accused of stealing if anything went missing in a large household. Dismissal and arrest usually followed.
Elizabeth Publicly Whipped!
Elizabeth was whipped in a market place for stealing clothes as a servant. This punishment was intended as a warning to other servants.
Wymondham Market in 2016
17thC Wymondham Market Cross building and place, where Elizabeth was whipped, still stands today.
Elizabeth in Wymondham Museum
Elizabeth was imprisoned in the Wymondham Bridewell. Today she appears as an effigy in their Museum as "a convict who helped found Australia".
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