1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:09,240 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: show that shines a light on the ups and downs 4 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: of everyday history. I'm Gay Bluesier, and in this episode, 5 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: we're looking at the overdue death of a cruel and 6 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: archaic system of punishment, one that marred the soul of 7 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:43,240 Speaker 1: Australia and England alike for nearly a century. The day 8 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 1: was January ninth, eighteen sixty eight. The last ship to 9 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: take British convicts to Australia arrived at the port of Fremantle. 10 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: It was called the Uga Mat and, like many of 11 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: the vessels used for penal transportation, it was a former 12 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: naval ship of French troop carrier. To be specific, the 13 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,399 Speaker 1: Ugoman had been chartered by the English government to transport 14 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: a group of convicted prisoners to Western Australia, where they 15 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,680 Speaker 1: would carry out their sentences doing hard labor. Countless ships 16 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: had performed a similar task in the eighty year span 17 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: between seventeen eighty eight and eighteen sixty eight. Altogether, they 18 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: had transported more than one hundred and sixty two thousand 19 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 1: convicts to the Australian continent, and the two hundred and 20 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 1: eighty or so prisoners aboard the Ugo Maw were the 21 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,680 Speaker 1: very last ones. For more than a century, England had 22 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:45,800 Speaker 1: transported convicts and political prisoners to its overseas colonies in America, 23 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,280 Speaker 1: but once the US declared its independence in the late 24 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: eighteenth century, England had to find somewhere else to dump 25 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: its excess prisoners. A solution was found in seventeen eighty 26 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 1: eight when a British penal colony was established at Sydney 27 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: Cove in New South Wales, Australia. The operation quickly expanded 28 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: up and down the east coast of the continent to 29 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:12,360 Speaker 1: Queensland and Victoria, as well as to the island of 30 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 1: Tasmania just off the southeast coast. As punishment for their crimes, 31 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: all of the convicts sent to Australia were forced to 32 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: perform backbreaking labor, either for the British government or for 33 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: the free settlers who called the region home. Convicts awoke 34 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: its sunrise each day and worked for up to ten hours, 35 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: with only meager meals to sustain them. Many toiled in 36 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: the fields as farm hands, while others worked construction, completing 37 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: arduous tasks such as stone cutting, brick making and bridge building. 38 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: New settlements were later established at Swan River and Western Australia, 39 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 1: as well as in Southern Australia. At first these colonies 40 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: were only inhabited by free settlers, but in eighteen fifty 41 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:00,520 Speaker 1: the British government granted permission for Swan rins Uver to 42 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: be converted to a penal colony, expanding the prison system 43 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: yet again. By now you may be wondering how Britain 44 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: wound up with so many convicts that it felt it 45 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,799 Speaker 1: had to co opt an entire continent just to house them. 46 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: There were a variety of factors at play, but chief 47 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 1: among them was the Industrial Revolution. Beginning in the seventeen sixties, 48 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: technological innovations began to change the shape of life in Britain, 49 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: making it much easier for some and much harder for others. 50 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: The wealthier classes enjoyed better living standards, lower death rates, 51 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: and longer life expectancies, all of which caused the population 52 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: to rise exponentially. The downside to all that progress was 53 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: that many low income families suddenly found themselves unemployed, as 54 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 1: the farming jobs they had once relied on were now 55 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: done by machines. That shakeup forced many people to move 56 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: to cities in search of work, which coupled with the 57 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: population boom, quickly led to overcrowding. Eventually, there were far 58 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: more people than there were jobs, and his conditions grew 59 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: more dire. Many turned to crime in order to survive. 60 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: There was a good deal of violent crime in British cities, 61 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: but most offenses were minor, such as stealing food or 62 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: low cost items to trade for food. Some people even 63 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: committed petty crimes, like chopping down a tree in an 64 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 1: orchard or setting fire to a farmer's haystack, with the 65 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: intention of being caught, just so they could be fed 66 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: and sheltered in prison. Rather than doing the hard work 67 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,719 Speaker 1: to improve conditions for these struggling citizens, the British government 68 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: decided to just get rid of them. The bar for 69 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:45,599 Speaker 1: penal transportation was lowered from serious crimes only to just 70 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: about anything, including any theft of an item worth more 71 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:53,720 Speaker 1: than one shilling. At first, transported convicts were kept in 72 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: purpose built prisons, but once these were full, new arrivals 73 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:01,919 Speaker 1: were kept in old ramshackle ships called hulks. Most of 74 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: the hulks were barely seaworthy, but moored in the harbor, 75 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:09,480 Speaker 1: they stayed afloat more or less. By the eighteen thirties, 76 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:13,160 Speaker 1: many of the free settlers in Australia had begun calling 77 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: for an end to the transportation of convicts. Some felt 78 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:19,599 Speaker 1: that it was immoral to drag people from their native 79 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: countries and force them to work in a foreign land, 80 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: especially when many had committed only minor crimes. Others opposed 81 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 1: transportation on more practical grounds, arguing that the convicts were 82 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: dangerous and that their large numbers were giving Australia a 83 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:39,720 Speaker 1: bad name. The backlash eventually led the British government to 84 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 1: conduct an inquiry into penal transportation. In eighteen thirty seven. 85 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: A Member of Parliament named Sir William Molesworth was put 86 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:51,600 Speaker 1: in charge of the investigation. He ultimately concluded that transportation 87 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: was unjust and ineffectual and called for it to be abolished. 88 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: The government eventually took his advice, with transportation to New 89 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:04,799 Speaker 1: South Wales ceasing in eighteen forty and transportation to Tasmania 90 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: ending in eighteen fifty three. However, the newly established penal 91 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: colonies in Western Australia still wanted convict labor to assist 92 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:18,359 Speaker 1: with construction projects. As a result, adult male convicts began 93 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 1: to arrive at the Swan River Colony in eighteen fifty 94 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:24,159 Speaker 1: and would continue to be sent there for the next 95 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:29,719 Speaker 1: eighteen years. During that time, nearly ten thousand prisoners built 96 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: much of the region's essential infrastructure, such as the road 97 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 1: from Albany to Perth and the Fremantle Bridge. The convicts 98 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: also constructed many of what are now Western Australia's most 99 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:45,720 Speaker 1: famous heritage sites, including the Government House, the Perth Town Hall, 100 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 1: and of course, the Fremantle Prison. Public opposition to penal 101 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,840 Speaker 1: transportation eventually won the day in Western Australia, just as 102 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:57,919 Speaker 1: it had in other parts of the continent. The final 103 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: convict ship, the Ugomont, was dispatched in late eighteen sixty seven, 104 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 1: and after eighty nine days at sea, it docked in 105 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: Fremantle on January ninth, eighteen sixty eight. It carried some 106 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: four hundred passengers in its hull, a few dozen prison 107 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 1: guards and their families, along with roughly two hundred and 108 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: eighty prisoners. Their arrival marked the long awaited end of 109 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 1: transportation to Western Australia and to the continent as a whole. 110 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: As you might expect. Transported convicts were not given free 111 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 1: passage back to England following the disbandment of Australia's penal colonies. 112 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: Most lived out the rest of their lives on the continent, 113 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: and some did quite well for themselves. Mary Rieby, for instance, 114 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: had been transported to Sydney for horse stealing, but she 115 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:52,239 Speaker 1: later became a successful businesswoman and philanthropist. Today her portrait 116 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: is even featured on the Australian twenty dollars note. Some 117 00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: of the convicts sent to Western Australia made good as well, 118 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: such as embezzler John Rowland Jones, who became a respected 119 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: reporter and editor, and Alfred Chopin, a fence for stolen goods, 120 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 1: turned famous photographer. Thousands of other transported x cons made new, 121 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: quiet lives for themselves in the place that had once 122 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 1: served as their prison, but many more were left struggling 123 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: with poverty, alcoholism, and isolation. They had long since served 124 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 1: their time, but for many the impact of their inhumane 125 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 1: punishment lasted a lifetime. I'm gay, Bluesier and hopefully you 126 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: now know a little more about history today than you 127 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 1: did yesterday. You can learn even more about history by 128 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:50,319 Speaker 1: following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI HC Show, 129 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: and if you have any comments or suggestions, you can 130 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: always send them my way by writing to This Day 131 00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler for producing the show, 132 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back 133 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: here again tomorrow for another Day in History class