Convict

[Leanne]

Here we sit with these chains on our hands and our feet,
For the theft of a loaf, it’s a high price to pay –
No jury to hear us, no judge to entreat.

We were hungry and cold; we had nothing to eat,
The sentence was given, lives stolen away –
Here we sit with these chains on our hands and our feet.

Seven hundred and fifty souls sensing defeat,
What horrors unknown lurked in Botany Bay?
No jury to hear us, no judge to entreat.

Set sail from Plymouth the "mighty" First Fleet,
Crammed tight in the hold, we could do naught but pray –
Here we sit with these chains on our hands and our feet.

HMS Sirius, arms incomplete,
Flagship of misery, led us away –
No jury to hear us, no judge to entreat.

With never a clue of the fate we would meet,
Frightened, we hope for a brighter new day –
Here we sit with these chains on our hands and our feet,
No jury to hear us, no judge to entreat.


*On 26th January, 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip's 11 ships disgorged their 277 marines, civilians, officers' wives and children, along with 753 convicts and their children, 7 horses, 29 sheep, 74 pigs, 6 rabbits (thanks England!) and 7 cattle upon the shores of New South Wales, thus establishing the colony that would in 1901 become Federated as the Nation of Australia. On that First Fleet, belowdecks of the Scarborough sailed one Edward Miles (or Moyle, he was illiterate). In 1803, having worked off his sentence and earned himself a grant of land, he married Susannah Smith and my family was established in The Great Southern Land. Foreigners -- especially the English -- often poke fun at Australians for being descended from convicts, but now they're paying a fortune to come here themselves, so who's laughing now you Pommy gits? :p

Happy Australia Day!

[Erthona]

Such a gentle lamb,
for a red firebrand!
Yet...
you tell it well,
in your scalding villanelle!
---------------------------------
Those pommy gits should away,
unless a severance they do pay,
I'm thinking 111 long days
hard labor, a day for each year,
all Aussies then would cheer,
and pommy gits disdain allay,
or else fine them in Botany Bay!

[abu nuwas]

The language is plain, and perhaps reflects the people who went -- who seem to have been largely from the West Country and London. It inspired me to read a little about this, and as far as I could tell, the first lot were disproportionately men. Then came the "Lady Juliana", with only women -- one can only speculate about the feelings when both lots met up!

I saw a list, which it was suggested may be fake, of the convicts. If it were true, the Judges were v lazy--- almost eveyone getting 7 years, a few getting life, and one getting 14 years---- what on earth had he done?

[Leanne]

I'm not sure why it would be thought fake, the original ship's manifests are still extant so far as I know, though I'm not sure where they are.

The minimum sentence for a "felony" was 7 years -- Edward Miles stole a gentleman's waistcoat, so he was definitely hard core . I'm not sure what Susannah did, but many of the convicts were transported for thefts of bread, oranges, salt, handkerchieves and other offences that were clearly contributing to the utter degeneration of society... A few of the 14-year sentences were for actual burglary, embezzlement, receiving stolen goods, that sort of thing. And there were a few murderers and other unpleasant sorts in the lot, of course. Most of those were officers though

PS "Lady Juliana"? Never heard of it. The women were transported on "Lady Penrhyn", "Prince of Wales" and some mixed in with the men on the aptly named "Friendship" The best information, at least from my point of view, can be found at The Fellowship of First Fleeters

[abu nuwas]

You may jest about the theft of a waist-coat--but I tell you it is no small thing.
For many years, in order to liven up a grey day, I would sport all manner of stylish examples, and the best of these, I thought, was one which was very largely silver-coloured. It was admired, but much more admired by the girls than the blokes, who probably thought I was a bit of a prick. Then one day it vanished. At least grand larceny, probably a felony, and I never doubted that it was a member of the fair (or unfair) sex who was responsible.

I cannot find the source for the list-- it looked like a cutting from an old Lodon paper associated with the London Gazette, and it was not until I got to the bottom, that I read that it had been published in 1969 in The Australian, I think, as a supplement, but was some form of prank. Yet these lists do exist, so I do not understand what is going on.

As for the boat, again, I can't find what I was looking at, but wiki has it--and I am afraid the account is not, er, an honorable one. It appears to have been a drunken floating brothel. I was tempted to comment, but feel it is not my place......Here it is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Juliana

PS Are we supposed to post links on here?

[billy]

india, africa, australia, it was all the same back then they needed cheap labout and convicts suited the task. specially in australia. if it weren't cons it was soldiers. looking at auz now i'd say it was one of those instances where some good came from something not so good. it can be seen that the modern aussies come from weak stock but i guess that was to be expected
it's amazing that so few could adapt well enough to establish themselves. let's not forget the poor abo who through their actions (Britains) were pretty much screwed.

[abu nuwas]

india, africa, australia, it was all the same back then they needed cheap labout and convicts suited the task. specially in australia. if it weren't cons it was soldiers. looking at auz now i'd say it was one of those instances where some good came from something not so good. it can be seen that the modern aussies come from weak stock but i guess that was to be expected
it's amazing that so few could adapt well enough to establish themselves. let's not forget the poor abo who through their actions (Britains) were pretty much screwed.

I was also surprised by their inability to survive without surprise, even accepting that they would have been unfamiliar with edible flora and fauna. After all, many came from rural areas, and nowhere in England is far from the sea, so many must have been accustomed to fishing, at least. One has the picture of people going without even though there was plenty around: but then, how many of us, to-day, could live by foraging? Do you recognise Fat Hen, or Edible Fungi?

I do not feel hugely guilty for what Britain did in the past, even if it would have been better if it had not happened. In India, Africa, and Australia, people were fighting each other before the British turned up. It was the sort of thing you did. And bugger me, people still do! Which leads me back to Palestine...