What did the convicts do on the ships?

What did the convicts do on the ships?

Many were skilled carpenters, blacksmiths or cobblers (shoemakers). , convicts worked to turn large wooden logs into smaller timber planks for buildings. They also made doors, window frames, shutters and roof shingles. Down at the edge of Sydney Harbour, convicts built boats and made rope and sails for ships.

How were convicts treated on the ships?

The treatment of the transported convicts was poor and the use of excessive punishment was rife throughout the penal system. Lashings were commonplace and for those prisoners who did not behave accordingly, they were taken elsewhere to suffer a secondary punishment.

What was life like on the boats for the convicts?

For the first 20 years, prisoners were chained up for the entire 8 months at sea. The cells were divided into compartments by wooden or iron bars. On some ships as many as 50 convicts were crammed into one compartment. Discipline was brutal, and the officers themselves were often illiterate, drunken and cruel.

What crimes did convicts do?

10 common crimes committed by convicts

  • Petty theft. By far the most common crime that led to transportation was petty theft or larceny.
  • Burglary or housebreaking.
  • Highway robbery.
  • Stealing clothing.
  • Stealing animals.
  • Military offences.
  • Prostitution.
  • Crimes of deception.

What did convicts eat on ships?

Convicts ate bread,hardtack,salted beef or pork,peas,oatmeal,butter,cheese. They also ate rise,fruit,vegetables.

Did any convict ships sink?

Loss of life due to accident or natural disaster was also rare, although there were four serious shipwrecks concerning convict ships to Australia – Amphitrite on the coast of France, George III on the south-east coast of Tasmania, Neva off King Island in Bass Strait and Waterloo in Table Bay, South Africa.

What did the convicts have to eat on the ships?

What punishments did convicts get on the First Fleet?

In colonial Australia, there were three main punishments for male convicts; the wheel, irons and floggings. Often these were inflicted in ways that suggested that justice, rehabilitation, and societal protection were not important considerations.

How were female convicts treated in Australia?

Despite the belief that convict women during the transportation period were all prostitutes, no women were transported for that offence. The majority of women sent to Australia were convicted for what would now be considered minor offences (such as petty theft), most did not receive sentences of more than seven years.

How were female convicts treated on the First Fleet?

Punishments included the cutting of hair, wearing of iron collars, solitary confinement, reduced rations and hard labour. More than half of the 25,000 female convicts sent to Australia were placed in female factories in Tasmania. In 1821, the Female Factory was opened at Parramatta in New South Wales.