Convict Australia

In 1787 the First Fleet began the epic journey to Australia with about 1500 hungry mouths to feed but only two years supply of food.  This episode talks about the First Fleeters struggle to survive with depleting food stores, poor soil to grow crops and limited availability to wild foods.

LINKS

Grab a copy of Convict Sydney, the real-life stories of 32 prisoners:

www.jennifer-twemlow.com

Support Convict Australia and receive goodies such as the Convict Australia Newsletter:

https://www.patreon.com/ConvictAustralia

Join the conversation on our Facebook & Instagram pages:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/173850624015866

https://www.instagram.com/convict_australia/?hl=en

Start your search for your convict ancestors:

https://prf.hn/click/camref:1100ldych

https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-100396961-13671424

SOURCES

1959 The Convict Ships, 1787 – 1868, by Charles Bateson.,Brown, Son & Ferguson, Ltd., Glasgow

2015 ‘First Fleet Surgeon: the voyage of Arthur Bowes Smyth.’, David Hill, Canberra, ACT, National Library of Australia

2000 ‘Two Classic Tales of Australian exploration: 1788, by Watkin Tench; Life and Adventures, by John Nicol’, edited & introduced by Tim Flannery, Text Publishing Company, Melbourne

2010 ‘1788: The brutal truth of the First Fleet.’, by David Hill, Random House Australia, North Sydney.

2021, Discover SLM Talk: First Fleet fare, with Dr Jacqui Newling, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu9mipK2VrQ, viewed 10 December 2021

‘Barrett, Thomas (c. 1758-1788)’, People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/barrett-thomas-30158/text37432, viewed 1 December 2021

Special thanks to Sue Reed and Dane Sharpe.

Music by Ahjay Stelino

In 1832, en route to Norfolk Island, Knatchbull and his convict mates plot their cunning escape.

LINKS

Grab a copy of Convict Sydney, the real-life stories of 32 prisoners:

www.jennifer-twemlow.com

Support Convict Australia and receive goodies such as the Convict Australia Newsletter:

https://www.patreon.com/ConvictAustralia

Join the conversation on our Facebook & Instagram pages:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/173850624015866

https://www.instagram.com/convict_australia/?hl=en

Start your search for your convict ancestors:

https://prf.hn/click/camref:1100ldych

https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-100396961-13671424

SOURCES

1832 'ARMY INTELLIGENCE.', The Currency Lad (Sydney, NSW : 1832-1833), 8 December, p. 3. , viewed 25 Jul 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article252636815

1832 'DIABOLICAL CONSPIRACY TO MURDER THE CREW AND GUARD OF THE GOVERNOR PHILIP TRANSPORT, ON HER PASSAGE TO NORFOLK ISLAND.', The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), 4 December, p. 2. , viewed 25 Jul 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2209731

1832 'DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. ABSTRACT OF SALES BY AUCTION.', The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842), 6 December, p. 2. , viewed 25 Jul 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12845867

1833 'INDIA.', Launceston Advertiser (Tas. : 1829 - 1846), 3 January, p. 424. , viewed 25 Jul 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article84776276

1898 'THE STORY OF KNATCHBULL.', The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909), 2 April, p. 8. , viewed 25 Jul 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article228431278

CONVICT CASE STUDY- JOHN KNATCHBULL, NSW State Archives & Records, viewed 25 Jul 2021, https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-and-indexes/stories/convict-case-study-john-knatchbull#

THANK YOU

Special thanks to Sue Reed.

Music by Ahjay Stelino

Reverend Samuel Marsden arrived in NSW in 1794 as the new chaplain but was quickly appointed as a magistrate. Marsden detested sin and sought to rid the colony of it. He became known as the 'Flogging Parson' for handing out severe punishments, but he also did a lot of good in the colony.  For example, he actively tried to improve conditions for female convicts at the Parramatta Female Factory and he helped with the establishment and administration of the Female Orphan School.  Join me as I talk to historian Michel Wilson as we unpack the good, the bad, and the ugly that was Samuel Marsden.

LINKS

Grab a copy of Convict Sydney, the real-life stories of 32 prisoners:

www.jennifer-twemlow.com

Support Convict Australia and receive goodies such as the Convict Australia Newsletter:

https://www.patreon.com/ConvictAustralia

Join the conversation on our Facebook & Instagram pages:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/173850624015866

https://www.instagram.com/convict_australia/?hl=en

Start your search for your convict ancestors:

https://prf.hn/click/camref:1100ldych

https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-100396961-13671424

THANKS

Special thanks to Michel Wilson & Gay Hendriksen.

Music by Ahjay Stelino

George III left Woolwich, England in December 1834 transporting 220 male convicts. The voyage was an eventful one - a fire broke loose, scurvy was rife and one day out from reaching Tasmania, the ship was wrecked when it ran into an unchartered rock.

LINKS

Grab a copy of Convict Sydney, the real-life stories of 32 prisoners:

www.jennifer-twemlow.com

Support Convict Australia and receive goodies such as the Convict Australia Newsletter:

https://www.patreon.com/ConvictAustralia

Join the conversation on our Facebook & Instagram pages:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/173850624015866

https://www.instagram.com/convict_australia/?hl=en

Start your search for your convict ancestors:

https://prf.hn/click/camref:1100ldych

https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-100396961-13671424

SOURCES

1835 'The Courier.', The Hobart Town Courier (Tas. : 1827 - 1839), 17 April, p. 2. , viewed 20 Oct 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4180760

1835 'SHIPWRECK', The Hobart Town Courier (Tas. : 1827 - 1839), 24 April, p. 4. , viewed 26 Oct 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4180715

1872 'NARRATIVE OF THE WRECK OF THE GEORGE III. CONVICT SHIP.', The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), 19 December, p. 2. (The Mercury Supplement), viewed 19 Oct 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8919451

1959 The Convict Ships, 1787 – 1868, by Charles Bateson.,Brown, Son & Ferguson, Ltd., Glasgow

1997 Most Perfectly Safe: the convict shipwreck disasters of 1833-42 by G.A. Mawer, Allen & Unwin

2020 ‘Shipwreck – George III.’, Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database., Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, viewed 30 Oct 2021, http://www.environment.gov.au/shipwreck/public/wreck/wreck.do?key=7195

THANK YOU

Special thanks to Sue Reed.

Music by Ahjay Stelino

Join me as I chat with Janice Ruse Huntington about her ancestor, James Ruse.  James was a Cornish convict who was transported to Australia with the First Fleet.  He claimed to be the first European from the First Fleet to set foot on Australian soil. He also became the first ex-convict to receive a land grant from Governor Phillip and quickly turned his Experiment Farm into a success, proving that with little assistance a settler could become self-sufficient.

LINKS

For a copy of the book My Mother Reread Me Tenderley, the life of James Ruse by Janice Ruse Huntington please contact Janice at:

[email protected]

Grab a copy of Convict Sydney, the real-life stories of 32 prisoners:

www.jennifer-twemlow.com

Support Convict Australia and receive goodies such as the Convict Australia Newsletter:

https://www.patreon.com/ConvictAustralia

Join the conversation on our Facebook & Instagram pages:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/173850624015866

https://www.instagram.com/convict_australia/?hl=en

Start your search for your convict ancestors:

https://prf.hn/click/camref:1100ldych

https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-100396961-13671424

THANK YOU

Special thanks to Janice Ruse Huntington.

Music by Ahjay Stelino

Join me as I chat to Santilla Chingaipe about her documentary Our African Roots which will premier on SBS, Sunday, October 17 at 8:30 pm. The documentary reveals how Australian’s of African descent have helped shape Australia’s history for more than 200 years - from the First Fleet to the Eureka Rebellion, and from the Anzacs to Don Bradman’s Invincible’s.  I chat to her about three convicts of African descent - John Caesar, Australia's first bushranger, John Randall and William 'Billy' Blue.

LINKS

Grab a copy of Convict Sydney, the real-life stories of 32 prisoners:

www.jennifer-twemlow.com

Support Convict Australia and receive goodies such as the Convict Australia Newsletter:

https://www.patreon.com/ConvictAustralia

Join the conversation on our Facebook & Instagram pages:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/173850624015866

https://www.instagram.com/convict_australia/?hl=en

Start your search for your convict ancestors:

https://prf.hn/click/camref:1100ldych

https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-100396961-13671424

THANK YOU

Special thanks to Santilla Chingaipe and Tracey Wearne.

Music by Ahjay Stelino

This is the story of six Fenian prisoners who had been transported to Australia as convicts arriving in 1868.  While they toiled away, their mates in America devised a cunning plan to rescue them.  In 1876 they executed one of the most daring prison breaks in Australian history. 

LINKS

Grab a copy of Convict Sydney, the real-life stories of 32 prisoners:

www.jennifer-twemlow.com

Support Convict Australia and receive goodies such as the Convict Australia Newsletter:

https://www.patreon.com/ConvictAustralia

Join the conversation on our Facebook & Instagram pages:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/173850624015866

https://www.instagram.com/convict_australia/?hl=en

Start your search for your convict ancestors:

https://prf.hn/click/camref:1100ldych

https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-100396961-13671424

SOURCES

1876 'FREMANTLE—PORT TOPICS.', The Western Australian Times (Perth, WA : 1874 - 1879), 21 April, p. 2. , viewed 29 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2975872

1876 'DARING ESCAPE OF SIX FENIAN PRISONERS.', The Herald (Fremantle, WA : 1867 - 1886), 22 April, p. 3. , viewed 29 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article109902454

1876 'ESCAPE OF FENIANS FROM SWAN HILL.', The Burrangong Argus (NSW : 1865 - 1913), 14 June, p. 2. , viewed 25 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247273673

1876 '(To the Editors of the Protestant Standard.)', The Protestant Standard (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1895), 8 July, p. 2. , viewed 07 Sep 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207785686

1876 'EUROPEAN TELEGRAMS.', The Colac Herald (Vic. : 1875 - 1918), 5 September, p. 3. , viewed 25 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91999619

1886 'THE END OF AN EXILE.', Globe (Sydney, NSW : 1885 - 1886), 19 May, p. 8. (FIRST EDITION and EVENING), viewed 07 Sep 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article102562460

1897 ‘THE CATALPA EXPEDITION.’, New Bedford, Mass. : G. S. Anthony, Pease, Zeph. W. , viewed 16 Aug 2021, https://archive.org/details/catalpaexpeditio00peas/page/52/mode/2up

THANK YOU

Special thanks to Sue Reed and Mark Blakey.

Music by Ahjay Stelino

The last ship to transport convicts to Australia was the Hougoumont which arrived in 1868.  Onboard were 279 male convicts - 62 of whom were political prisoners from Ireland known as Fenians.  This is the story of one of those men - John Boyle O'Reilly, a poet, journalist, author and activist.  Join me as I retell the story of his epic escape from New Holland to New York.

Trigger warning!  This story contains content about suicide.

LINKS

Grab a copy of Convict Sydney, the real-life stories of 32 prisoners:

www.jennifer-twemlow.com

Support Convict Australia and receive goodies such as the Convict Australia Newsletter:

https://www.patreon.com/ConvictAustralia

Join the conversation on our Facebook & Instagram pages:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/173850624015866

https://www.instagram.com/convict_australia/?hl=en

Start your search for your convict ancestors:

https://prf.hn/click/camref:1100ldych

https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-100396961-13671424

SOURCES

1869 'BUNBURY.', The Inquirer and Commercial News (Perth, WA : 1855 - 1901), 13 January, p. 2. , viewed 21 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66033268

1870 'THE ESCAPE OF JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY.', Advocate (Melbourne, Vic. : 1868 - 1954), 1 January, p. 13. , viewed 12 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article170149320

1870 'J. BOYLE O'REILLY.', Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), 26 February, p. 4. , viewed 12 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article115292629

1897 ‘THE CATAPLA EXPEDITION.’, New Bedford, Mass. : G. S. Anthony, Pease, Zeph. W. , viewed 16 Aug 2021, https://archive.org/details/catalpaexpeditio00peas/page/52/mode/2up

John Boyle O'Reilly, Ian Kenneally, viewed 5 September 2021, https://www.johnboyleoreilly.com/convict.html

2006 'O'REILLY, JOHN BOYLE (1844-1890)' by Wendy Birman, Australian Dictionary of Biography, viewed 5 September 2021, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/oreilly-john-boyle-4338

THANK YOU

Special thanks to Sue Reed.

Music by Ahjay Stelino

On 4 January 1815 the convict ship, Francis & Eliza, was captured by the Americans on their way to Australia.  

LINKS

Grab a copy of Convict Sydney, the real-life stories of 32 prisoners:

www.jennifer-twemlow.com

Support Convict Australia and receive goodies such as the Convict Australia Newsletter:

https://www.patreon.com/ConvictAustralia

Join the conversation on our Facebook & Instagram pages:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/173850624015866

https://www.instagram.com/convict_australia/?hl=en

Start your search for your convict ancestors:

https://prf.hn/click/camref:1100ldych

https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-100396961-13671424

SOURCES

1815 'Sydney, SITTING MAGISTRATE—S. LORD, Esq.', The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), 24 June, p. 2. , viewed 23 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article629133

1815 'Sydney, SITTING MAGISTRATE—W. BROUGHTON, Esq. Assize of Bread for the ensuing Week—Household, 10d; Wheaten, 11½.', The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), 12 August, p. 2. , viewed 23 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article629167

1815 'Sydney.', The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), 26 August, p. 2. , viewed 23 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article629172

1959 The Convict Ships, 1787 – 1868, by Charles Bateson.,Brown, Son & Ferguson, Ltd., Glasgow

“Convict Ship Francis and Eliza 1815.” Free Settler or Felon., Willets, Jen., viewed 23 August 2021, https://www.freesettlerorfelon.com/convict_ship_francis_and_eliza_1815.htm

THANK YOU

Special thanks to Sue Reed.

Music by Ahjay Stelino

This is the extraordinary story of Constable Joseph Luker who was murdered on 26 August 1803, and of Joseph Samuels who was sentenced to be hanged but escaped the noose three times.  Listen to how the lives of Luker and Samuels collided one fateful night and why both men will be remembered in Australian history.

LINKS

Grab a copy of Convict Sydney, the real-life stories of 32 prisoners:

www.jennifer-twemlow.com

Support Convict Australia and receive goodies such as the Convict Australia Newsletter:

https://www.patreon.com/ConvictAustralia

Join the conversation on our Facebook & Instagram pages:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/173850624015866

https://www.instagram.com/convict_australia/?hl=en

Start your search for your convict ancestors:

https://prf.hn/click/camref:1100ldych

https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-100396961-13671424

SOURCES

1803 'ROBBERY.', The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), 28 August, p. 4. , viewed 01 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article625757

1803 'Third Day.', The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), 25 September, p. 3. , viewed 03 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article625790

1803 'SYDNEY.', The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), 2 October, p. 2. , viewed 08 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article625802

2012 ‘Joseph Luker.’, The Australian Police, viewed 04 Aug 2021, https://www.australianpolice.com.au/joseph-luker/?print=print

2018 ‘The Murder of Joseph Luker’., The Dictionary of Sydney, Rachel Franks, viewed 01 Aug 2021, https://home.dictionaryofsydney.org/the-murder-of-joseph-luker/

2019 Franks, Rachel, ‘The murder of Constable Joseph Luker’, Dictionary of Sydney, viewed 03 Aug 2021, http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/the_murder_of_constable_joseph_luker

THANK YOU

Special thanks to Robert Twemlow, Mark Blakey, Chris Twemlow & Sue Reed.

Music by Ahjay Stelino