According to The National Museum of Australia, more than 162,000 convicts were transported from Britain and Ireland to Australia between 1788 and 1868, with 7,000 of them being transported in 1833 alone. The convicts were transported to Australia as punishment for the crimes they committed. A Redditor asked, “For those of you who have convict ancestry, what crime did they commit to be sent to Australia?” And the replies were shocking.
Lydia Farrell
Reddit user u/Ness-Mc recounted Lydia Farrell’s story. She stole seven shawls, got impregnated in jail, and had to wait on transportation until she gave birth to the baby. She was sent on the third fleet and her baby was either left in London or died on the ship.
The sheep thief
User u/Ness-Mc talked about how one of his ancestors stole a sheep and tried to blame it on his mother-in-law. “The second part obviously isn’t illegal but you can bet he was happy to be sent out of Ireland when she heard he tried to pin the blame on her,” he said.
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An ancestor in the British Army in India
User u/FormalMango explained that there was a wave of assaults on police because that meant transportation to Australia, which meant no staying in India for them. His ancestor, however, was sentenced to life in Norfolk Island, a notoriously bad prison.
A mixup happened
User u/FormalMango continued that his ancestor’s papers got mixed up and “he was taken off the boat in Tasmania, spent a few years working at a dairy farm, got married, got paroled, bought a farm, had a bunch of kids, and lived a long and happy life in Hobart.”
Havoc in Swing Riots
User u/ParticularScreen2901 said that one of his ancestors was convicted and transported to Australia for machine breaking in the 1830 Swing Riots. Another user, u/nhilistic_daydreamer, replied to them, saying: “I also have a relative that got arrested for this, however, they just served time on some prison ship in England. The Swing Riots is some interesting history.”
Double conviction
User u/olddaytripper recounted how their male ancestor got convicted and transported for stealing livestock. Their female ancestor also faced the same fate because she “used foul language in the presence of a lady,” an extremely bizarre reason for a conviction.
Somehow ended up on the $20 note
User u/Due-Piglet985 talked about their ancestor who “stole a horse (incidentally while disguised as a boy). She ended up on the $20 note though.” Somebody asked u/Due-Piglet985 whether being related to the Ribleys gave him wealth, to which they answered no.
Killing a pregnant parlormaid
User u/Cheezel62 told the story of their ancestor, who was “the Duke of ‘Somewhere”s seventh son.” This ancestor, due to his title, was “sent here under an assumed name, pardoned on arrival, and given a chunk of land in the Parramatta area plus some convicts to farm it.”
The story could be credible
User u/Cheezel62 continued that this was the story they were told by their great-grandparents, great-aunts, and grandparents. They believe this story “since the family owned a chunk of Parramatta since it existed and were pretty wealthy.” They also “have cousins who still live there on land the family has owned for generations.”
Getting convicted for the sake of a trip to Australia
User u/Sad-Pay6007 talked about how their “great, great, some more greats, grandfather knew that they were gonna stop sending convicts over here soon. So. he and his son stole some sheep to purposely get caught.” They were indeed sent over on the last boat.
