The Convict Settlers of Australia Book

Who were the convicts transported to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, and what sort of lives did they lead in Australia? Transported convicts made up most of the population of Australia in its early years and so the picture of the nation's beginning is influenced by an echo of clanking chains and the shadow of a cat-o'-nine-tails. Small wonder then that since it was first published, Lloyd Robson's classic study has been read by a generation of Australians wanting to understand the founders. A systematic treatment of the origins and crimes of the convicts, this classic study introduces a valuable core of hard facts into a discussion too often influenced by half-truths and myths. Working from a statistical sampling, and writing with sympathetic insight, Robson examines the convicts' records: the background, age, religion and the skills they brought with them.Read More