The Voyage To Australia

Question 1

Explain the conditions on board of a convict ship during its voyage to Australia

Answer 1

• journey took around 4 months
• during the first 20yrs prisoners were kept chained in iron cages below deck for the entire journey
• in later yrs ships holding 200 convicts were forced 4 prisoners to share a small wooden berth which was 2m2 and had less than 2m2 head space
• only air came from hatchways-covered by heavy iron bars
• only when the ships were in open sea, the convicts leg irons were removed to get fresh air and exercise

Question 2

Why were ship officers so harsh when convicts broke any rules?

Answer 2

Convicts were punished harshly to act as a deterrent for the other convicts
• and so that they wouldn’t go out of line.